ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the methodology and work-in-progress conclusions of the New South Wales public sector component of the National Integrity System Assessment. It describes the approach taken to assessing the NSW system, highlighting the difculties of developing an assessment methodology from rst principles, the possibly unique jurisdictional factors that arise to colour such an assessment, inherent limitations in the approach, and questions for how such assessments might be done in the future. The chapter focuses most heavily on issues of coherence in the NSW public sector integrity system, which is relatively complex. Although NSW integrity agencies can be divided into core, peripheral and specialist agencies, the relationships of different NSW agencies to the suite of integrity agencies vary considerably. Moreover, while NSW public sector agencies seem to be divided on whether the integrity agencies are well coordinated enough, the existence of multiple integrity agencies appears to have disadvantages for complainants, integrity agencies and agencies under their scrutiny. The coherence of the NSW integrity system must therefore be questioned. Major steps to improve the integrity system’s coherence are likely to prove politically difcult, leaving open the possibility for smaller steps toward greater coherence worked out by agencies themselves.
