The Abbott government is extending the royal commission into trade unions into next year and expanding its scope to allow a deeper probe into criminal conduct by officials.
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Attorney-General George Brandis announced on Tuesday afternoon than the government had decided to recommend to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove that the royal commission be extended by a year, taking it through to the end of 2015.
"It is very plain that the problem of criminality and the associations between certain unions, and certain union officials, and crime is a much more widespread problem than appeared to be the case when at the beginning of this year the government decided to establish the royal commission," Senator Brandis said.
He said Tuesday's decision came in response to recommendations from the commissioner, former High Court Judge Dyson Heydon, who asked the government in a letter earlier this month for more time and expanded terms of reference.
"It is very apparent from what Mr Heydon says in his letter that there is a large amount of unfinished business before the royal commission which from a practical point of view would not be able to be considered satisfactorily were the original reporting date adhered to," Senator Brandis said.
Senator Brandis said the extension was only expected to cost an extra $8 million as the royal commission had underspent its current budget by more than $15 million.
The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance And Corruption will release an interim report by December 31 this year.
Senator Brandis deflected a question about whether the extension would draw former prime minister Julia Gillard further into the probe, and also rejected suggestions there was a political motive for the government to release the extended inquiry report in 2016 – an election year.
Senator Brandis said the inquiry was "not about politics".
In his letter, Mr Heydon, said the inquiry so far had "revealed evidence of criminal conduct which includes widespread instances of physical and verbal violence, cartel conduct, secondary boycotts, contempt of court and other institutional orders, and the encouragement of others to commit these contempts".
Mr Heydon continued: "Some officials appear to regard their unions as having immunity not only from the norms and sanctions of the Australian legal system, but also from any social or community standard shared by other Australians."
The "dimensions of criminal conduct revealed by the evidence thus far" meant a more thorough probe was needed, he wrote.
