Western Australia’s corruption commission has sweetened the deal in its quest to find a new leader.

The WA Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) has been without a permanent, full-time commissioner since early this year, struggling to find the right person for the job.

A big part of the problem was that the commission has been trying to attract former judges to the position, but taking it would mean they had to give up their pensions while in the role.

A parliamentary review committee recently called the situation “unsatisfactory and unfair”.

The job has been shared by two acting commissioners, Christopher Shanahan and Neil Douglas, but they have described the absence of a full-time agency head as “very challenging”.

The State Parliament has now passed legislation to increase the pay on offer.

The changes would allow a former judge to still receive their judicial pension on top of the CCC chair’s salary, which is equivalent to that of a Supreme Court judge.

A senior Supreme Court judge receives a salary of $446,474.

Under the provisions of the CCC Act, a nominating committee must now submit a list of three candidates to the Premier.