Don't rush federal ICAC for an arbitrary promise, integrity expert warns government

Legislation for the Albanese government's national anti-corruption commission was due to be released this week before being delayed by Queen Elizabeth II's death last Friday.

A chorus of crossbenchers are calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to release the proposed model ahead of its introduction during the next sitting week later this month.

Mr Albanese, who appeared to walk back a promise to legislate the body by Christmas, said he was "ready to vote" on his government's proposal this month, insisting any delay "won't be because of the Labor Party".

But a vote this month on the anti-corruption body could mean skipping over, or rushing, its plans to send the proposal to a joint parliamentary committee for public consultation and review.

Public integrity expert, and Transparency International Australia board member, Professor AJ Brown warned it was more important to get it done right, rather than quickly, or expect years of tweaks and amendments.

"What's the point of getting something up and running if it suffers teething problems from the word go, then has to come back for another round of legislative amendments that could have been avoided?" he told ACM.

"I think that forcing a result through the Senate, then back to the House, before the end of the year was a recipe for a rushed job.

"I think it's more important to do it properly than to stick to an arbitrary and rashly-expressed commitment.

"While I agree it would clearly be 'ideal' to have the legislation released and the consultation process commenced as soon as possible, the more important thing is not to be driven by the end-of-year deadline, given the amount of quality consultation, parliamentary consideration and potential improvements that might yet need to happen."

Greens senator David Shoebridge joined his crossbench colleagues on Wednesday, arguing for the bill's immediate release despite the sitting week being rescheduled.

"There was a clear promise to legislate a federal ICAC before the end of the year," he wrote on social media.

"It's deeply disappointing to see the government walking back on this.

"We'll be working hard to respond to the proposed model and deliver a federal integrity commission before the end of the year."

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ACT independent senator David Pocock said he believed it was possible to get it done properly while also sticking to the original year's end deadline.

"We have to get this done and we have to get it right," he said on Tuesday.

"I'm not interested in delaying or standing in the way but I do want to make sure the commission has real power and integrity."

But Member for Indi, Helen Haines, said it was important debate happened through the committee process and was not rushed.

Ms Haines, who put forward a highly-regarded integrity commission model in the last parliament, said the select committee had lost two weeks due to the Queen's death if Labor kept to its original promise.

"This is about setting the commission up for success, not compromising and getting it wrong," she said earlier this week.

"It's a once in a generation opportunity to get the best integrity model possible and the most important thing is that Parliament works constructively to get it right.

"I did not set the timetable for the NACC to be legislated by the end of the year, but I will be working very hard to ensure we don't face further delays without impacting on the final model that is implemented."