Share article

Print article

The Victorian government is facing growing calls for a royal commission to investigate allegations of corruption in the construction sector.

There is no question these calls for accountability are important. Something must be done to understand how corruption was able to infiltrate so deeply into the Victorian construction sector.

But there is a better and more far-reaching way to secure lasting accountability than a royal commission. The government should endorse amendments introduced into parliament by the Greens and supported by the Coalition that empower Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) to investigate what has been happening in the construction industry.

Empowering Victoria's anti-corruption investigation is a more practical response. It is a more long-lasting one that will ensure that we don't see similar corruption in the multibillion-dollar construction sector in the future.

Victoria's Big Build is a massive, ongoing state infrastructure program comprising more than 180 road and rail projects. These projects are not carried out by official Victorian institutions; instead, they are delivered by private firms such as John Holland, CIMIC and MC Labour. Since 2015, these private firms have been given around $100 billion in public money to deliver the various Big Build projects.

Complaints of wrongdoing, intimidation and rorts were reported to the Victorian government as early as 2023. But in 2024, several news outlets revealed that organised crime and bikie gangs had infiltrated the Big Build project through a key construction union: the CFMEU.

This 2024 scandal prompted Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to call for accountability from two institutions: the Victorian Police and the Victorian Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC). The police have responded, setting up Operation Hawk and arresting some key figures. This is an important step. But the police lack the powers to carry out a broad-based investigation.

IBAC is precisely the body for this kind of broader investigation. But the referral to IBAC was a dead end. IBAC responded to Allan that it did not have the "follow the money" power to investigate private subcontracting activity in the Big Build project.

This lack of power should have been known to the Victorian government. Since 2017, IBAC has been calling for additional powers to investigate the kind of corruption allegations we are seeing in the Victorian construction sector. The Daniels and Allan Labor governments have consistently failed to give it those powers.

In mid February 2026, the Queensland parliament released a report by leading anti-corruption barrister (and Director of the Centre for Public Integrity) Geoffrey Watson, containing further allegations of the depth of corruption in the Victorian construction sector. The report concluded the Victorian government had failed to take action on this corruption. This has led some to call for a royal commission.

Royal commissions are a temporary public inquiry called by the executive government to investigate particular matters within a specific term of reference. Within this remit, they have extraordinary powers to compel evidence, requiring witnesses to give sworn testimony and produce documents, with penalties for non-compliance.

Although they cannot deliver binding legal rulings or determine criminal guilt, they provide recommendations that can prompt referrals to authorities for further investigation. Probably the most recent high-profile royal commission focused on the Robodebt scandal. This commission was crucial in showing how Australian public servants misused public power.

A royal commission into misconduct in the Victorian construction sector would certainly be helpful. But a better approach would be for the Victorian government to endorse reforms to IBAC currently sitting in the Victorian parliament. This newly empowered IBAC is better for two reasons.

First, it is far more practical. Once it has the legal authority to investigate the private contracting arrangements that pervade the Victorian construction sector, IBAC would have similar powers to a royal commission to seriously investigate this scandal.

In addition, standing up a new royal commission takes time and money. A commissioner and investigators would need to be hired and briefed. IBAC already has a commissioner and a staff that understand how to investigate public corruption. Although it would likely need additional funding to ensure that it could adequately investigate a matter as complex and far-reaching as corruption in the Big Build, this amount would be less than the cost of a separate royal commission.

Second, it would improve integrity oversight in Victoria generally. A royal commission would only be a temporary solution, investigating the current scandal and then dissolving itself. A reformed IBAC would be able to investigate the current scandal and remain a permanent institution focused on combating corruption in Victoria.

Since its creation in 2012, IBAC has been criticised for being one of the weakest anti-corruption commissions in Australia. Parliamentary committees and integrity experts have been calling for reforms since at least 2017. Empowering IBAC by adopting the current amendments in parliament would fix this.

Crisis can be clarifying. The current crisis in the Victorian construction sector shows how deficient Victoria's anti-corruption oversight system is. Empowering IBAC will not only provide real accountability in the Big Build project, but will also deter similar corruption in the future. Now is the time for long-lasting reform in Victoria.