Commissions of Inquiry

NSW Crime Commission

The New South Wales Crime Commission is a statutory corporation established by section 5(1) of the New South Wales Crime Commission Act 1985.

A principal objective of the Commission is to reduce the incidence of illegal drug trafficking. A secondary objective of the Commission is to reduce the incidence of organised and other crime. The Commission has two principal functions:

1.   The investigation of relevant criminal activity, and;

2.   The operation and implementation of the Criminal Assets Recovery Act (1990) NSW

The investigation of relevant criminal activity is conducted largely in private and strict laws are in place to ensure the integrity of any investigations undertaken.

If you receive a summons or a notice to produce documents or things from this Commission, please contact us for advice.

Law Enforcement Conduct Commission

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission was established in 2017 as a permanent independent investigative commission to provide oversight of the NSW Police Force and NSW Crime Commission.

The primary role of the LECC is to detect, oversight, investigate and expose misconduct and maladministration within the NSW Police Force and the NSW Crime Commission.

The LECC provides independent oversight and review (including, where appropriate, real time monitoring and review) of investigations by the NSW Police Force of misconduct matters concerning the conduct of its members and the NSW Crime Commission concerning its officers.

The LECC uses its investigative powers to identify and deal with cases of misconduct and maladministration in these agencies.

By being separate from and completely independent of both the NSW Police Force and NSW Crime Commission, the LECC is able to engage special powers to perform its investigative and oversight functions.

If you receive a notice to attend a hearing or produce documents or things, please contact us for advice.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) was established under the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 (Cwlth) (ACC Act). The agency was formed when the former Australian Crime Commission and CrimTrac merged in 2016, and is still known as the Australian Crime Commission for legal purposes.

The functions of the Commission are set out in Section 7A of the Act.

The ACIC’s coercive powers are similar to a Royal Commission and are used in special operations and special investigations to obtain information where the Board of the ACIC determines that it is in the public interest to do so.

The ACIC’s coercive powers authorise examiners to compel people to give evidence for the purposes of special ACIC operations or investigations.

Examiners can also issue notices requiring people to produce documents or things relevant to a special operation or investigation. This power is broad, and may apply to a person, a corporation or a Commonwealth government agency.

If you receive a summons, or a notice to produce documents or things, please contact us for advice.

Independent Commission Against Corruption

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established by the NSW Government in 1988 in response to growing community concern about the integrity of public administration in NSW.

The ICAC's principal functions are set out in the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988. In summary, they are:

        to investigate and expose corrupt conduct in the NSW public sector

        to actively prevent corruption through advice and assistance, and

        to educate the NSW community and public sector about corruption and its effects.

The jurisdiction of the ICAC extends to all NSW public sector agencies (with some exceptions noted below), their employees and contract staff in government departments and state-owned corporations, local councils, members of Parliament, ministers, the judiciary and the governor. The ICAC's jurisdiction also extends to those performing public official functions.

If you receive a summons, or a notice to produce documents or things, please contact us for advice.