Background
Establishing an independent Integrity Commission was a commitment in the Parliamentary Agreement for the Ninth Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory. The Agreement committed the Government to establish an independent Integrity Commission, broadly structured on those operating in similarly sized jurisdictions, following a parliamentary committee inquiry into the most effective and efficient model for the ACT.
On 12 January 2023 the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr MLA, announced a review of the Integrity Commission Act 2018 (view media release). The Integrity Commission Act 2018 includes a requirement for the ACT Government to conduct a review of the laws that govern the Integrity Commission after its first three years of operations.
At the same time, Mr Govey was also appointed to conduct a review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012. The legislation requires that both frameworks are reviewed concurrently given their close interactions. The Integrity Commission Act has been operational for three years and the review considered whether the Act is functioning efficiently to enable the Integrity Commission to deter and investigate allegations of corruption, while also strengthening confidence in ACT public sector governance.
Terms of Reference
The terms of reference for both reviews were settled by the Chief Minister, Andrew Barr MLA, in consultation with the Speaker of the Assembly, Joy Burch MLA:
- Review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (ACT) PDF 252 KB
- Review of the Integrity Commission Act 2018 PDF 245 KB
The review sought stakeholder feedback for the review of both Acts by publishing a series of discussion papers aimed at facilitating thoughts and commentary from interested parties.
The discussion papers are:
- Integrity Commission Powers PDF 1.9 MB
- Legal Representation and Privilege PDF 533 KB
- Confidentiality, information sharing and wellbeing PDF 570 KB
- Inspector and oversight PDF 546 KB
- Integrity Commission purpose and jurisdiction PDF 930 KB
- Operational matters PDF 1.1 MB
- Public Interest Disclosure Discussion Paper PDF 1.1 MB Word version DOC 1.1 MB
Submissions
Stakeholders were asked to either write a document or share their thoughts about specific issues mentioned in the terms of reference. These issues were about their own experiences and opinions, as well as the ones within their organisation. After this first round of input, Ian Govey released some papers to encourage more people to get involved. As a result, many stakeholders and members of the community responded to these papers, adding more ideas and experiences. Because of this, some stakeholders sent in more than one contribution. All of these submissions will be used to create a report that will be published later this year.
The Integrity Commission Act 2018 Review submissions include:
- Submission from ACT Education Directorate 353 KB
- Submission from ACT Legal Aid 578 KB
- Submission from ACT Legislative Assembly Ethics and Integrity Advisor 227 KB
- Submission from ACT Policing 422 KB
- Submission from Griffith and Narrabundah Community Association 600 KB
- Submission from Inner South Canberra Community Council 140 KB
- Submission from the ACT Integrity Commission 873 KB
- Submission from the Canberra Liberals 331 KB
- Submission from the Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly 198 KB
- Submission No. 1 from the ACT Human Rights Commission 1.5 MB
- Submission No. 1 from the Inspector of the ACT Integrity Commission 1.7 MB
- Submission No. 2 from the ACT Human Rights Commission 662 KB
- Submission No. 2 from the Inspector of the ACT Integrity Commission 349 KB
- Submission from Constituent 1 125 KB
- Submission No. 1 from the Constituent 2 480 KB
- Submission No. 2 from the Constituent 2 388 KB
- Submission No. 3 from the Constituent 2 396 KB
- Submission No. 4 from the Constituent 2 398 KB
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 Review Submissions Include:
- Submission from the ACT Integrity Commission 407 KB
- Submission from the Griffith Narrabundah Community Association 1.41 MB
- Submission from the Inner South Canberra Community Council 100 KB
- Submission from the Inspector of the ACT Integrity Commission 640 KB
- Submission from the Public Sector Standards Commissioner 228 KB
- Submission from the Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly 385 KB
- Submission from the Suburban Land Agency 3.09 MB
Final Reports
The Government tabled the final reports of the reviews of the Integrity Commission Act 2018 and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 on 30 November 2023. A copy of the final reports of both reviews is available below:
Government response to the reviews
A copy of the government response to both the review of the Integrity Commission Act 2018 and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 is available below:
- Government Response to the Review of the Integrity Commission Act DOCX 55 KB
- Government Response to the review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act DOCX 30 KB
Further Information
You may find the following links useful for your consideration:
Select Committee on Independent Integrity Commission (Dissolved) – 31 October 2017
The first select committee was established to inquire into an independent integrity commission in the ACT.
Select Committee on Independent Integrity Commission 2018 (Dissolved) – 31 October 2018
The second select committee was established to inquire into two Bills that would establish an independent integrity commission – an exposure draft Bill prepared by the ACT Government, and a Bill introduced to the Legislative Assembly by former Assembly member Alastair Coe.
Integrity Commission Amendment Bill 2022 (No 2)
The Integrity Commission Amendment Bill 2022 (No 2) was introduced by Elizabeth Lee MLA on 20 October 2022 and seeks to implement the necessary legislative requirements for the Australian Government to consider allowing the Integrity Commission to conduct telecommunication interception.
2019 review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (ACT)
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 underwent review in 2019 ahead of the Integrity Commission’s commencement. The report provided 35 recommendations.