NSW integrity agencies receive $228.6m Budget boost

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NSW integrity agencies have received extra funding in the NSW Budget for 2023-24, with $228.6 million over the next 10 years.

Three agencies received the following funding over a 10-year period:

• The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) received $49.4 million in new expenditure and $9.8 million in new capital expenditure to address operation and service delivery needs.
• The NSW ombud received $30.5 million in expenditure for additional legislative duties and service requirements.
• The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission received $21.1 million in expenditure for its growing remit and oversight activities.

Additionally, the NSW Electoral Commission has received $75.6 million in additional net expenditure for the 2024 local government elections over 2023-24 and 2024-25.

NSW special minister of state John Graham said the new expenditure would “alleviate previous resourcing pressures and allow [integrity agencies] to continue their work investigating, exposing, and preventing corruption and maladministration”.

A specialist integrity agency unit will also be established within NSW Treasury to manage representations of agency funding needs and provide agencies with information on their funding outcomes.

Five NSW integrity agencies will also have new funding models, separate from the NSW Premier’s Department and the Cabinet Office’s financial management processes. The agencies will also be exempt from efficiency dividends.

Those agencies are the Audit Office of NSW, ICAC, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, the NSW Electoral Commission and the NSW Ombud’s Office.

Separating out the funding of those agencies were recommendations out of a 2020 Public Accountability Committee Report and a 2022 auditor-general report.

Both reports argued separating out the funding would enforce the independence of the agencies rather than being subject to potential reductions in funding during the financial year.

Auditor-general Margaret Crawford said in her 2020 report that the previous funding model presented “threats” to the independence of four of the integrity agencies, excluding her own agency.

“The approach used by NSW Treasury and DPC is consistent with the legislative and constitutional framework for financial management in NSW,” the auditor-general’s report said.

“But it does not sufficiently recognise that the roles and functions of the integrity agencies that are the focus of this audit are different to other departments and agencies.”

As for the 2020 report, the committee stated the five agencies were “the bedrock of government accountability” in NSW.

“It is vital that the oversight bodies are not prevented from performing their important work by inadequate funding,” the report stated.

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