Bribery

City of Casey councillor Sam Aziz has been granted extended paid leave while in Egypt, despite facing allegations that he had received bribes from a property developer. It comes amid growing pressure on the Victorian government to sack the council. Aziz recently requested extended paid leave from council duties until April, citing health reasons.

A jailed public servant has spoken of the impact a corruption conviction has had on his life in a video recently released by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission, which the CCC describes as a “powerful corruption prevention tool”.

A senior executive in the Department for Correctional Services has been charged with two counts of abuse of public office and one count of bribery or corruption of a public officer, according to South Australia’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, Bruce Lander.

Northern Territory Attorney-General Natasha Fyles has made it clear that “restoring trust in government” is a key goal for the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, which is expected to be running by mid-year, while Victoria hopes its own integrity reforms can have a similar effect.

Everyone loves the idea of a corruption-fighting agency, just not an effective one, says the head of Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission, with Megan Latham’s treatment smelling of misogyny. And he’s just warming up.

Australia submits its Open Government action plan in the nick of time, securing membership in the international Open Government Partnership. A last minute addition commits to more work on combating corporate crime.

Anti-corruption processes across key federal entities, led by the Australian Federal Police, have been enhanced in recent years in response to major foreign bribery cases. But no matter how good these measures are, they do little to weaken the case for a federal ICAC.