The global corruption index shows that Australia may have turned a corner, but it is still behind the rest of the world.
Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report, which came out today, put Australia in 13th place, behind countries like New Zealand and Denmark, with a score of 75 out of 100. This is after ten years of democratic decline.
Australia's score is 10 points lower than it was in 2012, which is a big drop. However, Australia's score went up two points in this year's report, from its lowest score ever of 73, which shows that the National Anti-Corruption Commission may be helping the country turn the corner.
Australia should make a plan for the whole government to fight corruption if it wants to be a leader in the fight against corruption. This would include strong protections for people who blow the whistle, reforms to political donations, spending, and unfair lobbying, and strong laws to stop people from laundering money.
Austalia has scored 73 out of 100 on Transparency International's the global corruption perception index.
This remains a huge 10 points lower than what it acheived in 2012.
Last year Australia was one of the world's most significant decliners over the decade, receiving it's worst ever score.
Denmark was the top ranking country scoring 90, followed closely by New Zealand and Finland at 87.
Clancy Moore, the CEO of Transparency International Australia, said, "To restore more trust in our democracy, the government should make changes like putting caps on political donations and spending and making that information public in real time."
"More oversight and transparency of lobbying, as well as longer "cooling off" periods to stop lobbyists from "revolving doors," should also be a top priority."
"We also need stronger laws to stop corrupt officials, criminals, and business people from using poker machines, casinos, and real estate to launder money and hide their power abuses."
"In the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, corruption is a direct threat to peace and security on a national and regional level. The government's foreign policy should focus on promoting democracy, good governance, and efforts to hold the civil society accountable.
Professor A.J. Brown, a member of the board of Transparency International Australia and an expert on whistleblowing, said, "After 17 years of campaigning, Transparency International is thrilled that the National Anti-Corruption Commission is now up and running.
"However, Australia's reputation isn't likely to be fully restored until the rest of the world sees that the commision actually works and other issues that are important to our credibility in the region, beyond just the public sector, are taken seriously."
"This needs to start with a comprehensive plan to protect whistleblowers, including a whistleblower authority, and an end to our role as a safe haven for corrupt actors from around the region and the world." He said
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Miko Santos