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This week marks the first anniversary of Australia’s long-debated and long-awaited National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), established to detect, deter and prevent corrupt conduct of public officials.
So, has it fulfilled its promise?
As Andrew Young from Deakin University writes, the investigation that has attracted most attention so far has been the one into the Robodebt scheme. The NACC decided it would not pursue any of the referrals to it from the royal commission into the scheme.
This came as a shock to many, especially given the shocking revelations about Robodebt, and ultimately led to the inspector of the NACC, Gail Furness, announcing she would inquire into the commission’s decision after receiving almost 900 complaints about it.
Despite this, on numbers at least, Young says, the commission appears committed to its purpose: it recently reported that of 3,154 referrals to it since its inception, 516 were under assessment and it was conducting 26 corruption investigations. Five matters have gone on to court proceedings, two of which have resulted in convictions.
But it would better serve the public interest if more of its activities were conducted publicly, so the public can assess whether or not it is fulfilling its role and obligations.
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Amanda Dunn
Politics + Society Editor
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Andrew Young, Deakin University
The NACC is demonstrating, on raw numbers at least, that it is committed to its purpose and achieving results. But how effective those results actually are will take longer to assess.
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Jason Harris, University of Sydney
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
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Carmel Taddeo, University of South Australia; Barbara Spears, University of South Australia
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Adhi Oktaviana, Griffith University; Adam Brumm, Griffith University; Maxime Aubert, Griffith University; Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Southern Cross University
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Cameron Webb, University of Sydney
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Ehsan Noroozinejad, Western Sydney University; Nicky Morrison, Western Sydney University
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Magnus Söderberg, Griffith University
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Garritt C. Van Dyk, University of Newcastle
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Sally Breen, Griffith University
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Toby Murray, The University of Melbourne
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Katharine Kemp, UNSW Sydney
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Marta Rychert, Massey University; Kate Diesfeld, Auckland University of Technology; Lois Surgenor, University of Otago
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O'Brien, who has spearheaded the Coalition's Nuclear Energy plans joins us today to talk about the plan and Australia's energy market.
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Sherine Al Shallah, UNSW Sydney
When it comes to protection for refugees on the basis of cultural heritage loss, there are very few pathways available.
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Health + Medicine
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Milad Haghani, UNSW Sydney; Claudio Feliciani, University of Tokyo
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Science + Technology
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Markus Luczak-Roesch, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
As the digital economy accelerates, New Zealand needs new rules to regulate how we develop new services– and who develops them.
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Environment + Energy
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Muhammad Rizwan Azhar, Edith Cowan University; Waqas Uzair, Edith Cowan University
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Education
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Isabella Bower, University of South Australia; Jaclyn Broadbent, Deakin University
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Arts + Culture
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Rachel Williamson, University of Canterbury
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Books + Ideas
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Emma Shortis, RMIT University
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Business + Economy
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The Nationals have had a major win in having the opposition commit give the ACCC divestiture powers.
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