NSW Court of Appeal judge Paul Brereton will lead the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

Deputy commissioners will be Nicole Rose and Dr Ben Gauntlett. Each will be appointed for a term of five years.

“These are the people with the experience and capacity to guide the national anti-corruption commission through its first months and years of operation and set it up for future success,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told reporters in Canberra.

“(This) is a significant milestone for the commission’s historic establishment and demonstrates that the government is on track for the commission to be operational by the middle of this year.”

Laws to establish the commission passed federal parliament in December. The creation of the body had long been the subject of bitter political debate, with many of the teal independents who succeeded at last year’s election campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.

The body will investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the commonwealth public sector by ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory officer holders, employees of all government entities and government contractors.

It will operate independently of the government and be able to launch inquiries on its own initiative or in response to referrals, including from whistleblowers and the public.

The commission will be able to investigate alleged corruption that occurred before the laws were passed.

However, public hearings will only occur in exceptional circumstances and where it is considered in the public interest to do so.

The laws provide protections for whistleblowers and exemptions for journalists to protect the identity of sources.