A Queensland harness racing steward has resigned after an investigation alleged he had been tipping off participants about stable raids.
The Queensland Racing Integrity Commission (QRIC) announced the 23-year-old’s resignation on Friday.
Information was provided to QRIC by an industry participant about the steward, who was allegedly giving advanced notice to harness participants about spot inspections at their properties.
The information was referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) by QRIC Commissioner Ross Barnett for independent investigation.
The steward was stood down on October 1, and resigned on Friday morning.
Commissioner Barnett said he took any allegation of staff misconduct within the QRIC seriously.
“It is vital that our stewards act with professionalism and integrity during the course of their duties,” Commissioner Barnett said. “We will not have the moral authority and support of participants to enforce integrity standards in the racing industry if we don’t demonstrate that we maintain high behavioural standards internally.
“I’m disappointed that this misconduct has occurred, however I am grateful the behaviour was brought to my attention by members of the industry, so we could take action to rectify the issue.”
