The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) has told a parliamentary inquiry that just three people have been convicted of corruption offences following referrals from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), more than three years after the commission began operating.
Warren Day, the Commonwealth solicitor for public prosecutions, and David Bahlen, the CDPP’s national practice leader for serious financial and corporate crime, gave evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Committee is examining aspects of the NACC’s performance of its functions in an inquiry due to report by Oct. 26.
In a written submission (pdf), the CDPP said it had received eight referrals from the NACC involving 13 individuals between July 1, 2023, when the commission began operating, and April 22 of this year.
Of those, three were briefs of evidence referred for a decision on whether to prosecute, and five were requests for “pre-brief advice,” where the CDPP advises on what evidence is needed before a formal referral is made.
Bahlen told the committee two further referrals had come in since the submission was lodged, taking the total to 10.
All three briefs of evidence that were referred led to prosecutions, and all three defendants were convicted, on a combined 14 proven offences, according to the submission.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge asked the CDPP witnesses to confirm whether “the bulk” of the NACC’s referrals had been finalised with no further action taken.
In response, Bahlen said, “That’s correct.”
Noting that the results had accumulated over more than three years, Shoebridge told the pair they amounted to “one prosecution a year.”
Day also told the committee the NACC’s referrals made up a small share of the CDPP’s overall workload. The office had about 3,400 matters on hand as of June 30, and completed 1,560 prosecutions with 1,528 convictions in the last full financial year, he said.
“This is not a large volume of our work,” Day told the Committee.
Asked how many of the 1,528 convictions involved NACC referrals, Day could not say and took the question on notice. Shoebridge suggested the figure had been zero in at least one earlier year, but Day did not confirm this before the hearing concluded.
The NACC’s own annual report (pdf) for the 2024-25 financial year shows a similarly wide gap between the volume of complaints it receives and the number that reach prosecutors.
The commission received 2,271 referrals that year and about 5,465 in total since it began operating, while 40 corruption investigations were underway at the end of the period.
The NACC has faced questions about its effectiveness before. In November 2024, a parliamentary committee scrutinised the commission after a senior officer resigned amid concerns about integrity and after the watchdog decided not to investigate six people referred to it by the Robodebt Royal Commission.
The hearing prompted questions about the commission’s decision-making and the extent to which it was fulfilling the role Parliament had created it to perform.
Under the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth, the CDPP must be satisfied a prima facie case exists, that there are reasonable prospects of conviction, and that proceeding is in the public interest, before any referred matter goes ahead.
Both witnesses told the committee the CDPP does not investigate matters itself, and relies on referring agencies, including the NACC, to prepare briefs of evidence and support any resulting prosecution.
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