Allegations of systemic discrimination against Indigenous staff in the Australian Capital Territory's Public Service have been referred to the ACT Public Sector Standards Commissioner.
On Tuesday morning, First Nations community leaders joined calls for a formal investigation into allegations made by the former head of the ACT Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Brendan Moyle, that senior officials within the ACT Public Service intentionally blocked work on the government's commitments to First Nations people, and ignored serious concerns about the psychosocial impact this had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public servants.
Mr Moyle's allegations surfaced after a freedom of information request lodged by independent MLA Thomas Emerson released a trove of briefs and correspondence showing Mr Moyle had raised significant concerns internally for more than two years prior to his resignation in November 2025.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, an ACT government spokesperson told the ABC Mr Moyle's allegations had been referred to the independent watchdog.
Mr Moyle said the welfare of Indigenous staff had been repeatedly put at risk during his two-and-a-half-year tenure, due to a chronic lack of cultural safety and excessive cultural load across the ACT public service.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff were presenting to me reporting suicidal ideations that were showing signs of extreme high stress," he said.
"The history of raising these issues includes no response provided, no action."
Last October, Mr Moyle said the ACT Public Service is the most culturally unsafe workplace he had ever experienced.
Internal government documents show the directorate's Indigenous staff felt "broken" and "exhausted" by their workplace within "a system ... designed to fracture and destroy the spirit".
Mr Moyle said a formal inquiry was needed to get to the heart of the problem, and called for greater accountability for senior office holders in the ACT public service.
Earlier on Tuesday, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said there was work underway within the public service to address systemic issues, and that individual cases could be dealt with by existing processes.
Mr Barr was reluctant to immediately commit to a formal inquiry led by the government, pointing instead to "a range of entities that sit outside of the direct public service day-to-day operations that are there for oversight and investigation purposes", citing the ACT Public Sector Standards Commissioner as an example.
Mr Barr said there were "clearly" some instances where agencies and individuals needed to do better, the ABC reports.
"And there are examples that are, I think, evident of a challenge that is broader than just the public service that reflects societal and community attitudes," he said.
