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Snapshot

  • A recent study, Community Attitudes to Corruption and to the ICAC; Report of the 2013 Survey, looked at perceptions of ICAC
  • The survey showed that while a large proportion of respondents indicated they would likely report corruption, less than half believed something would be done if serious corruption was reported
  • If the penalty matches or exceeds the motivation, the probability of corruption would dramatically decrease because the perceived benefit becomes outweighed

“I would probably give it 1 per cent”, answered Eddie Obeid when asked about the chances of the DPP taking action against him, having been found to have acted corruptly by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

The ICAC was formed on noble intentions on 2 May 1988. In his second reading speech, Nick Greiner (then NSW Premier and father of the ICAC), said: “It would be …crass and naive to measure the success of the independent commission by how many convictions it gets or how much corruption it uncovers. The simple fact is that the measure of its success will be the enhancement of integrity and, most importantly, of community confidence in public administration in this state”. That was 26 years ago. Can we look at the ICAC and say it has enhanced integrity and built community confidence in public administration of NSW?

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