AUSTRALIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dennis Miralis, Kartia Zappavigna and Darren Pham, Nyman Gibson Miralis
Conclusion The legal framework in this area has undergone significant development in the past two years, and in light of its international obligations, Aus - tralia will no doubt continue to develop and amend this framework in order to comprehen - sively respond to corruption and bribery issues. With private entities at the forefront of these changes, those operating either wholly or partly in the jurisdiction will need to stay abreast of the relevant frameworks, reviewing and updating their internal procedures and policies.
For the ABC programme to be effective, employ - ees and contracts will need adequate avenues to report misconduct, or whistle-blow. • They must provide whistle-blowers with facili - ties to report suspicious or corrupt behaviour confidentially and/or anonymously. • For multinational companies, the facility must be available to individuals in appropriate lan - guages and time zones. • Frequent audits, whether internally or external - ly, on the effectiveness of the reporting mecha - nisms to ensure that ABC controls have been properly implemented. To keep the ABC programme relevant and responsive, companies must conduct reviews. • Mandate frequent risk assessment reviews of the ABC programme and procedures. • Have independent experts conduct thorough assessments of the ABC programme, with focus on the effectiveness of procedures and whether the corporate culture is compliance focused. (a) External review or input can add a degree of impartiality, fresh thinking and peer benchmarking. (b) This will require reviewing not just the paper but the practice, through interviews with board members, senior management and employees, as well as data regarding incidents and procurement, etc.
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