It will initially advise the government directly while public consultation on the proposed model is underway and will involve discussion about the model directly with key agency stakeholders over the course of January 2019.

“Between now and 1 February 2019, whilst the public consultation phase on design principles is conducted, the panel will focus on providing advice based on interactions with key public sector stakeholders on successive drafts of the legislation before it progresses to Cabinet and the Coalition party room for approval ahead of further public consideration of the resulting legislation,” Mr Porter’s statement said.

In announcing the expert panel, Mr Porter said that Ms Cunneen was a “longstanding figure in the criminal law fraternity with firsthand experience of the failings of state integrity bodies at a state level”.

“Shortly to retire from the position of Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor in NSW, Ms Cunneen was appointed Senior Counsel in 2007 and led the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle,” he said.

The other two expert panelists named are WA Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope AO and Mick Keelty AO APM, who was commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001–2009 and the inaugural chairperson for the Australian Crime Commission in 2003.

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“The unique experiences of these three individuals across criminal law and prosecution, public sector administration and law enforcement will assist the government to ensure that the model for the CIC is effective, appropriate and balanced,” Mr Porter said.

The appointments follow mixed reactions from the legal community to the new CIC.