Submission: Inquiry into lobbying arrangements in the ACT
Transparency International Australia welcomes the ACT Integrity Commission's inquiry into arrangements for lobbying and influence in government in the ACT and is pleased to make the following submission.
The ACT's current lobbying scheme, unchanged in any comprehensive sense since its implementation in 2014, falls well short of what is needed. Transparency International Australia's analysis of lobbying regimes across all Australian jurisdictions shows the ACT ranks at the bottom on transparency, integrity, and enforcement, scoring just 17/100, equal last with the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory.
This submission draws on Transparency International research and international standards, including TI Australia's Behind Closed Doors: A Comparative Jurisdictional Analysis of Australia's Lobbying Rules (2025) and OECD frameworks, and takes a comparative approach to examining best practice across Australian jurisdictions and internationally. We hope the outcome is a set of reforms that makes the ACT a genuine leader in lobbying regulation, and that other jurisdictions, including the Commonwealth, take note.