The Attorney-General’s Department has opened public consultation as part of the statutory review of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024, giving businesses, legal professionals, industry bodies and civil society the chance to weigh in on how Australia’s strengthened foreign bribery laws are working in practice.
The 2024 Act made significant changes to the foreign bribery offence in the Commonwealth Criminal Code and related provisions in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, including broadening the scope of the offence and introducing a new corporate offence for failing to prevent foreign bribery — with a defence available to companies that can show they had “adequate procedures” in place. This review will examine whether those reforms are achieving their intended objectives, including their impact on deterrence, enforcement outcomes and corporate compliance practices, and will consider whether any further measures are needed to strengthen Australia’s foreign bribery framework.
The review is being conducted by Ms Sarah Chidgey, Deputy Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department’s Integrity and Security Group, and Ms Hilda Sirec, Deputy Commissioner National Security Investigations at the Australian Federal Police.
Who should get involved
The Department is inviting input from businesses, compliance and legal professionals, industry associations, civil society organisations and academics — anyone with a stake in how Australia detects, prevents and prosecutes foreign bribery.
Key dates
- Consultation opened: 7 August 2026
- Submissions close: 10 September 2026
How to have your say
Submissions can be lodged through the consultation portal, or directed to the review team at [email protected].
Full details of the review, including the consultation paper and submission guidelines, are available on the Attorney-General’s Department’s consultation hub: consultations.ag.gov.au/crime/combatting_foreign_bribery
The Bribery Prevention Network encourages stakeholders to review the consultation materials and consider making a submission before the 10 September deadline.