The Albanese Labor Government has delivered on its promise to legislate a National Anti-Corruption Commission before the end of the year, passing it in the Federal Parliament today.

During the 2022 Federal election, I promised the people Darwin and Palmerston that only a Federal Labor Government would return integrity and trust to parliament.

By mid-next year, Australians will have a powerful, independent and transparent Commission, with the powers of a standing Royal Commission able to investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the entire federal public sector.

The Commission will have the staff, capabilities, and capacity to triage referrals and allegations it receives, conduct timely investigations, and undertake corruption prevention and education activities.

Recruitment for a National Anti-Corruption Commissioner and other senior staff is already underway.

The Albanese Government’s National Anti-Corruption Commission will have:

• Broad jurisdiction: The Commission will have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the Commonwealth public sector by ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory officer holders, employees of all government entities and government contractors.
• Independent: The Commission will operate independent of government, with discretion to commence inquiries into serious or systemic corruption on its own initiative or in response to referrals, including from whistleblowers and complaints from the public.
• Oversight: The Commission will be overseen by a statutory Joint Standing Committee of the Parliament, empowered to require the Commission to provide information about its work.
• Retrospective powers: The Commission will have the power to investigate allegations of serious or systemic corruption that occurred before or after its establishment.
• Public hearings: The Commission will have the power to hold public hearings where the Commission determines it is in the public interest to do so.
• Findings: The Commission will be empowered to make findings of fact, including findings of corrupt conduct, and refer findings that could constitute criminal conduct to the Australian Federal Police or the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions.
• Procedural fairness: The Commission will operate with procedural fairness and its findings will be subject to judicial review.