Crime and Corruption Act 2001

• CCC officers and the commission itself, which must operate within the investigative and reporting framework the Act prescribes.
• Persons suspected of corrupt conduct or major crime, who may be subject to notices to produce, surveillance warrants, and compelled hearings.
• Public servants and persons holding public appointments in Queensland, for whom the definition of corrupt conduct is most directly relevant.
• Units of public administration including government departments, statutory bodies and local councils, which may be subject to corruption investigations and improvement recommendations.
• Witnesses and persons called to hearings, who must comply with attendance requirements and answer questions unless a recognised privilege applies.
• Journalists and news media organisations, which from 2024 may claim journalist privilege to resist identification of confidential sources before the CCC.
• Complainants, who have rights to be informed of certain outcomes under the complaint management provisions.
• Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee, which exercises oversight functions including receiving reports, directing tabling in the Legislative Assembly, and directing the CCC on certain matters.
• Queensland courts, which may be involved in surveillance warrant applications, privilege determinations, and judicial review of CCC decisions.

Duty to investigate. Under Chapter 2, Part 3, the CCC must investigate the most serious and systemic corrupt conduct (s 35). It may refer less serious complaints to units of public administration or take other action.

Adverse comment procedure. Where the CCC proposes to make an adverse comment about a person in a report that will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly or published, it must first give that person an opportunity to make submissions about the proposed comment, and those submissions must be fairly stated in the report (as acknowledged in paragraph 13 of CCC v Carne [2023] HCA 28). This requirement operates as a procedural fairness safeguard within the reporting process.

Notification to suspect and person investigated. The CCC has obligations to notify persons when they are the subject of investigation in certain circumstances, subject to operational security considerations.

Prevention function obligations. Under ss 23-24, the CCC must analyse intelligence it gathers, analyse results of investigations, analyse systems used by public bodies to prevent corruption, consult with and provide information to units of public administration, and report on ways to prevent major crime and corruption.

Compliance with witness requirements at hearings. Persons required to attend a CCC hearing must attend and answer questions. Failure to comply without reasonable excuse is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of 85 penalty units or 1 year imprisonment under provisions in Chapter 3, Parts 1 and related hearing provisions.

Production powers. Section 73 allows the chairperson to issue a notice to produce where the chairperson reasonably suspects a person possesses a document or thing relevant to an investigation, operation or function. The notice must specify a reasonable timeframe and production method.

Surveillance device warrants. Section 121 allows an authorised commission officer, with the chairperson's approval, to apply to a Supreme Court judge for a surveillance warrant in corruption investigations. The application must be sworn and must fully disclose all known relevant matters including matters adverse to the application. A public interest monitor must be advised of the application.

Hearing powers. Section 176 allows the CCC to hold hearings in relation to any matter relevant to the performance of its functions (except confiscation related investigations). Hearings are generally closed to the public under s 177. For crime investigations, a public hearing may be approved if the commission considers it will make the investigation more effective and would not be unfair to any person or contrary to the public interest. For other hearings, a public hearing may be approved if closing it would be unfair to a person or contrary to the public interest. A decision to hold a public hearing must not be delegated (s 177(3)).

General powers. Section 174 gives the CCC all powers necessary or convenient for performing its functions. However, it expressly limits the CCC's power to make public statements about particular complaints or corruption investigations, which is important for containing reputational harm from unresolved matters.

Reporting powers. Section 64 is the general power to make reports. Section 49 governs reporting on corruption investigations. Under s 69, certain reports may be tabled in the Legislative Assembly through a PCCC direction, attracting parliamentary privilege for their publication.

Referral power. At the conclusion of a corruption investigation, the CCC may refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the relevant unit of public administration, or take other specified action under s 49.

The Act creates a layered penalty regime across the hearing and investigation framework:

• Failure to comply with a notice to produce or hearing requirement: 85 penalty units or 1 year imprisonment (for non-compliance without reasonable excuse).
• Contempt of commission process: up to 200 penalty units or 5 years imprisonment.
• Perjury-related offences: 350 penalty units or 7 years imprisonment.
• Obstruction of commission officers: 1,000 penalty units (for the most serious obstruction offences).
• Criminal Code provisions applied to hearings: Section 206 applies Criminal Code ss 120, 123, 123A, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129 and 130 to commission hearings, treating them as judicial proceedings and the presiding officer as a holder of judicial office.

The CCC does not itself prosecute offenders. Rather, it refers evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions (crime investigations) or the relevant public authority (corruption matters). Civil consequences for public servants may include disciplinary action up to termination.

Complaint reception and initial assessment. The CCC receives complaints about corrupt conduct from any person. Chapter 2, Part 3 sets out the process for assessing complaints: the CCC must decide whether to investigate, refer, take no further action, or take other specified action. More serious and systemic conduct must be prioritised (s 35(3)).

Investigation process. Investigations may involve notices to produce, surveillance warrants, hearings and the use of intelligence gathered from other agencies. The investigation process does not have fixed statutory timelines but must be conducted expeditiously as a matter of principle.

Hearings. The CCC may authorise hearings at any stage of an investigation. A presiding officer is appointed for each hearing. Witnesses may be represented by a lawyer but the lawyer's role is constrained compared to adversarial litigation.

Reporting. On completing a corruption investigation, the CCC must decide what action to take under s 49 and prepare any necessary report. Before making an adverse comment in a report to be tabled or published, the procedural fairness step described above must occur. Reports for tabling in the Legislative Assembly require a PCCC direction under s 69.

Parliamentary tabling. The PCCC may direct the CCC to give a report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for tabling. Once tabled, the report attracts parliamentary privilege.

Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 (Qld). As clarified in CCC v Carne [2023] HCA 28, s 8 of that Act preserves parliamentary privilege for proceedings in the Legislative Assembly. The interaction between the CCC's reporting powers under s 69 of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 and parliamentary privilege was the central issue in that High Court decision.

Criminal Code (Qld). Section 206 applies Criminal Code offence provisions to CCC hearings as if they were judicial proceedings. The CCC's corruption findings may also refer matters to prosecution under the Criminal Code.

Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld). Section 174 refers to Chapter 11 (controlled operations) of that Act as an example of the CCC's additional operational powers.

Confiscation Act (Qld). Section 4(2) and related provisions give the CCC a specific function for confiscation related investigations, linking the CCC's powers to the proceeds of crime framework.

Public Records Act 2023 (Qld). Section 120 expressly provides that the Public Records Act 2023 does not apply to surveillance device records under Chapter 3, Part 6, Divisions 2 and 3.

Financial Accountability Act 2009 (Qld). Section 221A provides that the CCC is a statutory body under the Financial Accountability Act 2009.

Public Sector Act 2022 (Qld). Sections 221B and 221C define the CCC's status as not a public sector entity for the purposes of the Public Sector Act 2022, while still prescribing it for certain equity, diversity and inclusion obligations.

Adverse comment procedure is mandatory before tabling. As confirmed in CCC v Carne [2023] HCA 28, the CC Act requires that before a report containing adverse comment about a person is tabled or published, the person must have an opportunity to make submissions, and those submissions must be fairly stated in the report. An incomplete draft report that has not completed this procedural fairness step is not ready for s 69 tabling and cannot be treated as a completed report for those purposes.

Section 69 applies only to certain report types. Section 69 applies to reports on public hearings, research reports, and "other reports" that the PCCC directs be given to the Speaker. It does not apply to a report made under s 49 on the conclusion of a corruption investigation (CCC v Carne, paragraph 44). The distinction matters: if a corruption investigation report could be tabled under s 69, it attracts parliamentary privilege; if it cannot, the CCC must use another publication mechanism.

CCC cannot make public statements about particular corruption investigations. Section 174(4) limits the CCC's power to make public statements about particular complaints, information or matters involving corruption, or particular corruption investigations. This is a meaningful constraint on the CCC's ability to publicly discuss ongoing or concluded corruption matters outside the formal reporting framework.

Journalist privilege is new (2024). Chapter 4A was inserted in 2024 and creates a journalist privilege regime that did not previously exist before the CCC. Practitioners representing journalists before the CCC must be familiar with the new framework, including the definition of "journalist" in s 205C and the categories of "privilege" in s 205B.

Hearings are not open by default. Section 177(1) provides that hearings are generally not open to the public. A person who attends a closed hearing is bound by confidentiality obligations. Public disclosure of hearing evidence outside the Act's authorised channels is an offence.

Surveillance warrant applications require full disclosure of adverse material. Under s 121(4), the application for a surveillance warrant must fully disclose all matters the applicant is aware of that are both favourable and adverse to the issuing of the warrant. Failure to make full disclosure can result in the warrant being set aside.

Example 1: Corrupt conduct referral from a public servant. A Queensland public servant witnesses a manager approving a contract to a supplier owned by the manager's relative, without disclosure. The public servant reports this to the CCC. The CCC assesses the complaint and, if satisfied it involves conduct that adversely affects public administration in a dishonest or partial way and would constitute a criminal offence or disciplinary breach, may investigate it as a corruption investigation. Less serious matters may be referred to the relevant unit of public administration for internal action.

Example 2: Production notice to a financial institution. During a corruption investigation involving suspected misuse of public funds, the CCC chairperson reasonably suspects a bank holds documents relevant to the investigation. A notice to produce under s 73 is issued requiring the bank to produce specified account records within a stated period. Failure to comply without reasonable excuse exposes the bank to a penalty of 85 penalty units or 1 year imprisonment.

Example 3: Tabling an investigation report. The CCC completes a corruption investigation into a senior public official and prepares a report containing adverse comments about that person. Before sending the report to the PCCC for a s 69 direction to table it in the Legislative Assembly, the CCC must give the person an opportunity to make submissions about the proposed adverse comment and fairly incorporate those submissions. The PCCC then decides whether to direct tabling. Once tabled, the report attracts parliamentary privilege.

Example 4: Journalist called to a CCC hearing. A journalist is called to a CCC hearing and asked to identify a confidential source who provided information about an alleged corruption matter. Under Chapter 4A (as inserted in 2024), the journalist may claim journalist privilege under s 205D to resist identifying the informant. The presiding officer, and ultimately the Supreme Court, may determine whether the privilege applies and whether it should be overridden by the public interest in disclosure.

Example 5: CCC v Carne principle applied. A CCC investigation report is prepared but the adverse comment procedural fairness step is incomplete. The CCC nonetheless seeks a s 69 direction from the PCCC to table the report. Under the principles in CCC v Carne [2023] HCA 28, an incomplete draft that has not completed procedural fairness requirements and has not been the subject of a PCCC direction to table is not a report for the purposes of s 69(1). A person affected by the draft report may seek a declaration that it is not a tabling-eligible report in its current form.