AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tobin Meagher, David Benson, Tessa Trend and William Stefanidis, Clayton Utz
wealth’s Register is publicly searchable on the AGD’s website. However, unlike some States and Territories (including NSW and Western Australia), the Commonwealth Code of Conduct and Register are not enshrined in legislation, and therefore it is not compulsory for lobbyists to register. A May 2024 progress report into a Senate inquiry into access to Australian Parliament House by lob - byists and the adequacy of current transparency arrangements recommended that the Austral - ian government introduce legislation to require all lobbyists to adhere to the Code of Conduct and maintain registration on the Register. Other recommendations included capturing a broader range of actors (eg, in-house lobbyists), and independent administration of the Code of Con - duct and Register. The States of Victoria, NSW, South Australia, and Queensland have also all recently strengthened, or are in the process of considering strengthen - ing, the regulation of lobbying (and related Min - isterial conduct) in their respective states. At general law, a prosecution for a criminal offence can be commenced at any time, unless a statute provides otherwise. However, criminal proceedings may be stayed to prevent injustice to the defendant caused by unreasonable delay. There is no statute of limitations for prosecutions of the above-mentioned Commonwealth offenc - es. That is because under the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) (Crimes Act), there is no limitations period for the prosecution of offences by individuals against a law of the Commonwealth where the 3. Scope of Application 3.1 Limitation Period
maximum penalty exceeds six months’ impris - onment, or for the prosecution of offences by companies where the maximum penalty exceeds AUD49,500. 3.2 Geographical Reach of Applicable Legislation The Criminal Code offences referred to in 2.1 Bribery , 2.3 Financial Record-Keeping and 2.4 Public Officials have broad extraterritorial reach. In relation to the foreign bribery offence, either some part of the conduct constituting the alleged offence must have occurred in Australia or, if the conduct occurred wholly outside Australia, the person must be an Australian citizen or resident, or a body corporate incorporated in Australia. In relation to the offence of bribing a Common - wealth public official, it does not matter if the conduct constituting the alleged offence, or the result of that conduct, occurred entirely outside Australia. In relation to the state and territory-based offences, there must be some nexus between the state or territory and the offence. In NSW, that nexus will be held to exist where the offence is committed: • wholly or partly in the state; or • wholly outside the state, but the offence has an effect in the state. Liability for a breach of directors’ duties under the Corporations Act will arise if the relevant person is a director or officer of an Australian- incorporated company. If the relevant person is a director or officer of a foreign company, the Corporations Act will only have extraterritorial reach over that individual in limited circumstanc - es, including where the conduct occurred in con -
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