AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tobin Meagher, David Benson, Tessa Trend and William Stefanidis, Clayton Utz
is a strict liability offence. In addition, it is an offence under Section 1307 for an employee or former employee of a company to falsify any books relating to the affairs of the company. The Crimes Acts of various states and territories also have similar false accounting offences, such as Section 83(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), which makes it an offence to dishonestly falsify a document made for an accounting purpose. 2.4 Public Officials Domestic public officials also commit an offence by engaging in corrupt practices. For example, as referred to in 2.1 Bribery , Section 141.1(3) of the Criminal Code provides that it is an offence for a Commonwealth public official to: dishon - estly ask, receive, obtain, or agree to receive or obtain a benefit for themselves or another per - son with the intention that the exercise of their official duties will be influenced, or of inducing, fostering or sustaining such a belief. A similar but lesser offence applies if a Com - monwealth public official receives a corrupting benefit (Section 142.1(3)). A Commonwealth public official will also commit an offence against Section 142.2 of the Criminal Code for the abuse of public office. This pro - vision will be breached if the official exercises influence, engages in conduct, or uses informa - tion obtained in their capacity as an official, with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a benefit for themselves or another person, or causing detriment to another person. The states and territories also legislate against public officers seeking or accepting bribes or other benefits to which they are not entitled.
New South Wales is the only Australian jurisdic - tion that retains a specific offence of embez - zlement (Part 4, Division 6, NSW Crimes Act). This offence criminalises conduct in which an employee intentionally misappropriates proper - ty entrusted to them by their employer. In other Australian jurisdictions, embezzlement conduct is dealt with under provisions relating to fraud, theft or other property offences. 2.5 Intermediaries There are no specific provisions concerning the commission of an offence through an interme - diary. However, the offences under the Criminal Code are structured broadly so as to capture such offences. See 2.1 Bribery and 3.3 Corpo- rate Liability . 2.6 Lobbyists Lobbying activities are regulated at the feder - al and state or territory level by the applicable Lobbying Codes of Conduct (the “Code of Con - duct”) and Lobbyist Registers (the “Register”). At the national level, the AGD administers the Commonwealth Code of Conduct, which was recently updated in 2022 and includes require - ments to ensure contact between lobbyists and Commonwealth government representatives remain consistent with the public’s expectations in respect of integrity, transparency and honesty. Under the Commonwealth Code of Conduct, subject to very limited exceptions, anyone who acts on behalf of third-party clients (regardless of sector) for the purpose of lobbying a Com - monwealth government representative is con - sidered a lobbyist and is therefore required to register as such. Government representatives are prohibited from engaging with lobbyists that are not registered on the Register. The Common -
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