National anti-corruption commission passes Parliament

The oversight body, which is expected to be up and running by mid-next year, will be able to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and systemic corruption and will have the ability to hold public hearings in "exceptional circumstances".

Crossbenchers and minor parties welcomed the bill's passing but share concerns with legal and integrity experts, who say it still needs tweaks to address "serious flaws".

But Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said he was proud to see the bills pass with some amendments, saying it showed the government's "willingness to work with all sides of the Parliament and stakeholders".

"Labor said we would deliver a watchdog with teeth, and without delay, and that is what we have done," the first law officer said on Wednesday moments before it passed the lower house.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a joint statement with the Attorney-General, said it was a historic day for the country.

"Australians waited years for the former government to implement their pledge for a Commonwealth integrity commission. They never even introduced a bill," they said.

"This is a historic day for our Parliament, and the nation."

The bill earlier passed the senate on Tuesday night with one amendment by the Greens, which was backed by the Coalition, further expanding the inspector's oversight powers.

Other amendments, including one put forward by the Greens and ACT independent senator David Pocock, requiring more than half the parliamentary oversight committee approve top roles, were knocked back.

The committee of 12 is chaired by a government member with five government committee members but features two crossbenchers and four opposition seats.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said it took a decade to "make this place move", only gaining momentum after integrity became a hot election issue.

"Nobody did this alone and I want to pay credit to all of those in the crossbench, in this parliament and in previous parliaments, who worked together to force this reform on the federal parliament," he said.

"As soon as this anti-corruption commission opens its door next year, it's going to have a lot of work to do."

A group of retired judges forming part of progressive think tank Australia Institute's National Integrity Committee welcomed the bill's passing.

But the group, which includes former judges Stephen Charles and Anthony Whealy, noted the public hearings threshold remained a "serious flaw" in Labor's model.

"It precludes the holding of a public hearing unless the commissioner not only concludes that it would be in the public interest to do so but also that 'exceptional circumstances' apply," they said.

"If it is in the public interest that a particular hearing be held in public, then it cannot be in the public interest to foreclose such a hearing because 'exceptional circumstances' do not exist."

Coalition legal affairs spokesperson Julian Leeser previously said the public hearings threshold was a red line it would not budge on.

Mr Dreyfus said the bill had struck the right balance.