Anti-Corruption Commission Receives More Than 12,000 Referrals

A general view of the roads around the Parliament House building in Canberra, Australia on Aug. 13, 2021. Jamila Toderas/AFP via Getty Images

Australia’s newly established anti-corruption commission has received 1,247 referrals since commencing 100 days ago.

Three new investigations are underway at the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and work is continuing on six inherited investigations.

Nine preliminary investigations with the power to compel the provision of information or documents are also underway.

Commissioner Paul Brereton revealed the NACC has been hard at work assessing and receiving reports of corruption and is now turning its focus to conducting investigations.

“Increasingly as these reports are triaged and assessed, our main effort is shifting to the conduct of investigations,” he said in a NACC video published online.

“Our focus has to be on issues of serious or systemic corruption where we can best add value in the public interest.”

Since July 1, 710 referrals were put aside at the triage stage for not raising corruption issues or were relevant to a Commonwealth official.

Overall 188 referrals are pending triage, 69 referrals are in active triage, and 173 referrals are currently under assessment.

The Commission received 44 referrals online within the first days of operation in July.

Inaugural commissioner Paul Brereton makes the opening address of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in Canberra, Monday, July 3, 2023. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Commissioner Brereton said the NACC has “made a strong start” in enhancing integrity in the Australian public sector in its first 100 days.

“But we cannot do it alone,” he added.

“Our institutions must embrace, from the top down and at every level, a culture in which the giving of honest if unwelcome advice and reports is not dissuaded but encouraged; in which decisions are made impartially, on the evidence and the merits, in the public interest and without regard to personal interest and in which responsibility and accountability is accepted.”

Since opening, the anti-corruption body has recruited 50 new staff to the team.

Strong Start

The new NACC started operating on July 1, 2023, following an act of Parliament passed by the Labor government in November 2022.

In an opening speech to Parliament at the time, Mr. Brereton said, “I want the Commission to have the reputation of being fearless but fair, independent, and impartial.”

Mr. Brereton represented Australia in meetings with international anti-corruption authorities and agencies in September.

“Already, the Commission is a presence on the world stage, credentialled by the United Nations as Australia’s authority for corruption prevention and recognised as embracing best-practice principles—not least in relation to whistleblower protection—to which other nations aspire,” he said.

The National Anti-Corruption Act 2022 and National Anti-Corruption Commission (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2022 passed the Australian Parliament on Nov. 30, 2022.

The inherited investigations come from the former Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity. Mr. Brereton is a former New South Wales Court of Appeal judge.

Australia 13th for Corruption in the World

Australia was ranked 13th in the world in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report (pdf) released earlier this year.

Australia was behind Denmark and New Zealand for corruption, and scored 75 on a 100-point scale, up from 73 in the previous year.

Transparency International Australia board member Professor A.J. Brown said at the time: “After 17 years of advocacy, Transparency International is delighted at the historic establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.”

“However, Australia’s reputation is only likely to be fully restored once the world sees the Commission actually perform, and other issues central to our credibility in the region are seriously addressed beyond simply the public sector.”