Overseas Bribery Update (AU)

The final quarter of 2025 and first quarterof 2026 have seen several significantdevelopments in Australia’s anti-bribery The key indicators are conveniently broken down into redflag categories such as conduct, government affiliations,country links, ownership, registration information and other These are a useful resource in the context of examining acompany’s anticorruption procedures, as well as being a Australia Slips in the Corruptions With the absolute liability corporate offence for a failure toprevent foreign bribery now very much in force, this is agood time for directors, general counsel and compliance Transparency International’s leading global indicator ofpublic sector corruption suggests a period of complacencyin Australia, as it slips two places to rank 12th on the scaleof least corrupt public sectors, down from 10th at the endof 2024. Transparency International specifically identify the To learn more about the corporate offence and the adequateprocedures defence, see our previous commentary here. Taskforce Solaris At the end of 2025, the Australian Federal Police (AFP)announced that the AFP’s response to foreign bribery willnow be managed exclusively by Taskforce Solaris, a new The report suggests that this is part of a concerning declinein leadership to tackle corruption in a number of establisheddemocracies, including Australia, the US, UK and New The full report can be accessed here. The taskforce has indicated that it will work closelywith international and domestic partners to support theenforcement of Australian foreign bribery laws, and signals National Anticorruption Commission(NACC) Joins the Bribery Prevention The Bribery Prevention Network is a public-private partnershipthat brings together government, business and academia Key Indicators of Foreign Bribery The International Foreign Bribery Taskforce (IFTB) has recentlypublished guidance on key indicators associated with foreignbribery to enable stakeholders to recognise various factors The newest member of the Bribery Prevention Network’sImpact Committee is the federal government’s NACC. Speaking at the UN Convention against Corruption in Doha inDecember 2025, the National Anticorruption Commissioner,the Honourable Paul Brereton AM RFD SC, praised theBribery Prevention Network’s efforts in supporting Australian The IFTB is made up of the AFP, the US Federal Bureau ofInvestigations, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and NationalCrime Agency, the New Zealand Serious Fraud Office and the The Bribery Prevention Network provides various resourcesto Australian businesses, available here. Conclusion As is evident, tackling foreign bribery and corruption continues to be a focus in Australia and elsewhere. The AFP’screation of a special taskforce in particular signals a clear intent to utilise the new corporate offence provisions in an effortto satisfy Australia’s obligations as a party to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti- Contact Our practitioners have unique experience conducting independent investigations, as well as defending both domestic and If you have any concerns or would like to assess whether your business has adequate procedures in place to defend a failure to Graeme Slattery Tom HaysteadSpecial Counsel, SydneyT +61 2 8248 7807E tom.haystead@squirepb.com Partner, SydneyT +61 2 8248 7876