It was on the first day of the 2016 Australian Open that integrity issues in tennis came to light following the release of secret files by the BBC and BuzzFeed.

A total of 16 players who have ranked in the top 50 had been repeatedly flagged over suspicions they had thrown matches in the past decade and none had been properly investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), it was claimed. 

An Independent Review Panel (IRP) was formed to look into the sport’s practices and is expected to reveal its findings before the Australian Open, scheduled to begin on January 16.  

Tennis Australia's increased measures include the addition of two full-time investigators to its integrity unit and the promise of increased prize money at its lower-tier events and in Australian Open qualifying and the early rounds.

Lower-ranked professionals who struggle to make a legitimate living have long been considered more vulnerable to corruption.

"Although we have no evidence of widespread corruption in Australian tennis, we have recognised that the potential to corrupt is there and as such we have taken extensive steps to safeguard our sport,” said Tennis Australia President Steve Healy.

"We made the decision to not just sit back and wait for the IRP to hand down their findings but to take immediate action.

"Our sport needs strong measures implemented now and that's exactly what we are doing.

"We have committed significant funds and resources into strengthening our position now so that we don't look back in five years and think we could have done more."

The appointment of anti-corruption officers at all Tennis Australia's professional tournaments and an enhanced education and awareness programme are among other measures announced. 

The national governing body says its integrity unit, headed by Ann West, is now staffed with an "information and intelligence officer" and a "safety and risk manager", both of whom come from law enforcement backgrounds.

It also states there would be increased security vigilance during all Tennis Australia sanctioned events, including additional restrictions to player and accreditation access at tournaments.

The block on access to all gambling websites via Tennis Australia public Wi-Fi is set to be extended as well, to include all tournaments.

In a bid to ensure mandatory reporting of all suspicious betting alerts, Tennis Australia also intends to establish product fee and integrity agreements with licensed Australian bookmakers.

This all comes in the same week that Tennis Australia cut betting agency William Hill's advertisements from the 2017 Australian Open's showcourts at Melbourne Park. 

William Hill featured at this year's Australian Open, the first such arrangement for a Grand Slam, and Tennis Australia has not said if the move has meant the event will experience a cut in sponsorship money.

"We need to put it in perspective," Healy told ABC.

"The arrangements were struck with William Hill before this issue had such a high profile and so we've worked with our partners to address that."

Healy insists there is no issue with regard to the Australian Open's ongoing relationship with William Hill, which he says helps with tennis' anti-corruption campaign.

It was announced in October that suspicious betting activity recorded by the European Sport Security Association (ESSA) in the third quarter of this year was dominated by tennis for the seventh time in a row.

It was revealed 84 per cent of the 37 incidents of potentially manipulated betting came in the sport, representing the seventh consecutive quarter in which tennis alerts accounted for a vast majority of the ESSA’s integrity statistics.

The ESSA, the organisation which guards against illegal gambling and match-fixing in sport, issues alerts to betting regulators and sporting governing bodies if its systems detect potential foul play.

In the third quarter of this year, 31 alerts were flagged in tennis, with three coming in football.

The other three were made up of one each from table tennis, beach volleyball and volleyball, according to the ESSA.

The release of the ESSA report came after it was revealed one match at both Wimbledon and the US Open, two of the four Grand Slams on the international calendar, were among 96 flagged to the TIU between July and September.

Last week, Spanish police arrested 34 people, including six tennis players, with alleged links to a tennis match-fixing ring in both Spain and Portugal.