Detect. Investigate. Prevent.
Established under the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 (LEIC Act), ACLEI performs an important oversight role in relation to the integrity of Australian Government law enforcement agencies.
We undertake this role through 5 key activities:
- We detect corruption and enhance our partner agencies’ capability to detect corruption.
- We receive and assess notifications and referrals of alleged corrupt conduct by members of law enforcement agencies.
- We conduct investigations into serious and systemic corrupt conduct.
- We support our partner law enforcement agencies to conduct their own investigations.
- We prevent corruption through engagement, support and identification of vulnerabilities.
What ACLEI can investigate
The Integrity Commissioner investigates allegations of corruption involving current or former staff members of:
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) (including the former Australian Crime Commission, the former CrimTrac Agency and the former National Crime Authority)
- Australian Federal Police (AFP) (including ACT Policing)
- Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
- Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs), including the Australian Border Force (ABF)
- Office of the Special Investigator (OSI)
- parts of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
Priority is given to allegations of serious corruption or systemic corruption.
What should be reported to ACLEI
You can report suspected corruption in any of the agencies listed above to ACLEI.
Under the LEIC Act, a staff member of a law enforcement agency engages in corrupt conduct when they:
- abuse their office
- pervert the course of justice, or
- engage in corruption of any other kind.
If you are unsure, find out more about ‘What is corruption?’.
What ACLEI can’t investigate
ACLEI can only investigate allegations of corruption involving staff members of the agencies listed above. We cannot investigate:
- staff members of other Australian Government agencies
- staff members of state or territory police agencies (apart from ACT Policing)
- staff members of other state or territory government agencies
- elected representatives (such as local councillors, members of state and territory legislatures, members of the Australian Parliament and Senators)
- financial institutions (including banks)
- private enterprises and their employees
- members of the judiciary
- Staff members of agencies that are not specified in the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 or in the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Regulations 2017.
You may wish to consider reporting allegations that ACLEI cannot investigate, to relevant oversight or investigative authorities.
- If your complaint relates to a decision or dissatisfaction in relation to a Federal/Commonwealth agency, please direct your complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman
- If your complaint relates to a state or territory policing or government agency (excluding ACT Policing), please direct your complaint to the relevant state/territory Ombudsman or Corruption Commission.
- If your complaint relates to the judiciary or courts, contact the judicial council in your state or territory.
ACLEI is an independent agency
Under the LEIC Act, ACLEI is an independent agency, that conducts its own investigations.
The Integrity Commissioner:
- is appointed by the Governor-General and cannot be removed arbitrarily
- may not hold office for more than seven years
- can commence investigations on their own initiative, and
- can make public statements and release reports publicly.
The Attorney-General can request that the Integrity Commissioner conduct a public inquiry into all or any of the following:
- a corruption issue
- an issue about corruption generally in law enforcement, or
- an issue or issues about the integrity of staff members of law enforcement agencies.
How ACLEI uncovers corruption
Information about corruption comes from:
- members of the public
- staff members of agencies in the Integrity Commissioner’s jurisdiction, and
- our own detection initiatives.
The heads of agencies in ACLEI's jurisdiction must notify the Integrity Commissioner of any suspected corrupt conduct that occurs in their agencies. Any information that indicates corrupt conduct has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to occur, in those agencies can be investigated by the Integrity Commissioner.
In addition, members of the public and others can report corruption directly to ACLEI.
How ACLEI deals with allegations
The Integrity Commissioner decides independently how to deal with each corruption issue which is reported to ACLEI. The Integrity Commissioner is not expected to investigate every alleged corruption issue that arises in Commonwealth law enforcement agencies. Rather, the Integrity Commissioner's role is to ensure that indications and risks of corruption in law enforcement agencies are identified and addressed effectively.
The Integrity Commissioner can decide to:
- investigate a corruption issue independently
- investigate a corruption issue jointly with another agency
- refer a corruption issue to the relevant law enforcement agency for internal investigation (with or without management or oversight by ACLEI)
- refer a corruption issue to another agency—such as a state integrity agency, the AFP, or another government agency—for investigation, or
- take no further action.
How our investigations work
ACLEI has access to a range of powers to investigate corruption. These include:
- compulsory information-gathering notices
- compulsory hearings – which may be held in private or in public
- telecommunications interception and data access
- electronic surveillance
- controlled operations and assumed identities
- search warrants
- scrutiny of financial transaction records
- integrity testing.
Learn more about our investigations