Corruption Matters - November 2021 | Issue 58
Lobbying reform is essential
Recommendations made in the ICAC’s 2021 report, Investigation into the regulation of lobbying, access and influence in NSW, pave the way for significant reform of the legislation that governs lobbying of the NSW public sector.
Although lobbying can have a positive impact on government decision-making, it carries many hidden risks of corruption and undue influence. Findings from the ICAC’s Operation Eclipse report demonstrate that reform of the current regulatory regime is necessary because:
- not all of the recommendations made a decade ago in the ICAC’s Operation Halifax report (November 2010) were adopted, leaving regulatory “gaps”
- the Lobbying of Government Officials Act 2011 (“the LOGO Act”)fails to provide a proper and sufficiently robust framework to manage corruption risks, and fails to provide assurance to the general public that democratic principles of transparency, accountability, integrity and fairness are being met
- there are declining levels of public trust in government officials.
In Operation Eclipse, the ICAC examined the link between political practices and the regulation of lobbying, emphasising the need to promote transparency of process and accountability in government decision-making. Of particular concern is the perception that some lobbyists are granted greater access and influence, while others are restricted in these regards.
The nine key findings and 29 recommendations in the report primarily prohibit undocumented or secret meetings with lobbyists and require all communications with lobbyists to be documented, including those held away from government premises. The recommendations for reform include:
- creating a dedicated NSW lobbying commissioner whose principal purpose is to regulate the LOGO Act and interactions with lobbyists who are making representations to government
- strengthening the Lobbying Code of Conduct to impose standards and obligations for lobbyists and government officials who are lobbied
- extending regulation to third party lobbyists, professional in-house lobbyists and others (although certain exemptions are recommended for smaller not-for-profit and community organisations)
- enforcing greater disclosure of information in the register about what, when and why communications took place between government officials and lobbyists
- requiring ministerial diaries to be published monthly and be sufficiently detailed for public scrutiny of the reason for each meeting (including any fundraising event, where payment is made by an individual for exclusive or private access to a minister)
- addressing the revolving door issue in relation to officials in designated high-risk roles by introducing a six-month restriction on employment in certain areas related to their public duties
- extending relevant provisions of the LOGO Act to local government.
The ICAC also recommended that a Lobbying Reform Panel (comprising a small number of subject-matter experts) be formed to provide information and assistance to the NSW Government and NSW Parliament in formulating the proposed legislative reforms.
The NSW Government response to the Commission’s recommendations is due by the end of 2021.
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