Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog pushes for broader powers and increased public hearings
Victoria’s integrity summit has welcomed the government’s promise to give it the power to follow the money but will seek to make greater use of public hearings to investigate and deter corruption.
Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commissioner Victoria Elliott, in her first public comments since the Allan government announced plans to reform the state’s anti-corruption framework, said the proposed changes would allow her agency to investigate the misuse of taxpayers’ money and non-criminal abuse of public office for the first time.
He said the alleged conduct had to be serious and other stringent measures would still apply when deciding whether to use invasive, coercive investigative tools at IBAC’s disposal, such as phone taps. He said there was no reason why Victoria should have a higher threshold than others for investigating suspected corruption.
IBAC can only investigate conduct that constitutes a serious criminal offense under the narrow definition of corrupt conduct that has limited its reach since its establishment in 2012.
“The IBAC threshold is the highest in the country,” Elliott said in this piece. “We cannot look at behavior here that would be investigated in the Commonwealth or NSW.
“IT [IBAC] Serious breaches of public trust or abuse of authority, misuse of publicly available information in public office must be able to be investigated without committing a relevant offense punishable by five years’ imprisonment.
“This is not something Victorians expected. It’s not something that’s going on in the rest of the country.”
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan has promised to consider expanding the definition if Labor is re-elected in November. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, who did not initially support the change, on Thursday opened the door to the inclusion of a broader definition in IBAC legislation, which the Coalition government has pledged to introduce in its first week.
“The incoming Wilson Liberal and National government will seriously consider any proposals to change the definition of corruption,” Wilson said. “If so, giving IBAC powers to pursue money and lowering the threshold for IBAC to hold public hearings will be included in our December legislation.”
IBAC was established with the dual purpose of investigating and preventing corruption in the Victorian public sector and abuses by Victoria Police. As a guide, Elliott said the proposal to expand IBAC’s jurisdiction would deal with conduct that is serious enough to cause public servants to lose their jobs.
“This is a significant step forward, an important step forward in improving integrity in Victoria and building and strengthening trust not only in IBAC but also in the police and public sector,” Elliott said. “But this is just the beginning.”
Under the government’s timetable for the changes, an expert reference group, including representatives from IBAC, the Victorian Ombudsman and Victoria Police, will make recommendations to inform by May next year. Legislation will be released before the end of 2027.
Wilson called this timeline unacceptable and demanded that it be shortened. “If elected, we expect the incumbent expert reference group to bring forward the report date and make recommendations for our immediate consideration in the blue books,” he said.
While changing the definition of corruption is a priority for IBAC, the most controversial reform issue is the agency’s holding of public hearings to question witnesses, including MPs.
Victoria’s last Coalition government, which set up the IBAC shortly after Barry O’Farrell left the NSW premiership after misleading the ICAC about a gift bottle of wine, has limited its capacity to hold public hearings to “exceptional circumstances”. After Labor came back to power, it introduced legislation that would make it even harder for IBAC to hold public exams. Former prime minister Daniel Andrews was later examined behind closed doors by IBAC in connection with four separate corruption investigations.
Former opposition leader John Pesutto has backed calls by successive IBAC commissioners in 2023 for IBAC to have powers to hold public hearings and track the dollar.
In presenting its review of the 2025 legislative framework to parliament’s integrity oversight committee, IBAC said public hearings were a critical tool for uncovering corruption and called for the removal of the “exceptional circumstances” requirement.
IBAC chief executive Alison Byrne said that under the proposed model, IBAC would still have to show that it was in the public interest to hold a public inquiry, that it could be done without unreasonable harm to the reputation or safety of a witness, and that the investigation concerned serious or systematic conduct.
“This isn’t necessarily going to be public hearings everywhere,” Byrne said. “We will balance competing interests.”
The integrity oversight committee focused on public hearings. The government’s recommendations, to which it responded earlier in the week, called for IBAC to be allowed to hold public exams for educational and preventive purposes but mentioned an “exceptional circumstances” provision.
The Commonwealth NACC and IBAC are the only two integrity bodies in Australia that must demonstrate exceptional circumstances in order to hold public examinations. The ICAC in South Australia has no provision for public examination of witnesses.
The government accepted 21 of the integrity oversight committee’s recommendations, including giving IBAC powers to track money similar to those used by Victoria’s Auditor General, the ability to make and publish findings on corruption, and greater scope to publish its reports.
The government also acknowledged that IBAC would require additional resources if its mandate was expanded. This is expected to lead to an increase in direct complaints from the public and referrals from other agencies.
Byrne said the government’s commitment was welcome but IBAC needed additional resources ahead of any changes to its legislation to deal with the backlog of complaints it currently faces.
Asked why an IBAC reform bill could not be prepared and introduced before the election, Elliott said the proposed legislative changes were complex and would impact Victoria’s wider integrity and law enforcement system.
“We appreciate there is a lot to be done,” he said. “We will do our best to complete this as quickly as possible.”
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He had previously served as the newspaper’s chief correspondent and was a journalist with 30 years of experience.Connect via email.
