Sep 13, 2026 · 49 min · 13 segments
In this episode, Foley's barrister Steven Brnovic examines the role of integrity oversight bodies in holding government agencies and decision-makers accountable. He explores Integrity Oversight…
I'm going to start to talk about Australian administrative law and the only natural place I can in this stage of December 2025, and that is with a reference to Donald Trump.
You might remember earlier this year, the president fired 17 inspectors general whose job it was to provide independent oversight of government activity and enforcing whistleblower protections.
The White House said that it was changing priorities that led to their sacking.
Others suggest a concern that inspectors general were too partisan and should be too partisan the other way.
Either way, a key feature of independent oversight of public power was dismantled by executive action.
Inspectors General in the US exercise a function similar to the integrity bodies and integrity oversight bodies I'll be discussing today.
So if we accept that
administrative law aims to ensure the lawful, fair, rational exercise of public power and has with it a byproduct of maintaining the legitimacy of government administration, then those overseeing the exercise of that power that I'll be referring to today where they can influence and change the outcome of that exercise, well, they must play a key role in the rich administrative law tapestry that we have here.
It's quite a
But you might have heard recently about an Integrity Oversight Victoria report that came out in early December 2025, where police had installed, I think, at least 115 listening devices.
You know, how this will impact on those whose conversations they've maybe been listening to, it remains to be seen.
They've said that they're working to determine the use of that information collected from those devices so it can carry out a disclosure process for any relevant prosecutions.
So here we have an example of an integrity oversight body doing an investigation and having a look to see whether statutes were complied with.
And as a result of finding that they hadn't been, there may well be real life consequences.
Meanwhile, at the same time last week, early December 2025, the Victorian Parliament's Integrity and Oversight Committee released its report on the IBAC framework, IBAC being the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission here in Victoria.
And so what that committee did, and I'll talk a bit about that committee shortly, but really what that committee recommended was there be a comprehensive review of Victoria's public interest disclosure scheme, which is essentially Victoria's whistleblower legislation.
I'm going to start to talk about Australian administrative law and the only natural place I can in this stage of December 2025, and that is with a reference to Donald Trump.
You might remember earlier this year, the president fired 17 inspectors general whose job it was to provide independent oversight of government activity and enforcing whistleblower protections.
The White House said that it was changing priorities that led to their sacking.
Others suggest a concern that inspectors general were too partisan and should be too partisan the other way.
Either way, a key feature of independent oversight of public power was dismantled by executive action.
Inspectors General in the US exercise a function similar to the integrity bodies and integrity oversight bodies I'll be discussing today.
So if we accept that
administrative law aims to ensure the lawful, fair, rational exercise of public power and has with it a byproduct of maintaining the legitimacy of government administration, then those overseeing the exercise of that power that I'll be referring to today where they can influence and change the outcome of that exercise, well, they must play a key role in the rich administrative law tapestry that we have here.
It's quite a
But you might have heard recently about an Integrity Oversight Victoria report that came out in early December 2025, where police had installed, I think, at least 115 listening devices.
You know, how this will impact on those whose conversations they've maybe been listening to, it remains to be seen.
They've said that they're working to determine the use of that information collected from those devices so it can carry out a disclosure process for any relevant prosecutions.
So here we have an example of an integrity oversight body doing an investigation and having a look to see whether statutes were complied with.
And as a result of finding that they hadn't been, there may well be real life consequences.
Meanwhile, at the same time last week, early December 2025, the Victorian Parliament's Integrity and Oversight Committee released its report on the IBAC framework, IBAC being the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission here in Victoria.
And so what that committee did, and I'll talk a bit about that committee shortly, but really what that committee recommended was there be a comprehensive review of Victoria's public interest disclosure scheme, which is essentially Victoria's whistleblower legislation.
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