4.2 - National Integrity Framework

Objective and description:

Australia will strengthen its ability to prevent, detect and respond to corruption in the public sector.

We will do this in collaboration with the corporate sector, non-government organisations, academia and the public, including by holding the first Government Business Roundtable on Anti-Corruption in 2017.

We will review the jurisdiction and capabilities of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP)-led Fraud and Anti-Corruption Centre (FACC) with the development of each National Action Plan to ensure they can focus on protecting Commonwealth agencies from risks of corruption.

Status Quo:

The Australian Government takes tackling corruption seriously. We have strong laws and a robust, multi agency approach to combating corruption, under which a range of agencies play a role in preventing, detecting and responding to corruption (an approach the Government believes is preferable to creating an entirely new anti-corruption agency).

Key agencies responsible for responding to public sector corruption include:

• ACLEI, which is responsible for preventing, detecting and investigating corruption within the high-risk agencies within its jurisdiction.

• The AFP-hosted FACC, which brings together a range of Commonwealth agencies to respond to serious fraud and corruption matters, including across Commonwealth services, programmes and employees. The Government provided an additional $15 million to the FACC in April 2016.

In 2012, Australia was found fully compliant following a review of our implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Our next review under UNCAC is scheduled to occur in 2017-18.

ACLEI’s jurisdiction was reviewed earlier this year by the Joint Committee on the ACLEI. The Committee recommended the Government extend ACLEI’s jurisdiction to include the entire Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, and examine the feasibility of including the Australian Taxation Office. The Government is considering the recommendations.

Ambition:

To aim to improve Australia’s score on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index by strengthening the Australian Government’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to bribery and corruption, and better communicating our national integrity framework.

To achieve this, we will consult closely with industry, non-government organisations, academia and the public to ensure that our laws, policies and frameworks for responding to corruption are effective, including through holding the first Government Business Roundtable on Anti-Corruption in 2017.

We will strengthen the national integrity framework as it applies to the public sector. This will include reviewing the jurisdiction and capabilities of ACLEI and FACC every two years with the development of Australia’s National Action Plans under OGP, and extending these on an as needs basis.

We will also improve whistle-blower protections (see commitment 1.1).

Relevance:

This commitment will advance the OGP values of public accountability by:

• improving the effectiveness of our legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks; and

• protecting the integrity and transparency of the execution of public policy and management.

OGP Grand Challenge: 

Increasing Public Integrity

Timeframes:

2016 – July 2018

Lead agency:

Attorney-General’s Department (anticorruption@ag.gov.au)

Other actors involved: 

• Government - ACLEI, Australian Federal Police, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

• Non-government - Industry, peak bodies (including Law Council of Australia) non-government organisations (including Australian Open Government Partnership Network) and international partners

Milestones:

• Respond to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ACLEI’s inquiry into the jurisdiction of ACLEI.

  • Commenced - Early 2017

• Hold the first Government Business Roundtable on Anti-Corruption, to improve cooperation and consultation on anti-corruption work, and identify areas for reform.

  • By July 2017 - By July 2017

• Respond to recommendations for reform and improvement arising from the Roundtable.

  • July 2017 - August 2017

• Review the jurisdiction and capabilities of ACLEI and FACC in consultation with the public in the context of developing Australia’s second National Action Plan.

  • Early 2018 - Mid 2018