Appointment Process for New Anti-Corruption Body Members Kept Under Wraps: Inquiry

Several parliamentarians said the processes around appointing new commissioners and reporting on the NACC’s proceedings are too opaque.

Officials from the Attorney General's Department at the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). L to R: Joanna Virtue, Assistant Secretary, Fraud Prevention and Anti-Corruption Branch, Sarah Chidgey Deputy Secretary, Integrity and Security Group, and Sara Samios, First Assistant Secretary, Integrity and Criminal Law Division.

The Albanese government will not reveal who will select the next leaders of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), nor publicly seek nominations for the independent member of the appointment panel, prompting fresh criticism over transparency.

The decision emerged during a parliamentary inquiry into the commission’s operations , where government officials defended a closed appointment process despite mounting scrutiny of the NACC following the resignation of former Commissioner Paul Brereton and the departure of Assistant Commissioner Nicole Rose.