Australia’s integrity agencies can only hold power to account when they are independent in practice, not just in law. This paper argues that integrity agency independence depends on three institutional levers: secure funding, merit-based appointments and robust oversight. It outlines reforms to strengthen these levers and better secure the independence of Australia’s core integrity agencies.

Too often, government consultation is treated as a box-ticking exercise – yet it sits at the heart of legitimacy, accountability and public trust. This paper shows how public consultation integrity can deliver better decisions and reduce the disproportionate influence of vested interests, but only when consultation is genuine, accessible and done early – before outcomes...

The integrity scorecard assesses the first six months of the re-elected Rockliff Government (Tasmanian Government) across eight reform areas, including Right to Information, ministerial diary disclosure, lobbying oversight, integrity in appointments, parliamentary standards, government advertising, the Government’s relationship with integrity officers and reforms to the Integrity Commission. It finds an uneven integrity performance.

A well-functioning democracy depends on informed, transparent and accountable law-making. Using recent case studies, this paper shows how limited consultation and attempts to short-circuit committee scrutiny can undermine legislative quality and democratic legitimacy. The paper calls for four law-making integrity safeguards to be embedded as standard practice as a practical standard for the Australian Parliament.

A series of fact-checks regarding claims made by the Australian Government in relation to parliamentary questions on the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025. The Government’s claims about the Robodebt Royal Commission, changes to the Cabinet confidentiality exemption, inundation by AI generated bots, and national security concerns around FOI are found to be false or...