An unprecedented gathering of Australia’s leading anti-corruption and integrity experts has met for an extraordinary two-day integrity summit in Melbourne (29 & 30 August) to discuss some of the most significant challenges facing Australia today.
The conference was held by Transparency International Australia and heard from a range of speakers including the Commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Justice Paul Brereton, Deputy Commissioner of IBAC, Kylie Kilgour and the Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment, Dr Andrew Leigh.
After the conference the following was resolved:
There is an urgent need for government, business and civil society to work together to tackle corruption. Achieving long-lasting, substantive change at a grassroots and policy level requires cohesion, cooperation and commitment from all sectors.
- The vast contracting out of public services to consulting firms poses a ‘black box’ which means billions of dollars in public money public has little or no transparency.
- That urgent changes are needed to better protect whistle-blowers in Australia and delaying the implementation of such a regime could undermine the effectiveness of the new National Anti-Corruption Commission.
- That Australia must adopt Tranche 2 of the Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terror Financing Act which would see real-estate agents, lawyers and accountants covered under the Act too. But this is yet to be passed in Australia
CEO of Transparency International Australia, Clancy Moore, said corruption had both a moral and an economic cost and there were many challenges ahead if we were to make Australia corruption-free.
“The creation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission is a key pillar in the defence against corruption which the government should be congratulated. But other key pillars are required to hold corrupt actors and kleptocrats to account and stop the flow of dirty money into Australia.
“The challenges facing Australia from organised crime, falling standards of integrity and corrupt actors are profound. That’s why it is important that we reach out across government, business and civil society to work together to tackle corruption.”