Paul Brereton, Australia’s first national anti-corruption commissioner, will step down from the top job in July, citing criticism of potential conflicts of interest as “drawing attention away” from the body’s core purpose.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Brereton said the “ongoing focus on matters relating to me personally” were “drawing attention away from the commission’s core purpose of strengthening integrity”.
“I believe that the commission’s success is paramount, and not due to any single person,” Brereton said.
“While I will continue to resist any suggestion of impropriety, I have decided that it is time, now that the commission is established and functioning with quality staff and good processes, to step aside and allow a new commissioner to lead it into the next phase of its development into a key and respected component of the integrity architecture of the commonwealth.”
Brereton has been in the role since July 2023, and final day will be on 6 July.
The Nacc is expected to appear before a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday evening.
Brereton has attracted criticism for doing consulting work for his previous employer – the inspector-general of the Australian defence force (IGADF) – while serving as the Nacc’s commissioner.
The work related to his former position leading an inquiry into alleged war crimes involving Australian troops in Afghanistan.
The Nacc was also heavily criticised after an initial decision in 2024 to not investigate the six people referred to it by the robodebt royal commission. It subsequently reversed the decision the following year.
The Nacc inspector, which receiving more than 1,000 complaints, found that the initial decision was “affected by apprehended bias”, after determining Brereton had not removed himself from the decision-making process despite declaring a perceived conflict of interest with one of the six individuals.
But the report also noted there was “no finding of intentional wrongdoing or other impropriety”.
A report was eventually released earlier this year, which found two of the public servants referred had engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
The Centre for Public Integrity chair, Anthony Whealy, said public confidence in the Nacc “been tested by ongoing concerns about conflicts of interest, transparency and governance”.
“The controversies surrounding Commissioner Brereton, including findings of apprehended bias and ongoing investigations into the handling of conflicts of interest, have reinforced why strong institutional safeguards matter so deeply to public trust,” he said.
“We can’t trust the government to choose their own watchdogs. There are now two vacancies in the Nacc that must be filled following an independent, transparent merits based appointments process, to restore public trust in that institution.
“Parliament’s oversight role in the process needs to be properly respected. Ideally, we would see legislated reforms to ensure these things.”
More to come.
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