What can the NACC investigate?

The NACC investigates issues of serious or systemic corrupt conduct in the Australian Government public sector.

The terms serious and systemic are not defined under the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 (Cth) (the NACC Act). The Commissioner will determine whether a matter could involve serious or systemic corrupt conduct.

To investigate a corruption issue, the Commission must have information raising the possibility that a person has done or could do something that:

involves, or could involve, a public official
is, or could be, corrupt conduct under the NACC Act, and
could involve serious or systemic corrupt conduct.

The NACC can only investigate corrupt conduct that involves a public official in some way. People who can be investigated by the NACC are ‘in the NACC’s jurisdiction’.

The NACC’s jurisdiction

For the purposes of the NACC Act, the following are subject to the NACC’s jurisdiction:

public officials
staff members of Commonwealth agencies
contracted service providers
parliamentarians and their staff.

Public officials

Most people who work for, exercise the powers of, or perform functions for, the Australian Government or the Australian Parliament are public officials under the NACC Act.

Specifically, the following people are public officials:

Members and senators of the Australian Parliament, including ministers and the people who work for them
staff members of Commonwealth agencies, including employees of and persons engaged in assisting Australian Government departments, Commonwealth companies and statutory bodies
contracted service providers (such as consultants, independent contractors, and labour-hire contractors) under Commonwealth contracts administered by Commonwealth agencies
staff members of the NACC.

The NACC can only investigate matters relating to Australian Government public officials. It will not be able to investigate concerns relating to state, territory or local government officials. Each state and territory have a similar integrity or anti-corruption commission that may be able to investigate those matters.

It is important to remember that the NACC can investigate any person, even if they are not a public official, if they do something that might cause a public official to carry out their official role other than honestly or impartially.

See National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022, sections 10-13
and the Explanatory Memorandum at paragraphs 2.95-2.117.

Staff members of Commonwealth agencies

If an organisation is a Commonwealth agency, then the head of the agency, its employees, contractors and consultants are public officials under the NACC Act.

Examples of Commonwealth agencies are:

departments of state and parliamentary departments – like the Attorney-General’s Department or the Department of Parliamentary Services
other entities prescribed under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 – like the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Defence Force or the Australian Federal Police
some bodies corporate established under Commonwealth legislation – like the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) or certain land councils namely the Anindilyakwa Land Council, Central Land Council, Northern Land Council and Tiwi Land Council. Other land councils are not Commonwealth agencies under the NACC Act rather they are regulated by the States. Registered Native Title Bodies Corporate (RNTBCs) are also not Commonwealth agencies. They are regulated by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC)
Commonwealth companies – like NBN Co – and their subsidiaries
the High Court and other federal courts (but not judges of those courts).

Under the NACC Act, the offices of parliamentarians are also Commonwealth agencies.

Most people who do work for a Commonwealth agency will be staff members of that agency for the purposes of the NACC’s jurisdiction. Only very limited exceptions apply.

A person can be a staff member of a Commonwealth agency, and therefore a public official, even if they are not directly employed by that agency.

Staff members of Commonwealth agencies include:

agency heads
employees of Commonwealth departments, Commonwealth companies and other statutory bodies
persons engaged to assist Commonwealth departments, Commonwealth companies and other statutory bodies. This could include consultants, and even volunteers
people who are responsible for delivering goods or services to or on behalf of a Commonwealth agency under a Commonwealth contract (known as contracted service providers)
people who work for parliamentarians under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984, including consultants
secondees to Commonwealth agencies
officers and employees of the federal courts and the High Court, excluding judges
other people who exercise powers or perform functions under various Commonwealth laws.

Contracted service providers

Any individual responsible for delivering goods and services under a Commonwealth contract either directly or indirectly (including subcontractors and their employees) is considered a public official under the NACC Act. These individuals, known as contracted service providers, are public officials and are within the jurisdiction of the Commission.

This includes:

a party to the contract, or a subcontractor, who is responsible for the provision of goods or services under the contract (contracted service provider)
an officer or employee of a contracted service provider, who provides goods and services for the purposes (whether direct or indirect) of the contract.

Read more about how contracted service providers are within the jurisdiction of the NACC in our fact sheet:

Contracted service providers, grant recipients and the NACC (PDF 6.14 MB)
Contracted service providers, grant recipients and the NACC (Word 737.42 KB)

Parliamentarians and their staff

Parliamentarians, including ministers, are public officials under section 10 of the NACC Act. Parliamentarians re-contesting elections will still be treated as parliamentarians during the election period (while the relevant House of Parliament is dissolved).

People who work for parliamentarians, including as consultants and volunteers, are also public officials, and the parliamentarian for whom they work is considered to be their ‘agency head’.