In early 1980 a series of articles in the weekly magazine "The Bulletin" made allegations about corruption on the waterfront involving the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union. The articles claimed that the Australian National Line (CA 252) had made payments to employees who did not exist or did not do the specified work. "The Bulletin" also alleged that corrupt practices involving the Union were going on in the Williamstown Naval Dockyard, one of Australia's main naval establishments. During the first week of April 1980 the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments established a joint police task force to investigate these claims. On 24 April 1980 the Prime Minister announced that he had written to the Victorian Premier proposing the establishment by the two governments of a joint Royal Commission to investigate the allegations of illegal activities by members of the Union, to work concurrently with the joint police task force.
(Prime Minister, Press Release, 24 April 1980)
 
It was initially hoped that Mr Justice J B Sweeney, who had conducted the previous Royal Commission on Alleged Payments to Maritime Unions (CA 2034) during 1974 and 1975, would be available to head the Royal Commission. However, several months elapsed before the two governments agreed on the terms of reference and were able to find a suitable Royal Commissioner. 

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth issued the Letters Patent on 10 September 1980 appointing Mr Francis Xavier Costigan QC, a Melbourne barrister to head the Royal Commission. The Royal Commission was to commence its inquiry on 1 October 1980.

The terms of reference issued by the Commonwealth Government were as follows. The Royal Commission was to inquire:
 
  "whether the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union ('the
  Union') or any officer or member of the Union has engaged in
  illegal activities in relation to shipping engaged in trade and
  commerce between Australia and places outside Australia or among
  the States or ships operated by, or on behalf of the Commonwealth
  or in relation to any naval establishment within the meaning of the
  Naval Defence Act 1910."
 
Without restricting the scope of its inquiry, the Commission was to give particular attention to the following questions:
 
(a) whether any executive, administrative or other body forming part
    of, or established by, the Union has been used, or is being used,
    for the purposes of illegal activities, other than activities
    involving only breaches of laws, whether Commonwealth or State,
    relating to trade unions;
 
(b) whether the Union or any of its officials or members has been or
    is engaged in demanding or receiving payments (other than
    payments of an ordinary commercial nature or payments in
    accordance with an industrial award or agreement in respect of
    work actually performed or to be performed) from employers or
    other persons in relation to any naval establishment within the
    meaning of the Naval Defence Act 1910 and, if any such payments
    have been made:  
      (i) the persons by whom and to whom any such payments have been
          made;
     (ii) the reasons for, or the purpose of, any such
          payments;      
    (iii) the subsequent or proposed use of disposal of any such
          payments;
 
(c) whether the Union or any officers or members of the Union have
    engaged in illegal activities in relation to the election or     
    appointment of officers of the Union or the conduct; and  

(d) if the Union or any officers or members of the Union have engaged
    in activities of any kinds referred to in this or the preceding
    paragraphs, and whether the employment conditions applying to the
    work of ship painters and dockers have contributed to the     
    development of these activities.
 
The terms of reference issued by the Victorian Government were identical except for paragraph (b), which read:
 
  "whether the Union or any of its officials or members has been or
  is engaged in demanding or receiving payments (other than payments
  of an ordinary commercial nature or payments in accordance with an
  industrial award or agreement in respect of work actually performed
  or to be performed) from employers or other persons and, if any
  such payments have been made."
  (The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 September 1980, p 10)
 
The first public sitting of the Royal Commission was held on 1 October 1980 at Nylex House, 10 Queens Road, Melbourne, and hearings were held in that location until the middle of April 1981 when they were moved to the more secure Fitzroy Courthouse. After its initial sitting the Royal Commission held a series of acquisitory hearings in the State capitals, securing a large volume of documentation from waterfront employers and from the offices of the Union itself. The hearing proper commenced in February 1981.
 
The Letters Patent of 10 September 1980 setting up the Royal Commission directed that it furnish its report "not later than 30 September 1981 or such later date as we may be pleased to fix."
 
On 25 June 1981 further Letters Patent fixed 31 December 1982 as the date on or before which Royal Commissioner Costigan was to furnish a report of the results of his inquiry and his recommendations.
(Letters Patent of 25 June 1981, Commonwealth Gazette, No G27, 7 July 1981, p 2)

Although no change occurred in the Terms of Reference contained in the Victorian Letters Patent, the Commonwealth Letters Patent were significantly changed. The terms of both Commissions were extended on a number of occasions with a final extension to 31 October 1984. The first Interim Report of the Commission was delivered in March 1981, with the Sixth and Final Report presented on 26 October 1984. The Final Report was published in Parliamentary Papers 1984, Volume 24 (Papers 284-289).

The National Crime Authority (CA 3964) was established on 1 July 1984 and took over several of the ongoing investigations of the Royal Commission. When the Royal Commission ceased on 26 October 1984 the records of the Royal Commission including the documentary evidence collected and maintained by the Commission were transferred to the Melbourne Branch of the National Crime Authority (CA 4233). 

Historical agency address
Melbourne
Legislation administered
Commonwealth of Australia Acts No. 12 of 1902-1933, Royal Commission Act 1933; Letters patent issued 10 Sep 1980