Chapter 1Introduction
Committee’s duty to examine annual reports
1.1The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (the committee) has a duty to examine each annual report prepared by the Integrity Commissioner under the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 (the LEIC Act). The duty arises from an expectation that agencies which have been granted strong coercive powers, such as the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI), should be subject to additional oversight.
1.2This report examines the Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner 2021-22 (Annual Report 2021-22). The committee held a hearing to examine the Annual Report 2021-22 on 8 February 2023. Witnesses who appeared before the committee are listed at Appendix 1.
1.3Matters that fall outside the 2021-22 reporting period have been included where necessary for completeness.
Structure of this report
1.4This report contains two chapters:
this chapter provides details about the inquiry and background about ACLEI’s functions and priorities;
Chapter 2 examines key issues relating to ACLEI’s performance in the reporting period and provides the committee’s conclusion.
Acknowledgements
1.5The committee acknowledges the cooperation and assistance of the Integrity Commissioner and ACLEI staff who aided the committee in its inquiry.
Key background
Presentation of the annual report
1.6The Annual Report 2021-22 was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on 27October 2022. The letter of transmittal indicates that the report was presented to the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, MP on 28September 2022.
ACLEI portfolio arrangements
1.7For the reporting period, ACLEI was in the Attorney-General’s portfolio.
ACLEI’s purpose and functions
1.8The LEIC Act establishes the office of the Integrity Commissioner and the statutory agency ACLEI. ACLEI’s purpose is to ‘make it more difficult for corruption to occur or remain undetected in designated Australian Government law enforcement agencies’. This aligns with ACLEI’s priority which is to ‘investigate allegations of serious and systemic corruption’ in these agencies.
1.9In 2021-22, ACELI’s oversight role involved four key activities. The activities reflect ACLEI’s prescribed role set out in the LEIC Act:
receiving and assessing notifications and referrals of alleged corrupt conduct by staff members of LEIC Act agencies;
conducting investigations into serious and systemic corrupt conduct in LEIC Act agencies;
supporting LEIC Act agencies to conduct their own investigations;
preventing corruption through engagement, support and identification of vulnerabilities within LEIC Act agencies.
1.10ACLEI noted that it is in the process of developing a fifth key activity—detection— which is expected to be operational from 2022-23. ACLEI considers this activity will ‘further [its] proactive capabilities and assist partner agencies in identifying potential corruption vulnerabilities’.
ACLEI’s jurisdiction and expansion
1.11During 2021-22, the Integrity Commissioner investigated allegations of corruption in the following Australian Government agencies:
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC);
Australian Federal Police (includingACTPolicing) (AFP);
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC);
Department of Home Affairs, including the Australian Border Force (ABF);
prescribed aspects of the Department ofAgriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF);
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC);
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA);
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC);and
Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
1.12In addition, on 14 December 2021, the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) was brought into ACLEI’s jurisdiction due to the commencement of the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Amendment (Office of the Special Investigator and Other Measures) Regulations 2021.
Use of powers
1.13The LEIC Act requires the Integrity Commissioner to prioritise the investigation of serious and systemic corruption. For this purpose, the Integrity Commissioner has coercive information-gathering powers and law enforcement powers including:
search warrants;
controlled operations;
telecommunications data authorisations;
telecommunications interception warrants;
stored communications warrants;
surveillance device warrants; and
the power of arrest.
1.14Various safeguards are in place to ensure that ACLEI uses its power appropriately. For example, during the reporting period, the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) conducted routine inspections of ACLEI under Part 1AB of the Crimes Act 1914, Surveillance Devices Act 2004 and the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979. The Ombudsman made several suggestions and better practice suggestions to ACLEI to improve its administrative and record-keeping processes and procedures. These areas for improvement were discussed in detail during the committee’s private briefing with the Ombudsman on 23 November 2022.