Union boss loses corruption report secrecy attempt

A firefighter union boss has lost his attempt to block the public release of an anti-corruption report looking into state government negotiations with his union.

The United Firefighters Union and its secretary Peter Marshall tried to hide their identities as they launched a legal fight to block the release of a report from the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

On June 12, they were unmasked as the applicants seeking to stop the release IBAC's Operation Richmond report, which investigated the Victorian government's negotiations with the union.

IBAC indicated the final report would be released to the public by July 1, but that plan was sidetracked by Mr Marshall and the union's Supreme Court injunction application, which was filed in May.

A closed court hearing on the case was held on June 24, where contents of the report was discussed.

The anti-corruption watchdog has argued the report should be publicly released, but Mr Marshall and the union asked for orders to stop the report being transmitted.

The plaintiffs argued IBAC was relying on education and prevention functions as a reason to make the report public, which they said exceeded the limits of IBAC's powers, the court was told on Friday.

However, Justice Claire Harris rejected Mr Marshall and the union's court challenge on Friday morning.

"The plaintiffs have not established any of the grounds for review," she told Melbourne's Supreme Court.

The parties will return to the court at 2.15pm on Friday to decide on the next steps, which could include an appeal by Mr Marshall and the union.

IBAC's Operation Richmond probe centred on reforms to merge Metropolitan Fire Brigade members and career Country Fire Authority firefighters into the new Fire Rescue Victoria.