THE head of Queensland's crime and corruption watchdog didn't check if staff fixed an error that meant that secret Fitzgerald inquiry files were released to the public.
Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) chairman Ross Martin has told an inquiry he found out about the error in May 2012, and told staff to fix it.
But the problem was not fixed until months later, in September.
Mr Martin has blamed a communication breakdown with a senior staffer.
The Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee is investigating the error, which resulted in files from the Fitzgerald inquiry into police corruption being released decades early.
The documents contained information, including unproven allegations, about targets and informants at the centre of the corruption probe.
Mr Martin on Friday said he learned of the problem in May last year.
He said he immediately asked the CMC's director of information management, Peter Duell, to make sure only documents from public Fitzgerald hearings could be accessed.
He said he believed Mr Duell understood the request and fixed the issue.
"I thought that he was of one mind with me about this but it seems at hindsight we were at cross-purposes," Mr Martin told the inquiry.
The CMC chairman admitted he didn't check with Mr Duell or other senior staff that the matter had been resolved.
"I left it on the basis that I would have expected them to bring something to my attention if there was a problem," he said.
On Thursday, Mr Duell told the inquiry the accidental release was due to a reclassification error.
Mr Martin last week announced his resignation as chair of the CMC but said he was leaving for health reasons.
His resignation came amid pressure from Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and other ministers for him to accept responsibility for the blunder.
Mr Martin said he didn't realise at the time how significant the blunder was.
He said he was only aware in May that surveillance logs had accidentally been released and was not aware of other sensitive documents being made publicly available.
Mr Martin said he had asked Official Solicitor to the CMC Sidonie Wood to investigate what he thought at the time was a "relatively modest mistake".
"I rather thought I'd delegated the idea to Sidonie Wood and left it to her to pursue," he said.
When asked whether Ms Wood ever reported back to him, he replied: "I don't think so".
Mr Martin said he used his judgment at the time and couldn't be expected to oversee an investigation every time a document was misnumbered.
