A national anti-corruption commission could hold virtually all of its hearings behind closed doors if a bold proposal is adopted.
The Liberal-National coalition will push for further safeguards to prevent public hearings under the proposed anti-corruption watchdog.
The Albanese government introduced its bill to set up an integrity commission, set to cost $262 million over the next four years, to parliament last week.
The body would operate independently of the government and have powers to investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the commonwealth public sector.
But public hearings would only be held in "exceptional circumstances", with private hearings to be the default method.
Opposition spokesman Julian Leeser said the government had struck a good balance in its proposed anti-corruption legislation proposal, but said it was only the baseline.
"Exceptional circumstances is a good safeguard ... it shows that public hearings should not be the rule, they should be the exception," he told Sky News on Monday.
"We need to ensure that an independent person is making an assessment as to whether a public hearing is appropriate and whether those exceptional circumstances actually apply."
Mr Leeser said it would be appropriate for a judicial officer to be the final decision maker about whether the matter was in the public interest and qualified for a public hearing.
"That is a provision that can help increase public confidence in the work of the commission and at the end of the day this is an important thing," he said.
At the other end of the debate, the cross bench has raised concerns about the default settings for private hearings.
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie said Australians who engaged in corruption had to go through the public courts process and politicians should not be exempt.
"We do this to make sure that it's a deterrent to corruption not happening in the future," she told the ABC.
"That's part of those public hearings, we need to flush people out."
Senator Lambie wants commissioners to be selected fairly and based on merit.
But she agreed the watchdog would need to be satisfied it had robust evidence before agreeing to hold a public hearing.
She also would not hold up a vote on the bill even if the government failed to change the exceptional circumstances provision.
"If the government want to build trust within the Australian public not just for the commissioners themselves, but also that this commission is working, then there are going to have to be public hearings," she said.
