Professor AJ Brown, Centre for Governance and Public Policy (CGPP), convened a webinar on 7 December to discuss the new Australian national anti-corruption commission. Drawing on the contributions of CGPP and other Griffith researchers over many years, the webinar examined key elements of the final legislative outcome on this historic reform – the passage of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act just a week earlier. Against the backdrop of political history and community drivers outlined by Cathy McGowan AO, Griffith experts discussed the translation of Australia’s state-based ‘standing royal commission’ model to the national level for the first time.
Strengths such as the broad scope or definition of corrupt conduct, and new scale of prevention functions, were analysed against final controversies over new limitations – symbolic and actual – on the role of public hearings and guarantees for the political independence of appointments. The discussion provided a rich resource for those seeking to understand and monitor the implementation of these once-in-a-generation reforms.
Speakers:
- Professor AJ Brown, Centre for Governance and Public Policy
- Cathy McGowan AO,
- Gary Sturgess AM
- Professor Janet Ransley, Griffith Criminology Institute
- Deborah Stokes, Transparency International