The 2023-24 year once again highlighted the importance of transparency, integrity, and accountability as we faced significant challenges in Australia, regionally, and globally.

In Australia, the Robodebt Royal Commission report clearly outlined the failure of senior federal public servants and MPs who abused their power for personal gain. We also saw whistleblowers punished through legal action for speaking up and major allegations of foreign bribery and corporate crime brought to light.

After much advocacy by TI Australia, we saw a new chapter written in Australia’s anti-corruption laws, with the Combatting Foreign Bribery Bill passing in February. I was also lucky to play a key role in developing Australia’s Third National Action Plan under the Open Government Partnership. This includes eight commitments including a whole-of-government integrity strategy, a public beneficial ownership register, and stronger protections for whistleblowers. The government also pushed ahead with long-overdue reforms to include high-risk gatekeeper professions like lawyers, accountants and real-estate agents in our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime.

Internationally, we continue our attention on our mining and infrastructure program, working collaboratively with Transparency International Chapters around the world to identify and act on corruption risks in these corruption prone sectors.

Unsurprisingly, our efforts to combat corruption are more important than ever.