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Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.27      The committee recommends that the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 be amended so as to establish a 'second tier' to the Act. Agencies with a law enforcement function included in this second tier would be subject to limited ACLEI oversight, under which the head of an agency, or the minister responsible for the agency, may refer a corruption issue, on a voluntary basis, for consideration by the Integrity Commissioner. The Integrity Commissioner should also have the power to commence an investigation or inquiry into a corruption issue in a second tier agency on his or her own initiative.

Recommendation 2

2.64      The committee recommends that ACLEI's second tier jurisdiction should initially comprise the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, CrimTrac, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Recommendation 3

2.68      The committee recommends that the operation of a second tier in the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 and the list of agencies prescribed in that tier be reviewed two years after initial establishment. This review should include consideration of whether any tier two agencies may more appropriately be subject to tier one prescription. Similar reviews should subsequently be conducted at two year intervals.

Recommendation 4

2.83      The committee recommends that the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 be amended so as to ensure that secrecy and confidentiality provisions pertaining to law enforcement agencies within ACLEI's jurisdiction do not prevent the Integrity Commissioner from receiving information necessary to the investigation of a corruption issue.

Recommendation 5

2.86      The committee recommends that the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 be amended so that the period of appointment of the Integrity Commissioner may be extended once, beyond the five year period of appointment, for a period of up to two years by the Governor-General on recommendation of the Minister, with the approval of the committee.  Any such extension to the period of appointment should apply only to a serving Integrity Commissioner and should be approved no less than three months before the expiry of the current period of appointment.

Recommendation 6

3.27      The committee recommends that the Integrity Commissioner, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Public Service Commissioner, the Auditor-General and the Attorney-General's Department develop a more detailed and comprehensive definition of corruption for the purposes of the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006. A proposed definition should be circulated for public consultation, including this committee, no later than November 2011.

Recommendation 7

3.63      The committee recommends that ACLEI and the Australian Public Service Commission continue to collaborate in the development of ethics training provided to public servants to include corruption prevention using ACLEI's specialised experience and knowledge.

Recommendation 8

3.73      The committee recommends that the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 be amended so as to provide a mechanism by which the Public Service Commissioner, with the consent of the Integrity Commissioner, could request assistance, including on behalf of any head of a Commonwealth agency, in investigating a serious corruption issue. Such a request would be made after consideration of whether ACLEI's unique experience and powers meant that ACLEI could provide greater investigatory value than the Australian Federal Police. Furthermore, to avoid overburdening ACLEI to the detriment of its primary law enforcement focus, such an arrangement should be funded by the requesting agency.

Recommendation 9

3.91      The committee recommends that the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 be amended so as to include a 'more conveniently dealt with' clause that would enable the Integrity Commissioner to refer to the Commonwealth Ombudsman issues that are not, or through the course of investigation, it is discovered are not, corruption issues but which do relate to misconduct.

Recommendation 10

3.130      The committee recommends that the Australian Government conduct a review of the Commonwealth integrity system with particular examination of the merits of establishing a Commonwealth integrity commission with anti-corruption oversight of all Commonwealth public sector agencies, taking into account the need to retain the expertise of ACLEI in the area of law enforcement.

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