This short, 15 minute learning module can be used by businesses to help develop employees’ awareness of the foreign bribery offence. The module provides information about Australia’s anti-bribery policy, relevant laws and how to report foreign bribery. It features video interviews with Australian Federal Police representatives, links to relevant agencies and a short quiz, and supports users with accessibility requirements.

Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, including Australia, are required to criminalise bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions. This fact sheet provides short explanations of the OECD, the Anti‑Bribery Convention, how the Convention is monitored and background to Australia’s enforcement of the Convention.

In 2018, the Attorney-General's Department released a draft Code of Practice for public consultation, setting out how a proposed Commonwealth Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) scheme would have operated. The scheme, part of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Corporate Crime) Bill 2017/2019, would have allowed the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to invite a corporation to negotiate an agreement — involving cooperation, admissions, and a financial penalty — in exchange for deferring prosecution. The Bill ultimately lapsed and a DPA scheme was not introduced in Australia.

Suspected bribery of foreign public officials can be reported to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). This fact sheet tells you how. Companies that discover foreign bribery and do not report to the AFP may face increased liability for maintaining a corporate culture that tolerates bribery. Companies that report their own conduct can receive discounted penalties (and may not be prosecuted at all).

The Australian Government is proposing reforms that will require companies to implement and maintain adequate procedures to prevent an associate (such as an employee, agent or subsidiary) from bribing foreign public officials. This draft principles-based guidance sets out the types of measures companies should consider implementing and includes case studies to demonstrate how these measures could be applied in practice.