Introducing TI Australia

TI Australia is the national chapter of Transparency International (TI), the global coalition against corruption, with a presence in some 80 countries.

We fully support TI's Vision, Objectives and Guiding Principles and Mission and Strategy as the only international non-governmental organisation focusing exclusively on the issue of corruption. TI believes that corruption is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary world. Former TI Australia Chairman Henry Bosch describes the damage it causes and some of the current initiatives being taken to tackle it in his authoritative paper The Growing Threat of International Corruption . Since TI's launch in 1993, corruption has become a global issue and the World Bank among others has credited TI's key role in achieving this.

Launch and Members

TI Australia was launched in March 1995 to raise awareness of international business corruption in Australia and to initiate moves to combat it. Our Memorandum and Articles were first adopted in 1995 and amended in November 2003. See TI Australia Constitution. Among our organisation members are ANZ Bank, BHP Billiton and Westpac, three of Australia's largest companies, as well as World Vision Australia and others from the development sector. Support has come from other companies with international business interests, the accounting, legal and engineering professions, the academic community, enforcement agencies, political leaders, and non-governmental organisations. See Support. We also have a growing group of committed individual members.

New Members

We always welcome new members. To find out who should become a member and why, see Who should support TI Australia?. For details of how to become a member please see our Membership Application Form.

Directors and Management

TI Australia has a Board of up to eight Directors, see Board of Directors. Directors are nominated by the Board and can serve until the next AGM, when the nomination is put to the Members for their vote. Directors serve 3 year terms after which they are required to retire or submit for re-election at the next AGM. TI Australia's management is carried out by the Chief Executive with considerable support from the Chairman, other Directors and members who work on an 'as required' basis. TI Australia is a full member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and has fully adopted the ACFID Code of Conduct. Administration is sub-contracted on a part-time basis to a small company that specialised in administration of non-for-profit organisations. All Directors and Executives work for TI Australia on a voluntary, pro bono basis.

Funding and Accounts

Core operating expenses are derived from membership fees (80%) and other donations and meeting fees (20%). On occasion Directors have undertaken professional work on major Transparency International projects and donated their fees to TI Australia. Projects are undertaken as additional funding allows. Over the past 6 years TI Australia has received support with gratitude, as cash and in kind from a vast array of Australian and international organisations - see Support & Sponsors. Most years the amount raised for project activities far exceeds the core operating budget. The Chief Executive provides regular reports to the Chairman and Company Secretary and at all Board Meetings. The Company Accounts are audited annually by PwC on a pro bono basis and the audited Financial statements are sent to TI Australia members 21 days prior to the AGM.

State Groups

TI Australia has groups in New South Wales, Western Australia, ACT and Victoria lead by State Convenors. The State Convenors give willing and voluntary support to TI Australia alongside their regular jobs and we are most grateful for the time and effort they put into this. Many of our meetings have been run jointly with other organisations concerned about international corruption, including the Australian Institute of International Affairs; Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association (AMPLA); Council for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA); The Australian Society of Chartered Practicing Accountants; the Institution of Engineers, Australia; the Law Council of Australia and others.

TI Australia's work in Asia Pacific

TI Australia convened TI's first ever regional meeting in Asia jointly with TI Philippines in 1995. Since then, new TI national chapters have been launched in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Vanuatu, Pakistan and New Zealand with TI contact persons in other countries. TI Australia supported many of these new chapters with technical advice and information as they were developing. Every year TI Australia representatives attend a regional meeting of Chapters and report on outcomes. With the support of AusAid and in conjunction with the Asia Pacific School at the ANU Canberra, 12 integrity studies were conducted of South Pacific countries and completed in 2004. These studies are available from us on CD Rom and from the TI Australia website. One interesting outcome was to confirm that while most places had anti-corruption institutions in place, many did not work effectively."

Legislative Changes

TI Australia made submissions to government recommending Australian support for the OECD recommendations on bribery of foreign public officials, 'OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions'. Australian legislation to implement the OECD Convention to Criminalise Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, Criminal Code Amendment (Bribery of Foreign Public Officials) Act 1999, came into force on 18 December 1999 at the same time as Australia's ratification of the Convention became effective. The legislation is available in PDF on the Australian Parliament House website Criminal Code Amendment(Bribery of Foreign Public Officials) Act 1999 TI Australia was delighted with the cross-party support in 1999 which resulted the passing of the legislation. TI also supports private sector initiatives like the International Chamber of Commerce rules on bribery and extortion and various corporate Codes of Conduct which outlaw bribery.

National Integrity Systems Assessment (NISA)

Since 1999 our largest Australian based project has been the National Integrity Systems Assessment(NISA) which we have been undertaking jointly with The Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance at Griffith University. This project is examines and analyses the systems that keep Australia honest - or not? Using TI's mapping processes the final report 'Chaos or Coherence? Strengths, Opportunities and Challenges for Australia's Integrity Systems' was launched in December 2005. It draws together the previous State studies in a combined analysis and presents 21 recommendations for enhancing our integrity standards and institutions. That final report can be accessed from the Griffith University website on http://www.griffith.edu.au/centre/kceljag/nisa/nisa_final.pdf