| 30 September 2026 Last week the Victorian Parliament passed the Government’s IBAC reform Bill, with significant amendments. This is a major win for integrity in Victoria. ART recognises that the latest amendments to the IBAC draft Bill reflect a decade of persistence by ART in pursuing necessary reforms that at long last have come to fruition. It will now give IBAC the same flexibility of jurisdiction as the NSW ICAC in pursuing soft corruption, enable it to follow public money into the hands of private parties, the capacity to hold more public hearings, to publish its reports more expeditiously, to ensure greater scrutiny over the appointment of IBAC Commissioners, and to make public its requests for additional funding and the abandonment of conditions that would have disabled IBAC from revisiting investigations that it had dismissed because of its limited jurisdiction. The last of these amendments will ensure that IBAC is now able to investigate any matters that the Royal Commission refers to it. ART’s role. Stephen Charles, former Court of Appeal judge and a director of ART, made the case for many of these reforms more than a decade ago. In December 2024, ART made him an Honorary Life Member in recognition of that advocacy.Robert Redlich KC AM carried that work forward as Chair of ART. Robert has long argued that IBAC needed the power to follow the money, and he has welcomed these changes. Stephen and Robert were joined by ART’s board, its members and many others who kept up the pressure for reform. IBAC reform alongside the Royal Commission. ART called for a Royal Commission, a Special Prosecutor and stronger powers for IBAC. All three are now in place.The Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects has held its first public hearing, and it will work alongside a Special Prosecutor. IBAC now has the powers to act on what the Royal Commission uncovers. On the opening day of the Royal Commission, Counsel Assisting reminded the Commission that Victorians “will pay $150 billion for the big build” and “have a right to know whether their money has been well spent.” IBAC can now follow that money into private hands. Beyond criminal offences. The Commission will examine whether anyone “sought to avoid knowledge, to have plausible deniability.” Conduct like this often falls short of a criminal offence. IBAC can now pursue it. In public. The Commissioner said accountability must run “from those who carry the highest level of responsibility down and without exception.” IBAC will now be able to hold more of its hearings in public.Ministerial responsibility. The Ministerial Code of Conduct must now be made public, which gives Victorians a clear standard for judging what ministers knew and did On behalf of the board we also acknowledge the contribution of Dr Tim Read, the first non-government Chair of Parliament’s Integrity and Oversight Committee, who championed IBAC reform and who passed away just a few days before the reform legislation passed. Tim was a parliamentarian of integrity, widely respected across the Parliament and he will be greatly missed. |
