A call to take the politics out of funding Victoria's integrity agencies has gone unanswered for more than two years.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission's annual report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, showed the watchdog needed a $1.19 million advance from Treasurer Tim Pallas to meet cost pressures.
That was on top of its confirmed 2023/24 funding of $63.4 million.
In October 2022, IBAC, the Victorian Auditor-General's Office and Victorian Ombudsman released a joint paper to push for an "apolitical" funding process for the agencies.
The paper recommended the government set up an independent commission or tribunal under legislation to decide their funding each year, similar to the body that rules on MPs' pay.
At the time, the then-Andrews government was being investigated by IBAC for improperly awarding a Labor-affiliated union a $1.2 million training program contract.
A damning report by IBAC and the ombudsman earlier in 2022 into branch-stacking allegations had exposed misuse of taxpayer resources in the Victorian Labor Party but failed to recommend any criminal charges.
The heads of each integrity agency said they wanted to remove the politics from the debate so governments could not be accused of interfering with their independence or ability to hold them to account.
But IBAC Commissioner Victoria Elliott indicated their suggestions had been ignored.
"To date, we have not received any commitment from the Victorian government as it relates to the recommendations," she wrote.
"As such, we will continue to seek a commitment from all parties to a reform that must be profoundly in the public interest."
A separate report from the Victorian Inspectorate, meanwhile, exposed a swearing-in blunder of IBAC investigators.
Twelve investigators were sworn in by an unauthorised directors between August 2021 and August 2022, with IBAC reporting the problem to the inspectorate.
A surveillance device warrant was issued by one of the investigators but was not executed before the issue's discovery.
Over the past financial year, IBAC kickstarted 14 preliminary inquiries and 36 investigations into alleged public sector corruption and police misconduct, up 72 per cent from 2022/23.
Some 17 preliminary inquiries and 31 investigations were completed, with 24 still in progress at the end of June.
