Today, at the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference in Darwin, commissioners of the 10 independent anti-corruption and integrity agencies around Australia announced the Fundamental Principles of Australian Anti-Corruption Commissions.
The 12 principles provide a framework for legislation and policy governing anti-corruption and integrity commissions. Each principle is considered fundamental to the ability of an anti-corruption or integrity commission to undertake its functions independently and effectively.
The 12 fundamental principles state that commissions must have:
- the ability to receive and consider referrals from anyone
- the ability to commence an investigation on the commission’s own motion
- a mandatory reporting obligation for the heads of public sector agencies to report suspected corruption
- protections for whistleblowers and witnesses
- coercive powers to obtain information and evidence
- the ability to refer matters to a prosecuting authority
- the ability to make recommendations
- the ability to report on investigations and make public statements
- a corruption prevention and education function
- a sufficient and predictable budget
- transparency of appointments
- effective and proportionate oversight
This announcement follows a collaborative review by Australia’s anti-corruption commissioners of the best practice principles originally released in December 2022.
A key addition to the original principles is principle 4: Protections for whistleblowers and witnesses. A person who refers information or gives evidence to a commission should be immune from any criminal, civil, administrative or disciplinary liability, and from the enforcement against them of contractual rights or remedies, for doing so.
Principle 8 emphasises that a commission must be able to effectively communicate its work to the community, through public statements and reports. This is important to expose corrupt conduct, to identify matters which may present a corruption risk, and to clear the air of unfounded allegations of corruption.
The 12 principles are informed by the Jakarta Principles for Anti-Corruption Commissions, a set of principles to ensure the independence and effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies, as part of countries´ commitments and obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), to which Australia is a party.
View the 12 fundamental principles in more detail.