On 1 January 2022, the Western Australian Government commenced operation of Australia’s first debarment regime. Under the new scheme, businesses that engage in unlawful activity can be banned from doing business with WA government agencies for up to five years. Details of the debarment are published on a publicly accessible register. The debarment regime captures Continue reading

The OECD has published a new report on Australia’s progress implementing the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, which requires member states to criminalise foreign bribery and enforce foreign bribery offences. Australia submitted the report to the OECD Working Group on Bribery in December 2022 as a follow-up Continue reading

Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report released this week has put Australia in 13th place, scoring 75 points on the 100-point scale. This is 2 points up from last year, which was Australia’s lowest ever score. More than two-thirds of countries (68%) score below 50 and the average global score remains unchanged at 43. Transparency Continue reading

The role of audit in combatting corruption and emerging risks in the renewable energy sector were key issues considered by the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group in 2022 under Indonesia’s G20 presidency and co-chaired by Australia. Role of audit in tackling corruption Internal and external audits can help businesses develop and improve their anti-bribery and corruption Continue reading

In 2022, the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group focused on the role of audit in tackling corruption, emerging risks in the renewable energy sector, anti-money laundering and public participation and anti-corruption education. How do Australia and other G20 countries measure up in relation to these key issues? Accountability Lab, a C20 partner of the G20 ACWG, Continue reading

The High Court of Australia has agreed to hear an appeal by the Crown about how penalties for foreign bribery are calculated. In particular, the appeal will consider how the ‘value of the benefit’ of foreign bribery under the federal Criminal Code is measured – is the maximum penalty to be measured by the gross Continue reading