The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024, came into force
on 8 September 2024, making some significant updates to Australia’s foreign bribery laws.
Notably, the reforms introduced a new corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery of a
foreign public official. The legislation mandates the Attorney-General to publish guidance
material on what steps corporations can take to prevent an associate from bribing foreign
public officials within 6 months.
A business will be able to assert a defence to the failure to prevent offence if it can
establish that they had “adequate procedures” in place for preventing foreign bribery. The
Attorney General’s Department (AGD) has released an Adequate Procedure Guide, setting
out key principles that will assist corporations to satisfy the necessary elements of the
adequate procedures defence.
It serves as a companion to the Attorney General’s Adequate Procedure Guide, offering practical resources to help businesses implement these principles effectively.