Pressure mounting to Ban Corruption through Facilitation Payments in Australia

In an article reported in Lawyers' Weekly last week, a corruption expert at Baker & McKenzie has warned that Australia will have to step up its foreign bribery and corruption legislation to meet stringent international standards.

OECD criticism of Australia’s enforcement record and the growing number of Australian companies facing prosecution in countries with stringent corruption laws are pressuring the Federal Government to introduce legislation that prohibits facilitation payments. Facilitation payments are described as payments which allow bribery and/or corruption to proceed.

The corruption expert stated that "The facilitation payment defence, which is currently standing in the way of a stricter approach to bribery, is becoming increasingly irrelevant and should not be relied upon by Australian companies and the absence of a dedicated regulator and an under-resourced police force has also placed Australian laws under scrutiny."

The expert recommends that all companies introduce a global policy that takes a zero-tolerance approach to bribery, including facilitation payments. Importantly, companies should empower employees to resist these payments and foster a culture of compliance, which could be as simple as providing staff with a card they can present if asked for money stating that they are not permitted to make or take bribes of any kind.

The UK has already passed similar legislation in its Bribery Act (UK) and the increasing occurrence of multinational companies will mean a consistent approach to legislation will be a necessity.

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