Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, I present the committee's report, incorporating a dissenting report, entitled Examination of the annual report of the Integrity Commissioner 2019–20.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—The Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 requires the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, ACLEI, to examine the annual report of the Integrity Commission and to report to parliament on any matter that arises from the report. The report reflects the work of former Integrity Commissioner Mr Michael Griffin AM and his successor, Ms Jaala Hinchcliffe, who took over as commissioner on 10 February 2020. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Mr Griffin for his professional and dedicated commitment as commissioner.

The report notes that ACLEI's jurisdiction was expanded on 1 January 2021 to include the ATO, the ACCC, ASIC and APRA and that this was the first stage in the establishment of the Morrison government's proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission.

Labor members of the committee have made additional comments to the committee report, with specific reference to the proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission model. The model has been widely criticised by legal and corruption experts as falling well short of what is needed to investigate and tackle corruption. There has also been a lack of urgency shown by the Morrison government in investigating and tackling corruption and establishing a national integrity commission.

The committee is satisfied that ACLEI performed well against its performance criteria for 2019-20, despite facing several challenges, including an increased workload, staff recruitment difficulties and the COVID pandemic. In particular, ACLEI concluded 93 investigations and completed 75 per cent of all assessments within 30 days of receipt.

The committee commends Commissioner Hinchliffe and her team for their work in tackling corrupt conduct within Australia's Commonwealth law enforcement agencies. I also take this opportunity to thank the ACLEI committee secretariat for their diligent support of the committee's work.