Foreign bribery is bribery of a foreign public official. A growing number of countries have laws against bribing foreign officials, including here in Australia, where it is a serious criminal offence that carries heavy penalties.
Foreign bribery has many harmful effects, impacting Australia’s trade and investment interests and can inhibit the growth of Australian businesses. It also corrodes good governance and contributes to social and economic inequality in local communities where it occurs.
The Attorney-General’s Department (the department) is responsible for whole-of-government policy for foreign bribery, and as part of its role includes:
- maintaining an effective legal and policy regime
- raising awareness of foreign bribery laws among business
- leading Australia’s engagement with the OECD Working Group on Bribery on our compliance with the Anti-Bribery Convention.
The passing of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024 in February 2024 introduces a new corporate offence of failure to prevent foreign bribery. The offence will apply where an associate of a corporation has committed bribery for the profit or gain of the corporation. However, a corporation will not be liable under the ‘failure to prevent’ offence if it can prove it had ‘adequate procedures’ in place designed to prevent its associates from committing foreign bribery.
The department is seeking public feedback on the adequate procedures guidance, including its potential to support the development of effective anti-bribery compliance programs within corporations.
- The consultation is open to all members of the public, especially members of the Australian business community whose interests may intersect with the risk of foreign bribery. This will ensure the ensure the guidance is fit-for-purpose for the Australian business community.
The guidance will be published later this year. More information can be found on the department’s consultation hub: https://consultations.ag.gov.au/crime/draft-guidance-on-adequate-procedures/.