Every report received by the Commission is comprehensively assessed - whether it is a corruption complaint, a mandatory corruption notification, or a disclosure of disclosable conduct. The Commission knows that making a report takes courage, and no report is ignored.

The Commission's assessment process ensures all reports are considered and appropriately dealt with, including referring or giving it to the appropriate investigative entity where required.

The Commission is only concerned with corrupt conduct in the ACT, and prioritises the investigation of serious or systemic corruption.

The Commission does not deal with general integrity concerns and misconduct. This function is delivered by the ACT Public Sector Standards Commissioner (PSSC), with support from an ACT Government administrative unit (the Professional Standards Unit).

The Commission does not have any responsibility for ACT Policing or the conduct of officers.

ACT Policing is a community policing branch of the Australian Federal Police and therefore a commonwealth agency. This means ACT Policing falls under the jurisdiction of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

To report suspected corruption by ACT Policing officers, visit: www.nacc.gov.au

Assessing reports of potential corruption (or potential public interest disclosures), and fully investigating allegations of corruption is a complex process. There is no set timeframe for either of these processes and it generally takes 3 - 4 years for our counterparts at other state or territory integrity bodies to complete their own investigations.

There are a number of steps involved in each of these activities and the Commission takes great care to undertake all required steps and ensure all matters are thoroughly considered.

For more information on the process of an investigation, visit our infographic.

A number of the Commission's functions have to be delivered covertly, or secretly, so the Commission can conduct its investigations fully and with regard to procedural fairness and avoiding undue reputational damage.

However, behind the scenes our small team is working hard to investigate, expose and prevent corruption in the ACT.

In the 2022-23 financial year alone, the Commission achieved the following:

• Our Assessments team assessed 167 reports of potential corruption and potential disclosures of disclosable conduct,
• Our Legal team held 55 private examinations, and issued 114 confidentiality notices and 88 examination summonses.
• Our Investigations team worked on 14 preliminary inquiries and 13 investigations, and
• Our Corporate, Prevention and Communication team developed 14 bespoke resources and facilitated outreach activities (training and e-learning modules) for approximately 1000 ACT Government staff.

Since its establishment, the Commission has also released four 'Special Reports'.

The nature of the Commission and its functions means that a lot of its functions must be carried out 'covertly' - or confidentially. This approach ensures the Commission can conduct its investigation fully and without interruptions. The Commission is also concerned with 'procedural fairness' and avoiding undue reputational damage.

For these reasons, the Commission often won't comment on its investigations or the reports it may or may not have received, and may not answer questions on the status of these matters.

Rest assured - our investigators and assessment staff are working hard to action all reports received, preliminary inquiries, and assessments.

To date, the Commission has released four 'special reports' - each of which relate in some way to the sale or acquisition of land, or related government agreements. This has led to a misconception that the Commission only handles land disputes. This is incorrect. 

The Commission has a broad jurisdiction covering all corrupt conduct in the ACT. Our guiding legislation, the Integrity Commission Act 2018, defines corrupt conduct as conduct by a public official that could constitute:

• A criminal offence,
• A serious disciplinary offence,
• Reasonable grounds for dismissing or otherwise terminating a person's services,
• Exercising official functions in a way that is not honest or impartial,
• A breach of public trust, or
• Misuse of official information.

The Commission prioritises the investigation of serious or systemic corrupt conduct.

(Note: Under section 206 of the Integrity Commission Act 2018, the Integrity Commissioner can prepare a special report for the Legislative Assembly on any matters relating to the exercise of the Commission's functions - including administrative and policy matters).