New analysis shows federal lobbying regulations lagging all states on key measures of transparency, stopping the ‘revolving door’ and enforcement creating a risk of corruption and undue influence in federal parliament.
Based on 10 key indicators and scores out of 100, the federal system placed equal last scoring 17/100, tying with the ACT and the Northern Territory.
Opaque federal regulations give powerful interests like gambling, defence and fossil fuel sectors outsized influence over policy making. The lack of transparency and accountability risks corrupting the political decision-making process and reduces trust in our democracy.
In contrast to the federal regulations, Queensland came first overall with proactive disclosure of ministerial diaries and lobbyist activities, a two year ‘cooling off’ period and an independent regulator
Just three states scored above 50/100 with Queensland leading on 75/100, South Australia with 58/100, and NSW 50/100.
Western Australia scored 42/100, with Victoria behind on 33/100. Tasmania lagged further behind at 25/100, while the ACT, the NT and the Commonwealth each scored 17/100.
Key Findings
- The Commonwealth keeps ministerial meetings secret – All states except South Australia and Western Australia publish ministers’ diaries proactively; the Commonwealth does not require ministers to publish diaries
- The revolving door spins freely in Canberra – Despite an 18-month cooling off period, former federal ministers can start lobbying straight out of office with impunity, while only Queensland and South Australia have a ban of two years to prevent undue influence.
- Canberra has no dedicated watchdog – Unlike Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, NSW, and the ACT, the Commonwealth has no independent regulator for oversight and enforcement.
- Penalties are weaker at the federal level – Some states back their lobbying rules with fines or other sanctions, but the Commonwealth’s only real penalty is removal from the register.
- States are outpacing the nation on disclosure – Queensland and South Australia require lobbyists to file regular activity reports, while the Commonwealth demands none at all.
Transparency International Australia says the while Australia is turning the corner in global corruption rankings there is an urgent need to strengthen federal lobbying laws.
“Every day, armies of big business lobbyists walk the halls of parliament meeting our MPs and ministers behind closed doors. This unfettered access risks corrupting the policy-making process.” said Clancy Moore, CEO, Transparency International Australia.
“The secrecy around lobbying harms our democracy. We must shine a light on who our MPs are meeting and why.”
“The Albanese Government should shut the ‘revolving door’ between politics and the private sector. This means a minimum of 3 year ‘cooling off’ periods for Ministers and senior public servants.”
“The Commonwealth needs a big stick when lobbyists break the rules” he added.
Transparency International Australia is calling for legislation to include in-house lobbyists, and disclosure of ministers and shadow ministers’ diaries, and lobbyists’ activities. There should also be a minimum3-year ‘cooling off’ period, proper sanctions for breaches and an independent regulator.
More information
Previous research by Transparency International (TI) Australia shows that the since 2011, at least eight Federal Ministers, senior ministerial advisors, including those in relevant portfolios, and one state Premier taking up roles as gambling lobbyists.
At a federal level, the gambling sector has hired 13 third-party firms to influence parliament with Responsible Wagering Australia accessing over 100 lobbyists across all jurisdictions.
Since 2001, almost every federal Resources Minister has gone to work in the fossil fuel sector shortly after leaving parliament, including Ian Macfarlane (Queensland Resources Council), ALP ministers Gary Gray (Minerals Resources Ltd) and Martin Ferguson (APPEA).
Not a single lobbyist has been sanctioned under the federal government’s code of conduct for almost three years despite 14 breaches.
TI Australia’s Position Paper on Lobbying and TI Australia’s National Integrity Systems Assessment,
Brief methodology
The framework for this analysis draws from existing Transparency International frameworks, international standards of lobbying regulation, and literature analysing lobbying regulations and frameworks developed to create transparency and accessible lobbying environments. It focuses on:
- Regulatory scope – who counts as a lobbyist (third-party and/or in-house)
- Transparency – public registers, ministerial diary disclosures, lobbyist contact logs, timeliness, and data openness.
- Integrity – cooling-off periods and bans on success/contingency fees.
- Oversight, management and sanctions – the presence of an independent regulator, legislated standards, complaint/audit powers and the availability of sanctions (e.g., fines, bans, deregistration).
Scores were attributed to each of the indicators included in the analysis to highlight the leading and lagging jurisdictions. Most indicators were coded 1 (present) or 0 (absent) and two indicators were coded with a traffic-light system: green (2), amber (1), red (0). Indicator scores were totalled and normalised to a 0–100 scale, producing a jurisdictional score to assess the transparency, integrity and accountability of lobbying regulation.
Download the full report Behind Closed Doors here.
*Updated to correct state-level data