Frank Costigan

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Francis Xavier (Frank) Costigan is an Australian lawyer who is most famous for chairing the Costigan Commission into organised crime.

Costigan grew up in Preston, a suburb of Melbourne and was educated by the Jesuits at St Patricks College, East Melbourne, and at the University of Melbourne, where he obtained a law degree. He was admitted as a solicitor in Victoria in 1953 and became a barrister in 1957. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in Victoria in 1973, and has been admitted to practice throughout Australia and in Ireland.

In 1980, Costigan was appointed to chair the Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union (commonly called the Costigan Commission). The commission moved from the investigation of union criminality to allegations of tax evasion and organised crime.

Costigan has subsequently been involved in Catholic campaigns for social justice. In the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute he accused the Patrick Corporation of using the same "bottom of the harbour" corporate strategies as he had exposed in his Commission.

Costigan now mainly practices in Alternative Dispute Resolution, either as Arbitrator or Mediator.

In 2005 he was appointed chairman of the Australian branch of Transparency International, an anti-corruption coalition.