Paul Brereton has resigned as Australia’s first national anti-corruption commissioner after almost three years in the job, stepping down from the post as the federal watchdog he helped create continues to handle a heavy caseload. His departure comes after months in which questions around his leadership became, in his words, a distraction for the commission.
Brereton oversaw the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which managed almost 7,500 referrals and produced seven investigation reports during his tenure. The commission is a federal anti-corruption body, and Brereton began serving as its first national anti-corruption commissioner in 2022.
In announcing his resignation, Brereton said the ongoing questions about his leadership had become a distraction for the commission. He also said the NACC would continue to ensure public sector corruption is appropriately addressed after his departure, signaling that the institution was meant to outlast any controversy surrounding its first chief.
The timing matters because the watchdog is still young and still building its authority. Brereton leaves after guiding it through its formative period, with thousands of referrals already flowing in and only a small number of formal investigation reports issued so far. That gap underlines both the scale of the complaints the body is receiving and the limited number of cases that have reached the report stage under his watch.
His exit closes the first chapter for the commission and leaves the next one to a successor who will inherit both a high public expectation and a workload that is already far beyond symbolic. The question now is not whether the body will continue, but who will be trusted to lead it through the scrutiny that comes with it.
