Parliamentary committee reports linked to OGP commitments
Two parliamentary committee reports released today are linked to commitments in Australia’s OGP National Action Plan.
OGP National Action Plan Commitment 4.2 National Integrity Framework
“Australia will strengthen its ability to prevent, detect and respond to corruption in the public sector.”
Senate Select Committee on National Integrity Commission
Advocates for establishing a commission are disappointed that senators representing the major parties stopped short of such a recommendation.
For example Transparency International has slammed the decision as a missed opportunity to create a powerful national body with investigative powers to crack down on corruption.
With no sense of urgency, all you can say is it remains a live issue (relevant recommendations below) for attention down the track.
Senators from the Xenophon team (P 225) and The Greens (P 232) favour swift, urgent action.
Recommendation 1
The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government prioritises strengthening the national integrity framework in order to make it more coherent, comprehensible and accessible.
Recommendation 2
The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government gives careful consideration to establishing a Commonwealth agency with broad scope and jurisdiction to address integrity and corruption matters.
Recommendation 3
The committee encourages the Senate to review the question of a national integrity commission following the release of the Open Government Partnership review and the Griffith University and Transparency International Australia et al research, with a view to making a conclusive recommendation based on the evidence available at that time.
OGP National Action Plan Commitment 1.1 Whistleblower protection
“This commitment will ensure Australia has appropriate protections in place for people who report corruption, fraud, tax evasion or avoidance, and misconduct within the corporate sector.
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services
Nothing wishy washy from this committee: unanimous support for 34 recommendations that Professor AJ Brown describes as big steps in the direction of best practice.
Thanks to the efforts of Senators Xenophon and Hinch the Committee inquiry and recommendations address improvements to protections for public sector disclosures as well as disclosures in the corporate sector.
In finalising the OGP National Action Plan in December, the government wasn’t prepared to go that far, sticking initially to protections for tax related disclosures, then accepting a need to look at the corporate sector.
Pressure from the cross benches took things all the way.