WA's Corruption and Crime Commission boss Michael Corboy says the agency needs more resourcing as it looks to investigate allegations of corruption against government contractors.
Mr Corboy would also like to see more scrutiny on those that wield police-like powers, such as transit guards and prison guards.
He said the roll out of artificial intelligence across the public sector would be one of the greatest issues for the CCC to grapple with over the next few years.
WA's corruption watchdog is facing "significant" resourcing challenges and needs new powers to perform its functions effectively, according to its boss.
Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) chief Michael Corboy's warnings come as a powerful parliamentary committee reviews his organisation's jurisdiction ahead of what would be its first major overhaul in more than two decades.
At the top of Mr Corboy's wish list is the power for the CCC to investigate allegations of corruption against government contractors.
As it stands, the commission only has power over public servants employed by the government.
Michael Corboy has flagged artificial intelligence as a key challenge facing the government. (ABC News: Jake Sturmer)
Mr Corboy would not provide examples of local investigations that had been hampered by the rules, but pointed to recent scandals in which consulting firms had misused data obtained while working for the Commonwealth government.
"We couldn't investigate allegations that [state] government information had been misused by private contractors," he said.
"There have also recently been allegations made that organised crime has infiltrated the NDIS service providers, who in turn, of course, contract with both Commonwealth and state agencies. Again, we wouldn't be able to investigate those allegations."
Michael Corboy became commissioner after the retirement of long-time chief John McKechnie. (ABC News: Jake Sturmer)
Mr Corboy also said the CCC would not be able to investigate the types of allegations levelled against the CFMEU on the east coast, including that its infiltration of government projects had cost Victorian taxpayers about $15 billion.
Mr Corboy said no allegations of corruption on major infrastructure projects had been made to the CCC and that major contracts were generally well scrutinised, but risks remained.
He said there were concerns when dealing with a "plethora of subcontracts".