Former Australian Government Solicitor Stephen Skehill will become the ACT Assembly's first ethics and integrity adviser.
Mr Skehill will advise members of the Legislative Assembly on ethical issues such as conflicts of interests and the use of their entitlements.
Mr Skehill had a long career in the Commonwealth public service, as Australian Government Solicitor and secretary of the Attorney-General's Department.
In recent years he had been in private practice with Australian-based international law firm Mallesons.
As the Assembly's Ethics and Integrity Adviser, he said the challenge would be applying the members' code of conduct in a variety of different personal situations.
''The real question in these issues boils down to how you apply a highly principled rule in the circumstances of particular cases,'' he said.
''What is a conflict of interest? What may be perceived as a conflict of interest? They're very much judgmental calls and they often require a great deal of analysis.''
Mr Skehill will initially serve for four months until the ACT elections in October.
The appointment will be reconsidered by the next Assembly after the poll.