When the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission holds a public examination, the effect can be dramatic — witnesses questioned under oath on live-stream, documents tabled, reputations tested in real time. But public hearings are the exception, not the rule, and understanding exactly when and why IBAC opens its doors tells you a great deal about how Victoria’s anti-corruption system is designed to work.
This is a plain-English guide to the process, what the public actually sees, and what remains deliberately out of sight.
What is IBAC, and why does it matter? #
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission was established under the IBAC Act 2011 and began operating in 2013. It is Victoria’s primary body for investigating serious corrupt conduct and police misconduct. Unlike a royal commission, which is typically created by government to examine a specific matter for a defined period, IBAC is a permanent standing body with broad jurisdiction over public officers — including politicians, public servants, Victoria Police members, local government officials, and employees of public universities and agencies.
IBAC has coercive powers that ordinary watchdog bodies do not. It can compel people to appear before it, answer questions, and produce documents — even where doing so might incriminate them. That is a significant intrusion on ordinary rights, which is precisely why the legislation places guardrails around when the process becomes public.
The two modes: private and public #
Most of what IBAC does happens in private. The overwhelming majority of examinations — where investigators question witnesses and gather evidence — are conducted behind closed doors, with suppression orders routinely in place. Witnesses, their lawyers, IBAC counsel, and commissioners participate. Nobody outside that room knows the questions being asked or the answers being given, often for months or years.
This is deliberate. Anti-corruption investigations frequently involve sensitive intelligence, informants, ongoing Victoria Police operations, or allegations against people who may ultimately be found to have done nothing wrong. Exposing all of that publicly before the evidence is tested would risk serious harm — to reputations, to ongoing investigations, and to the integrity of any eventual criminal prosecution.
A public examination is a different matter entirely. When IBAC decides to open proceedings to scrutiny, it can broadcast hearings, allow journalists to attend in person, and publish transcripts. The shift from private to public is not automatic — it requires a deliberate decision by the commission, governed by a legal threshold that is worth understanding in detail.
The ‘exceptional circumstances’ threshold #
Under the IBAC Act, IBAC may only hold a public examination if it is satisfied that doing so is justified by exceptional circumstances. The commission must weigh the public interest in holding an open hearing against a list of potential harms: prejudice to any person’s fair trial, damage to a person’s reputation where allegations remain unproven, the safety of witnesses, the impact on ongoing investigations, and any other matter the commission considers relevant.
That is a genuinely high bar. In practice, IBAC has reserved public examinations for matters where there is a compelling public interest in transparency that outweighs those risks — typically where the conduct alleged is serious, systemic, and involves public officials whose exercise of power directly affects Victorians. Past public examinations have looked at matters including alleged corrupt conduct within Victoria Police, procurement practices in government, and conduct by elected officials.
Critically, IBAC can also begin a hearing in private and later convert part or all of it to public session if circumstances change — for instance, if evidence already gathered reduces the risk to ongoing proceedings, or if the commission determines that public scrutiny has become necessary to maintain community confidence in the integrity of public institutions.
What the public actually sees #
When a public examination is underway, what viewers and journalists observe is a formal quasi-judicial proceeding. IBAC counsel assisting — a senior barrister engaged to present evidence to the commission — leads the questioning. The presiding commissioner or assistant commissioner oversees proceedings. Witnesses are represented by their own legal teams and may object to questions, though the grounds for doing so are narrower than in an ordinary court.
Witnesses are compelled to answer questions even if the answers might tend to incriminate them. However, the IBAC Act provides what is called a use immunity: answers given under compulsion in an IBAC examination cannot generally be used as direct evidence against that witness in subsequent criminal proceedings. This does not mean a witness faces no consequences — derivative evidence gathered as a result of their answers may still be used, and IBAC can refer its findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Hearings are typically live-streamed on IBAC’s website, and transcripts are published, often on the same day or the following morning. That means our newsroom, along with other Victorian outlets, can report in real time on what witnesses say — applying the same privilege that applies to court reporting. What is said in a public IBAC hearing can be reported; it is protected in the same way as evidence given in open court.
What stays out of public view #
Even during a public examination, not everything is visible. IBAC can direct that particular evidence be taken in closed session — for instance, where a witness might identify a confidential source, where national security considerations arise, or where details could endanger someone’s safety. Those segments are excised from public transcripts and live-streams.
Additionally, suppression orders may cover the identities of certain witnesses, particular documents, or specific lines of questioning. Our newsroom is legally bound to observe any such orders — as are all Victorian media organisations. Reporting in breach of a suppression order can result in contempt proceedings.
Importantly, the findings IBAC ultimately produces — its investigation reports — go through their own separate process before publication. IBAC is required to give any person who is the subject of an adverse finding an opportunity to respond before that finding is made public. This procedural fairness step can mean that the formal report appears well after a public hearing has concluded.
How IBAC differs from a court #
This is a distinction that matters. IBAC is not a court of law, and it does not convict anyone of anything. It investigates, makes findings of fact, and can recommend that matters be referred to Victoria Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions, or other bodies for further action. An adverse IBAC finding — even a serious one — does not carry the legal weight of a criminal conviction. Any subsequent criminal charge would be a separate proceeding, before a court, with all the protections that entails including the presumption of innocence.
That distinction is sometimes lost in public debate when high-profile figures appear before IBAC. Our newsroom will always make clear in our reporting whether we are describing what was said at an IBAC hearing, what IBAC has found, or what a court has subsequently decided. These are not the same thing, and treating them as interchangeable would be both legally unsafe and unfair to the people involved.
Why this matters to ordinary Victorians #
Anti-corruption oversight only works if the public understands and trusts it. When IBAC holds a public examination, it is making a statement — that the matters under scrutiny are serious enough, and the public interest strong enough, to warrant transparency even at some cost. When it proceeds privately, it is making a different but equally deliberate statement: that the integrity of the investigation or the rights of those involved must come first.
Our newsroom covers IBAC proceedings as part of our courts and accountability beat precisely because these hearings sit at the intersection of law, governance, and public trust. We will continue to report what is said in open session, explain what it means, and be transparent about what we cannot yet report and why.
If you have information about corrupt conduct involving a Victorian public official, you can contact IBAC directly at ibac.vic.gov.au or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Reports to Crime Stoppers can be made anonymously.
