A senior executive at the Public Trustee is at the centre of a nepotism probe relating to allegations his son received "preferential treatment" when he was employed and promoted by the agency.
ABC Investigations can reveal a complaint relating to Clinton Miles, a regional director for the Public Trustee, was referred to the state's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) in May last year.
Mr Miles, who has worked at the Public Trustee for more than 43 years, is related to Queensland Premier Steven Miles.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the premier described Clinton Miles as "a distant relative", saying, "I think he might be my dad's cousin or something".
The CCC said the allegations against Clinton Miles "may constitute corrupt conduct" but did not investigate, instead referring the complaint back to the Public Trustee which, a year later, has still not completed its inquiries.
A former staff member of the Public Trustee told the ABC he had applied for a permanent position but missed out to Clinton Miles's son, who he believed received preferential treatment.
The ABC understands Mr Miles's son was a university student when he was employed by the Public Trustee in the Brisbane office in late 2022.
A few months later, he was promoted to the position of trust officer.
'I was ropeable'
At the time, another staff member, Caleb Edwards, was working on a temporary contract as a trust officer.
He applied for a permanent position as a trust officer and believed he had a good chance because he was already working in the role and had past experience in banking.
He has accused the Public Trustee of passing him over for Clinton Miles's son due to his father's position as a senior executive at the agency.
"When I heard that Clinton Miles's son got that job, I was ropeable," Mr Edwards said.
"I was really upset because I'd been doing that substantive position for seven or eight months already."
Trust officers manage the financial affairs of people with cognitive disabilities such as dementia, intellectual disability and brain injuries.
Mr Edwards, who had seven years' experience in banking, was managing the affairs of about 120 clients.
He had to find work elsewhere because his temporary contract had ended.
"I built quite a lot of rapport with the customers that I spoke to on a regular basis," Mr Edwards said.
Complaint alleges 'preferential treatment'
After Mr Edwards left the Public Trustee, one of his colleagues complained internally and then sent an official complaint to the Queensland Ombudsman, alleging Clinton Miles's "power, control and influence" led to "preferential treatment" for his son.
The ombudsman referred the complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission, telling the complainant: "I am satisfied that the CCC will investigate the matter at a level equivalent to that at which this Office would otherwise investigate the complaint."
However, the CCC did not investigate and instead sent the matter back to the Public Trustee, telling the complainant: "While we acknowledge that your allegations are of a serious nature, the CCC considers that it is appropriate for the Public Trustee to deal with this matter."
The Public Trustee told the ABC "an investigation into the matter is under way and is well advanced".
The matter was referred to the Public Trustee a year ago.
It would not say when its investigation would be completed.
A spokesperson for Premier Steven Miles said: "The Public Trustee is an independent statutory body and does not report to the premier."
Asked at a press conference on Tuesday whether it was appropriate for the Public Trustee to investigate the matter, the premier said: "That's a matter for the CCC. If the CCC thinks that's appropriate, then I'd support that."
The ABC understands Clinton Miles has been on leave since last year and that his son no longer works at the Public Trustee.
The ABC contacted Clinton Miles for comment but received no reply.
Mr Edwards has little faith in the Public Trustee's investigation.
"It doesn't seem sensible to have that same organisation, with that person at that level of seniority, effectively investigating itself," he said.
The ABC has been investigating Queensland's Public Trustee over allegations it charges exorbitant fees and mismanages the finances of its vulnerable clients.
Clinton Miles's role as a regional director for South East Queensland means he has had responsibility for many of the cases the ABC has investigated.
Public trustee agencies around Australia fund themselves by charging their clients hundreds of millions of dollars in fees each year.
It is a criminal offence in most of the nation for clients under public trustees to publicly identify themselves.
Nepotism a 'slippery slope' to more serious corruption, expert says
AJ Brown, a professor of public policy and law at Griffith University, said nepotism and cronyism were "the beginnings of the slippery slope to much more serious forms of corruption".
"The appointment of a relative, especially a child or a dependent, to a public office can be a problem if there's any reasonable perception that their relative, especially if they're a senior person in the organisation, appointed that person themselves, influenced the people who appointed that person or were in such a position of seniority that it could be reasonable to expect that the people who did appoint the employee were trying to gain favour," Professor Brown said.
He said it was not possible to know how the CCC made the assessment to hand the complaint back to the Public Trustee to investigate but he expected that "at least some level of oversight would be required in a situation where you're talking about anybody who is a senior or semi-senior executive".
The ABC asked the CCC whether it was overseeing the investigation, but it declined to comment.
Of 3,686 complaints of suspected corruption assessed by the CCC last financial year, more than 80 per cent were sent back to the agency in question or department responsible to investigate.
Less than 4 per cent of those internal investigations were monitored by the CCC.
This is the second time a senior figure from Queensland's Public Trustee has been reported to the CCC.
In 2018, the then-CEO Peter Carne was investigated for corruption.
He was cleared of corrupt conduct and not criminally prosecuted.
The CCC wanted to have the report made public through state parliament, but Mr Carne took legal action to prevent that from happening.
His action means details of other investigations, including into former Queensland deputy premier, Jackie Trad, have also remained under wraps.
In May this year, the government received a report recommending the CCC be given powers to release reports when it was in the public interest and after it satisfied specific criteria.
It is believed the government may try to pass legislation before the state election in October.
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