Functions

The Corruption and Crime Commission was established by the Corruption and Crime Commission Act 2003 with two main purposes:

• to combat and reduce the incidence of organised crime; and
• to improve continuously the integrity of, and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in, the public sector (section 7A (a) and (b)).

In order to achieve these purposes the Commission has three functions:

• The Misconduct Function;
• The Prevention and Education Function; and
• The Organised Crime Function.

Misconduct Function

The Misconduct Function involves the assessment of notifications and allegations received from public sector agencies and the public relating to public sector misconduct; the monitoring and review of misconduct investigations undertaken by public sector agencies; and the investigation of serious misconduct by the Commission's Investigations Unit.

Prevention and Education Function

The Prevention and Education Function is achieved through cooperation and consultation between the Commission, the public sector and local government agencies, and with other oversight bodies. The focus of this function is to provide educational programs to raise the awareness amongst public sector agencies about their responsibilities for reporting suspected corruption and misconduct, assisting them in dealing with suspected misconduct, and advising them on building corruption resistance.

Organised Crime

The Organised Crime Function relies on the Commissioner of Police (Western Australia Police Service) applying to the Commission seeking the use of 'exceptional powers' pursuant to section 46 of the Act. The Commission performs a 'gatekeeper' role in response to such requests from the Police, facilitating the use of these powers for organised crime investigations. The 'exceptional powers' may be utilised to compel a witness to attend the Commission, answer questions and produce things. The Act also provides for the issue of 'fortification warning notices' and 'fortification removal notices', which may be enforced by the Police.