AUSTRALIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dennis Miralis, Kartia Zappavigna and Darren Pham, Nyman Gibson Miralis
In the past two to three years, the Australian fed - eral government has introduced a series of new laws to bring Australia closer to compliance with its international obligations. These obligations stem from Australia being party to numerous international anti-corruption conventions, including the: • UN Convention against Corruption 2003 (UNCAC); • OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Busi - ness Transactions 1997, also known as the Anti-Foreign Bribery Convention; and • UN Convention Against Transnational Organ - ised Crime 2000 (UNTOC). Australia is also a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets international standards on anti- money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and countering proliferation financing. In line with Australia’s obligations to these con - ventions and FATF, the government has passed a series of legislation and plans to pass more, to bring the anti-corruption laws and regulations up to international standards. The main changes brought in since late 2022, include: • amendment to Australia’s foreign bribery laws, and the creation of a new offence; • establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC); and • reforms to Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Regime.
These changes bring Australia into closer com - pliance with its international obligations and internal standards, however corporations, at the front line of the government’s attempts to tackle corruption issues, will be required to respond to the changes in shift in the regulatory environ - ment. Companies must be prepared and proac - tive in responding to these changes. Developments in Australia’s Anti-corruption and Bribery Regime Amendment to foreign bribery laws On 29 February 2024, the federal parliament passed the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Bill 2023. The bill was brought, in part in response to con - cern from the OECD Working Group on Bribery about Australia’s low level of enforcement given the high-risk regions and sectors in which Aus - tralian companies operate. The passing of this Bill brought to an end a six- year attempt by the federal government to pass these laws. First in 2017, and then again in 2019, but those bills were allowed to lapse. Now, the federal government has successfully passed a leaner, and stricter version of the Bill. There are three key changes. • A new corporate offence of failure to prevent foreign bribery. • The existing offences capture a greater range of corporate conduct. • Increased penalties for corporations found guilty of an offence. The new corporate offence of failure to prevent the bribery of a foreign public official carries a maximum penalty of AUD27.5 million or higher.
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