NACC spree extends
Reports continue to flood the new NACC.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is grappling with a mounting workload as it faces a surge in corruption reports and referrals.
Since its establishment on July 1st this year, the NACC has received a reported 665 referral.
The pace at which reports are flooding into the NACC has raised eyebrows, with its weekly intake surpassing the statistics reported by the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in its 2021-2022 annual report.
To put it in perspective, the NACC is currently averaging 12.5 referrals per day, while ICAC managed 9.7 referrals daily.
State-level corruption commissions, like ICAC, are tasked with rooting out wrongdoing in local government, making the NACC's workload particularly remarkable.
New South Wales' ICAC received 3,570 reports in 2022, providing a benchmark for federal anti-corruption efforts. Based on these preliminary numbers, the federal NACC is 22.5 per cent busier than its state-level counterpart.
The NACC update revealed; "Since July 1st, the Commission has made 242 requests for further information; 197 referrals have been escalated to the second stage of assessment; 38 referrals are waiting to be assessed”.
The pace has prompted the NACC to seek talent from other agencies, including the recent addition of George-Philip (GP) de Wet, the former Chief Operating Officer of the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).