ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and analyses the establishment of an ethics adviser, such as, entitled Integrity Commissioner within the government of Queensland led by Premier Peter Beattie. The National Party government led by Premier Mike Ahern had earlier introduced a Ministerial Code of Ethics. The Queensland Minister's Code of Ethics has received little attention in public disputes over ministerial conduct. It remains to be seen whether a review of the code is one of the tasks of the commissioner's first year in office. The office of the Integrity Commissioner provides an enhanced opportunity for the integration and monitoring of how various ethics measures across the Queensland government are working, especially with respect to ministers. The purpose behind the creation of the Queensland Integrity Commissioner as stated in the legislation is to help ministers and others to avoid conflicts of interest and in so doing to encourage confidence in public institutions.
