The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Economic Disruption) Bill 2020 was passed by Parliament on 3 February 2021. These reforms include new money laundering offences designed to address the behaviours of modern money laundering networks, including entities that launder the proceeds of foreign bribery. The OECD Working Group on Bribery has found that a substantial amount of Continue reading

Transparency International Australia reflects on 2020 and the impact of COVID-19 on bribery and corruption risks. This blog post tracks key developments in anti-corruption in Australia over the course of 2020, and highlights the importance of COVID-19 recoveries that are guided by the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity. This includes ensuring that due diligence Continue reading

Last month, following a nine year investigation into foreign bribery, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) made one arrest, and issued a further two arrest warrants, in relation to the Leighton Holdings case. This longest running foreign bribery investigation in Australia’s history relates to two crude oil contracts made in 2010 and 2011 between Leighton Offshore Continue reading

The Australian Government is undertaking consultations on its proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) and supporting draft legislation. The proposed CIC would acts as a centralised, specialist centre investigating corruption in the public sector and would established as an independent statutory agency, led by the Integrity Commissioner and assisted by the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner and Continue reading

Australia’s top ASX-listed companies, government organisations and civil society organisations have joined forces to launch the country’s Bribery Prevention Network, aimed at supporting businesses to prevent, detect and address bribery and corruption. The Bribery Prevention Network brings together business, civil society, academic institutions, and government. Hosted by Global Compact Network Australia (GCNA) – the local Continue reading

The Australian Law Reform Commission has published the Final Report from its Review of Corporate Criminal Responsibility. The report makes wide-ranging recommendations for a significant recalibration of corporate criminal laws. Some significant recommendations include: Reserving criminal punishment for the most serious misconduct. Creating a single mechanism for holding companies criminally liable for misconduct by employees Continue reading