Australia’s lobbying rules ignore most lobbyists. It’s time for an overhaul

Jennifer Lacy-Nichols, University of Melbourne

The secret world of political lobbying has been thrown into the spotlight by ABC Four Corners this week. The program examined the loopholes in lobbying regulations in the context of the Albanese government’s recent gambling reforms.

Today, new research from the Australian Democracy Network uncovers core flaws in Australia’s lobbying rules.

The current system allows powerful people, organisations and corporations to attempt to influence government decision-making covertly. It makes it almost impossible for the public to know who is shaping important policy and why.

Lobbying in Australia

Lobbying is any activity carried out to influence a government or institution’s policies and decisions in favour of a specific cause or outcome.

In Australia, anyone can lobby governments and has a right to represent their views. This is crucial to a healthy democracy.

But Australians also have a right to know who is trying to influence their government.

Not everyone has the same opportunities to access and influence government. Former ministers and senior advisors that become lobbyists can offer government experience and the professional networks that accompany it.

Under the current system, commercial interests can pay for that political access and influence in ways ordinary people cannot. Because there are no records of lobbyists’ meetings with ministers and members of parliament, we have no way of knowing the purpose or outcomes of these meetings, what was discussed, or what tactics might be being used to persuade government ministers to act in line with a lobbyists’s vested interest.

Without safeguards, vested interests can influence government without the public knowing about it.

To protect against undue influence, Australia has a lobbying code of conduct to regulate lobbyists. But this is not a law: it’s not legally binding.

Yet under Australian rules, only one type of lobbyist is regulated: third-party lobbyists. This means a person or company conducting lobbying activities on behalf of a third-party client.

This only covers consultants who provide lobbying as a fee-for-service arrangement. It does not cover “in-house” lobbyists — such as “government relations” staff employed directly by major companies, industry associations and not-for-profits.

The code also prohibits certain former government representatives from lobbying for set periods after leaving office. This applies to:

• ministers

• assistant ministers

• ministerial advisers

• senior public servants

• high-ranking members of the Australian Defence Force.

Only these categories must be identified as former government representatives on the lobbyist register.

Integrity experts estimate that because of these narrow definitions, as many as 80% of lobbyists may fall outside the current rules.

Research published last year by Transparency International Australia found the federal rules are weaker than every state jurisdiction.

This gap is set to widen as four states and territories have reviews underway to further strengthen their own lobbying rules.

What our research found

My research explores how business interests influence public health policies. I helped advise and review the new report from the Australian Democracy Network that reveals major shortcomings in the design and implementation of our federal lobbyist register.

The network’s research found more than half (58%) of ASX100 companies were not listed as clients on the federal lobbying register. This includes some of Australia’s largest companies, such as the Commonwealth Bank, Santos and Qantas. All these companies have substantial commercial interests in policy outcomes.

One explanation is that these companies may not lobby the government.

But a more likely explanation is these companies have their own in-house lobbyists (such as a “government relations” team). The lobbying code of conduct does not recognise these teams as lobbyists.

There are 714 registered lobbyists at the federal level, compared to only 226 members of parliament. Using publicly available records and a broader definition of former government representative — any prior role in state or federal government — the Australian Democracy Network’s analysis found almost two thirds of these lobbyists have prior government experience.

While 295 disclosed this, a further 164 had government experience they either did not disclose or were not required to disclose (such as previously being a member of parliament, or experience in state politics).

4 key reforms

These findings matter because they show how loopholes in our lobbying regulations can camouflage political access and influence.

Compared to international lobbying registers, of which some require companies to disclose their total lobbying spending and have broader definitions of “lobbyist”, Australia’s federal register provides limited information.

Australians deserve to know who is shaping the government decisions that ultimately influence their lives. Right now, it is exceptionally time-consuming (and sometimes impossible) to find out who is trying to influence government policy.

To fix these loopholes, Australia needs a federal lobbying act with universal rules applied to all lobbyists. The act should include:

1. an expanded definition of lobbyist to capture in-house “government relations” staff working for companies and industry organisations

2. a five-year ban on former ministers and advisers becoming lobbyists to protect public interest decision-making from undue influence

3. a requirement for the meeting diaries for ministers, MPs, senior advisers and lobbyists to be published so the public can see who is meeting with decision-makers

4. and the creation of an independent regulatory body with the power to enforce the rules and penalise non-compliance.

Earlier this year, the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate moved to tighten parliamentary access rules for lobbyists. Among other changes, lobbyists with privileged access passes (passes that allow them to wander Parliament House without an escort) will now be listed on a public register.

It’s a welcome first step, but the rest of Australia’s lobbying rules urgently need to catch up.

The author would like to acknowledge Christian Slattery from the Australian Democracy Network for his work on the report that underpins this article.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.