The ACT may have to drop a rule excluding staff from the Integrity Commission who have recently worked in the territory's public service.
The five-year exclusion period was designed to prevent conflicts of interest but has made it hard to find qualified staff for the commission.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr has said he will seek cross-party support for a law change that would make it easier to employ former public servants.
But a review handed to the ACT government has recommended dropping the exclusion period entirely.
The review found employing public servants directly would "provide desirable benefits to the operating capability of the commission".
The review of the territory's integrity commission laws found the benefits of employing former public servants would outweigh the efforts required to manage conflicts of interest.
Mr Barr said the practical implication of the five-year exclusion, which was proposed by former opposition leader Alistair Coe, meant the commission struggled to find suitable staff. "Even if you reduce the period from five years to, say, two, so that you're not taking people immediately out of a public sector role, that, I am advised, would help," Mr Barr said.
The commission has struggled with staffing issues in the four years since it was established and, consequently, there is a significant backlog of matters being investigated.
The Chief Minister said the commission had the money to fill necessary positions but had struggled to find staff.
"The legislation prevents them from employing people who've been public servants in the last five years. Alistair Coe demanded that be inserted into the act," he said.
"And so in order to maintain bipartisanship, we agreed. The advice is that that has made it very hard for them to recruit into particular positions."
Mr Barr indicated he was confident the problem could be fixed before the end of the term, less than a year away, and that the opposition would accept the need for the change.
Both the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Commonwealth National Anti-Corruption Commission have no rules preventing former public servants from working as staff.
But the review into the territory's integrity commission legislation, completed by former Australian government solicitor Ian Govey, did recommend there should be a two-year ban on former MLAs and their staff from joining the commission's staff.
This would reduce the "likelihood of conflicts of interest occurring and the impact of apprehended bias", the review said.
The review, required by the legislation, also recommended the Integrity Commission's scope should be limited to investigating only serious or systemic corruption.
"The Review concluded that limiting the Commission's jurisdiction to serious and systemic corrupt conduct would align more appropriately with the covert and coercive powers," Mr Govey's review said.
The Integrity Commission was against being limited to investigating only serious or systemic corruption, saying in a submission to the inquiry it was best placed to determine the seriousness of a matter.
The review also recommended the possibility of an additional commissioner.
"Given the variable workload that commissions experience and the critical importance of handling corruption matters in a timely manner, the review concluded it would be appropriate to allow for the possibility of an additional commissioner," the review said.
The commission has been pushing for telephone intercept powers over the past few years. The review said it had received "compelling" evidence from both police and the commission these powers would have assisted current investigations.
The review recommended the ACT government should continue to engage with the Commonwealth about having the commission declared as a criminal law enforcement agency to enable this to happen.
"The review has concluded that, without such powers, there is a risk the commission cannot fully execute its mandate to investigate serious and systemic corruption," the review said.
The commission had 13 investigations ongoing, its latest annual report said.
This includes investigations into way the Canberra Institute of Technology awarded more than $8.5 million in contracts, a tender process for the expansion of Campbell Primary School and alleged patient privacy breaches by staff at the Dhulwa Mental Health Unit.
