About this Episode:

In this episode of Infrastructure Matters, IPWEA Chief Executive David Jenkins sits down with The Hon John Hatzistergos AM, Chief Commissioner of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), for a frank conversation about integrity in public infrastructure.

The Commissioner explains why public tender processes are designed the way they are, and where they go wrong. Drawing on major ICAC investigations including Operations Hector, Landan, Keppel and Wyvern, he describes how good organisations become corrupted from the inside: relationships that start at arm's length, drift into favours, and end in serious corrupt conduct. He also covers the push to extend ICAC's reach to subcontractors, the role of education versus regulation, and the new risk frontiers of artificial intelligence and foreign interference.

For the young engineers and asset managers listening, the Commissioner offers clear, practical advice: hold a single-minded fidelity to the public interest, and if it looks and feels wrong, don't do it. Report it, and you'll find there is support behind you.

What You'll Learn

• Why open, transparent tender processes are the backbone of public trust, and the points where bad actors exploit them
• How corruption develops gradually inside good organisations, from lunches and football tickets to bucketloads of cash
• What ICAC's major investigations revealed about governance failures, including a unit that operated as a department within a department
• Why reporting to the ICAC matters, how it protects junior staff facing a power imbalance, and why reports can be made anonymously
• The emerging corruption risks ICAC is preparing for, including subcontracting chains, cryptocurrency, AI and foreign interference

About ICAC:

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is the state's lead integrity agency, established to expose, investigate and prevent corruption involving or affecting the NSW public sector. Beyond its investigations, the Commission works to educate public officials, contractors and the community about corruption resistance, and reports publicly on the systemic weaknesses its inquiries uncover. Its remit covers matters that are serious or systemic, and its work spans local councils, state agencies and the private contractors who deliver public infrastructure.

About John Hatzistergos :

The Hon John Hatzistergos AM has served as Chief Commissioner of the NSW ICAC since August 2022. His career spans law, politics and the judiciary: a barrister and Senior Legal Officer with the Commonwealth DPP, a member of the NSW Legislative Council from 1999 to 2011, and NSW Attorney General from 2007 to 2011, having also held the Health, Justice and Industrial Relations portfolios. He was appointed a judge of the District Court of New South Wales in 2014, a role he held until taking up the leadership of the Commission. He brings to the ICAC a rare combination of legal, parliamentary and judicial experience, and a firm view that the Commission is there to lift the public sector to higher standards, not to bring people down.