Original: In Australia -- and particularly New South Wales -- Royal Commissions have been investigations into police and government corruption and organised crime using the very broad coercive powers of the Royal Commissioner to defeat the protective systems that powerful , but corrupt , public officials had used to shield themselves from conventional investigation .
Simplified: In Australia -- and particularly New South Wales -- Royal Commissions have been investigations into police and government corruption and organised crime . They have used the powers of the Royal Commissioner to force powerful , but corrupt , public officials to tell the truth .