New South Wales Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham has released a statement saying he has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

After his statement was released, the NSW Greens responded by saying the investigation process had not yet concluded, “and it is disappointing that Jeremy has preemptively released the findings”.

A complaint was lodged in May, accusing Buckingham of inappropriate behaviour in 2011, which the party referred to an independent investigator, Workdynamic Australia.

A former Greens aide made the claims public in August on the ABC, before the inquiry had been completed.

Buckingham said on Tuesday he had received a copy of the final report, which recommended the party “resolve the matter with no adverse finding against you with respect to sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour”.

The party’s subsequent statement said: “The full report will not be available to the public, for reasons of confidentiality, but Greens NSW had intended to make the findings and recommendations known next week, along with a comprehensive statement – once Jeremy and the complainant had been given an opportunity for feedback.

“Workdynamic has sent Jeremy and the complainant confidential letters, inviting them both to respond to the findings and recommendations, and Jeremy’s statement appears to be based on the letter he received.”

The Greens said the findings were that: “Although the factual context of a social gathering on 26 August 2011 did take place, Workdynamic was ‘not satisfied that there is sufficient evidence on the balance of probabilities that an incident of sexual harassment as defined by the legislation occurred’.”

Buckingham said the allegations had been “incredibly difficult and damaging” and accused people of using them to “destroy” him.

“I’m glad the day has finally arrived when I’ve been cleared,” he said in a statement.

“Having false allegations aired on national television is incredibly distressing and a very serious breach of the investigation process. Allegations of this nature should be handled confidentially and sensitively, and not be used for a trial by media.”

Buckingham has lodged a complaint against the ABC and is also pursuing civil action to “seek justice and restore my reputation”.

The Greens statement said: “The report does not make any finding that the complaint was false or vexatious, nor does it support Jeremy’s assertion that the complaint was made for political reasons. Any claims to the contrary are inaccurate.

It confirmed the report recommended that the party “resolve the matter with no adverse findings against Mr Buckingham with respect to sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior”.

“Greens NSW will therefore take no further action in this matter unless additional information comes to light,” the statement said.