Rail safety manager accused of serious misconduct after helping mate’s company win taxpayer-funded work

A rail safety manager will be stood down after being accused of serious misconduct, after working for a mate’s company that was paid $66,000 to deliver training courses to the Public Transport Authority. Richard Clark was paid $3990 as a consultant and received a $1400 laptop while he was part of a tender panel that awarded contracts to private company Railtrain. The Crime and Corruption Commission was told Mr Clark, who had known Railtrain director Graham Butler for more than 20 years, submitted invoices to Railtrain totalling $47,048. He told procurement officers that a rival company was “not good”, encouraging PTA team members to complete Railtrain courses instead. “Through his relationship with Mr Clark, Mr Butler was able to obtain information about the PTA, which may have assisted the Railtrain Group to market itself to, and develop its relationship with, the PTA,” the CCC report said. The CCC found there was a pattern of Mr Clark not providing full disclosure of his relationship with Railtrain and the work he performed for it. “Mr Clark did not seek approval for external employment until August 2022 and did not declare a conflict of interest arising out of his relationship with Railtrain until November 2022,” the report said. A conflict of interest was declared in September 2023 but “did not fully disclose the nature and extent of his work”, the report said. The commission formed an opinion of serious misconduct and found Mr Clark “corruptly” took advantage of his position as manager of safety and rail access. The CCC also found that the PTA’s management of risks associated with secondary employment relied entirely on self-reporting. “The commission found it remarkable that Mr Clark was able to give directions about and arrange for PTA employees to participate in the safety incidents course and the Railtrain Cert IV course given what was known about his relationship with Railtrain and Mr Butler,” the report said. A complaint was made to the PTA’s integrity and investigation division in October 2022, the CCC said, but no misconduct risk was identified “despite the obvious conflict alleged”. Mr Clark is still working part-time for the PTA, but a spokesperson said he is “in the process” of being stood down. “The PTA is taking all necessary steps to strengthen its conflict of interest and external employment procedures,” a spokesperson said. “The PTA will continue to explore additional ways to educate staff on managing conflicts between personal interests and public duties. “This includes improving reporting mechanisms and reinforcing mandatory training for all employees to identify, declare and appropriately manage any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest.”