Bribery of foreign public officials

Australian businesses operating in international markets need to know their obligations under Australian and foreign law for dealing with foreign public officials.

Bribery is a crime

Bribery and corruption are serious risks for Australians doing business offshore.

Under Australian law, bribery of foreign public officials is a serious crime. It's punishable by fines and imprisonment. Australian individuals and companies can be prosecuted in Australia for bribing foreign officials when overseas.

Most foreign countries also have laws that prohibit offering or giving a benefit to government officials to improperly influence their actions.

Protect your business from bribery

Australian businesses operating offshore should do the following.

• Implement an anti-foreign bribery and corruption compliance program.
• Understand that making facilitation payments is illegal in most foreign countries. Facilitation payments are unofficial payments to secure or speed up a routine government action.
• Conduct appropriate due diligence before engaging and using third parties in foreign countries. Third parties include agents and business partners.
• Be aware of Australian Government anti-foreign bribery laws.

Our Go Global Toolkit has guidance and resources to help you Protect yourself from bribery and corruption.

Working with Austrade

The Australian Government has a zero tolerance approach to bribery and corruption.

It is Austrade policy that:

• Austrade will not assist any individual or business to pay bribes to foreign public officials.
• Austrade will not assist any individual or business to make or arrange facilitation payments.
• It is not Austrade’s role to guarantee the integrity of a local agent or provide a background check. Businesses must conduct their own due diligence.
• Any Austrade official who suspects an individual or a company of being involved in foreign bribery or corruption must report the concern to authorities.

We ensure our practices comply with the anti-bribery provisions contained in section 70 of the Australian Criminal Code. This includes mandatory training for all our staff on complying with anti-bribery laws.

Our policies and client documents align with anti-bribery laws. Our service proposals, for example, clearly state that we cannot assist clients to pay bribes or make facilitation payments.

More information

• Foreign bribery - Attorney General's Department
• OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.