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A senior Home Affairs official admitted to being overly "task focused" by calling on departmental contacts for help to travel overseas without a passport. The official also escalated the matter to a senior airline manager to board the aircraft and travel. A corruption investigation cleared the official of abusing their office or breaking migration laws in the process, notwithstanding "official embarrassment or other unintended consequences". An Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity report, published this week, said the official had been booked to travel abroad on official business, however, arrived at the airport without a passport. Instead of cancelling meetings, the officer gained assistance from departmental colleagues to travel without a passport. The official also escalated the matter to a senior airline manager to board the aircraft and travel. However, upon arrival at the destination, the official was denied entry and returned to Australia. The official then recovered the passport and attempted to travel to the foreign nation, but was again refused entry and returned home. The matter was referred to ACLEI by the Deputy Secretary Intelligence and Capability Group of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, which then conducted a joint investigation with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. "The issue is whether Officer A improperly used the status of senior government office to cause DIBP officers or airline employees to allow travel without a passport," the federal corruption watchdog's report said. The report said the official knew that it was "technically permissible" to travel without a passport in certain circumstances. The investigation heard from witnesses that it was "not unprecedented" for travellers, including government officials, to travel to and from Australia in similar situations. "Clearly such circumstances are subject to strict checks and controls and, more often than not, require immigration approval at both ends of a journey," the report said. "In this instance, Officer A admitted to being overly 'task focused' and not paying sufficient regard to the broader relationship considerations between Australia and the foreign nation, or how the actions might have been perceived by others." However, Integrity Commissioner Michael Griffin, AM, found the official had not engaged in corrupt conduct. "Despite any official embarrassment or other unintended consequences of Officer A's actions, the evidence available to the investigation does not disclose any breach of Australian or the foreign nation’s migration laws or conduct which could reasonably be regarded as amounting to an abuse of office or other form of corrupt conduct. "The evidence also does not suggest that Officer A employed the seniority of office to bring improper pressure to bear to achieve an undue outcome or personal benefit. "Nor does the evidence disclose bullying or overbearing conduct." Correction: An earlier version of this article contained incorrect information about the official's job position and reason for travel.

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