The Upper House has directed the Parliament's Integrity and Oversight Committee to examine funding for the state's key integrity agencies: the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC), the Ombudsman, and Integrity Oversight Victoria.
The committee must report back to Parliament by 5 May 2026, the same day as the State Budget.
Labor has failed to properly fund these agencies, limiting their ability to investigate corruption on government projects.
Evidence from Geoffrey Watson SC to the Queensland inquiry into the CFMEU alleged that up to $15 billion of taxpayer money has been corrupted on Victorian Big Build worksites.
That $15 billion - including alleged payments to bikies, the CFMEU and strippers, could have been spent on services Victorians rely on.
The inquiry will assess whether the budgets provided to Victoria's integrity agencies are sufficient and report its findings to Parliament.
Liberal Shadow Minister David Davis said: "Labor have been shamed into the inquiry into the funding of our integrity agencies, and the report will advise Parliament on the adequacy of the annual budgets for these agencies."
"Properly funding the integrity agencies is critical, starving the agencies will leave corruption to thrive as it has in Labor's Victoria."
Shadow Attorney James Newbury said: "We know that Labor doesn't want our integrity agencies to have the powers they need, they have voted against that in Parliament this week."
"We also know that this Government doesn't want to fund those agencies in the way they need, which will only lead Victorians to assume that Labor doesn't want independent agencies sniffing around."
