The Room Where it Happens – Lobbying and Influence in South Australia
- Recommendations
- 31
- Report length
- 114 pages
Summary
Generated summary: written by an AI model from the report text and checked against the cited pages.
South Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption examined corruption risks arising from lobbying public officials and the effectiveness of the state’s regulatory scheme.
The Commission considered the scope of regulation, transparency, former officials’ lobbying, local government and administration of the scheme.
The Commission concluded that the scheme exposed only a small proportion of influencing activity to public scrutiny.
Its 31 recommendations proposed broader coverage, disclosure of lobbying contacts, restrictions after public office, local government coverage and oversight by the Ombudsman.
Report, page 11 · Report, page 14 · Report, page 15 · Report, page 17 · Report, page 18
In the body's own words
- Conclusion
Transparency is the best measure to combat the corruption risks associated with influencing activity.
Findings, opinions and statements
Allegations are not findings. A commission's finding or opinion of corrupt conduct or misconduct is not a finding that a person is guilty of a criminal offence, and the commissions say so in their reports.
No findings are reproduced in this record. This does not establish that the report contains none.
Recommendations 31
Recommendation 1
That any reform of the lobbying regulatory scheme in South Australia (including administrative reform) should be approached with a view to ensuring consistency, to the extent possible, with other such regulatory schemes in Australia.
Recommendation 2
That (if Recommendation 4 is not accepted) consideration be given to amending s 4 of the Lobbyists Act to remove the ambiguity introduced by the exception created by subsections (3) and (4).
Recommendation 3
That consideration be given to amending s 14 of the Lobbyists Act to clarify the prohibition on success fees.
Recommendation 4
That the definition of ‘lobbying activity’ in s 4(1) of the Lobbyists Act be amended to broaden the scope of the scheme and focus on the purpose of the activity being undertaken. It should include all conduct intended to influence the outcome of government decision making, regardless of the identity of the individual making the representation, whether they receive payment for making the representations, or on whose behalf they act.
Recommendation 5
That the requirement to register as a lobbyist, and the obligations which flow from registration, be subject to appropriate exceptions based on a threshold test of lobbying activity (drawing on international examples in Scotland, Canada and Ireland).
Recommendation 6
That the definition of lobbying be subject to exceptions designed to protect the smooth and practical operations of government, appropriate access to political representatives, and to ensure that individuals’ rights are not unnecessarily impinged upon.
Recommendation 7
That a Code of Conduct be made pursuant to s 19(4) of the Lobbyists Act with application both to lobbyists and public officials.
Recommendation 8
That the Code of Conduct incorporate those aspects of the South Australian Government Lobbyist Code of Conduct 2009 which were not replaced by the Lobbyists Act 2015, with appropriate amendments to reflect the legislated scheme. In particular: Clause 4: Contact between Lobbyists and Government Representatives Clause 8: Principles of Engagement with Government Representatives
Recommendation 9
That the Code of Conduct include guidelines to be followed when public officials meet with lobbyists addressing, for example, ⊲how meetings should be arranged ⊲where meetings should occur ⊲who should attend meetings ⊲the fact that meetings will be diarised and records kept regarding those matters required to be disclosed by lobbyists when contact is initiated (see Recommendation 8, above) ⊲how the content and outcome of meetings should be recorded.
Recommendation 10
That the lobbying regulatory scheme incorporate a requirement (either legislated or through the recommended Code of Conduct) that ministers and shadow ministers must cause to be created and made publicly available on the internet ‘activity disclosure records’ detailing all communication with lobbyists, including where that communication is directed to their personal staff (that is, staff employed under ss 71 and 72 of the Public Sector Act 2009).
Recommendation 11
That ‘activity disclosure records’ include at least the following information: ⊲when the communication took place ⊲what form the communication took (for example, in person, telephone, virtual, in writing) ⊲who was present during the communication ⊲the party whose interests were being represented ⊲the outcome sought by the party making the communication. but that information is not required to be published if it is required to be kept confidential (for example, by reason of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018), if it is genuinely considered desirable to keep the information confidential in the public interest, or if it is genuinely considered to be commercial in confidence.
Recommendation 12
That consideration be given to whether, where a communication with a lobbyist is genuinely considered to be commercial in confidence, ‘activity disclosure records’ should reflect the fact, but not the content, of the communication.
Recommendation 13
That ‘activity disclosure records’ be required to be published on a monthly basis.
Recommendation 14
That consideration be given to whether ‘activity disclosure records’ should be submitted to, held and published by the body responsible for administering the lobbying regulatory scheme so that they can be made publicly available through the same website as the Lobbying Register (that is, in the same way that the current annual returns required to be produced by registered lobbyists are submitted to, held and published by the Attorney-General’s Department as administrator of the regulatory scheme).
Recommendation 15
That ministers and shadow ministers be required to include attendance at networking events, awards nights, political fundraising events and other like functions in ‘activity disclosure records’.
Recommendation 16
That the operation of s 13(1) be expanded to include: ⊲all members of the House of Assembly and Legislative Council in South Australia ⊲Ministers or shadow ministers in the Commonwealth Parliament ⊲Senators and members of parliament for South Australia in the Commonwealth Parliament ⊲Advisors to shadow ministers in the South Australian Parliament, and ministers and shadow ministers in the Commonwealth Parliament.
Recommendation 17
That the ‘cooling-off’ periods prescribed by s 13 be amended as follows: ⊲Ministers and shadow ministers of both the South Australian Parliament and Commonwealth Parliament – 3 years ⊲all other regulated former public officials – 2 years but that the administrator of the regulatory scheme can exempt individuals from the restriction on lobbying for some or all of the specified period.
Recommendation 18
That the prohibition in respect of ministers and shadow ministers (of both the South Australian and Commonwealth Parliaments) apply to all lobbying activity, but that the prohibition relating to other regulated individuals apply to lobbying in respect of matters dealt with by the person in the ordinary course of their office or employment.
Recommendation 19
That, either through legislation or regulations, it be a requirement that a register of former public officials (in respect of whom a cooling-off period applies) be maintained by the South Australian government and made available to the Chief Executive responsible for the administration of the lobbying regulatory scheme. This register should record: ⊲personal details sufficient to identify the former public official ⊲the date on which they ceased to be a public official ⊲the capacity in which they were a public official ⊲portfolios in which the person was involved.
Recommendation 20
That, either through legislation or regulations, it be a requirement that registered lobbyists, when submitting lobbying activity returns (pursuant to s 8 of the Lobbyists Act), provide a signed assurance that they did not undertake any lobbying activity in disobedience to a restriction on their registration during the period covered by the return.
Recommendation 21
That, as part of standard exiting employment procedures, public officials in South Australia receive education about post-employment limitations and obligations under the Lobbyists Act.
Recommendation 22
That the lobbying regulatory scheme be extended to apply to local government.
Recommendation 23
That further consideration be given to the manner and extent to which the lobbying regulatory scheme, as it applies at the state government level, should apply at the local government level. This consideration should involve close consultation with the local government sector.
Recommendation 24
That the scheme created by the Lobbyists Act and Lobbyists Regulations should be regulated and administered by the Ombudsman.
Recommendation 25
That statutory declarations be required of all directors of a lobbying company addressing the matters set out in s 6(b)(ii).
Recommendation 26
That registered lobbyists be required to make annual declarations that they do not have any relevant convictions.
Recommendation 27
That, using the power in s 7(2) of the Lobbyists Act, the Chief Executive should amend the Statutory Declaration form for ‘People Undertaking Lobbyist Activities’ and require applicants to address the matters in s 13(1)(a), (b) and (c). This should include details about all roles previously undertaken within the relevant cooling-off period, the portfolio area, date of separation, and whether the person is currently a member of a government board.
Recommendation 28
That, where a lobbyist is identified as being a person to whom s 13(1) applies, this should be brought to the attention of the Chief Executive (or their delegate for this purpose) who should consider the information provided and communicate in writing with the lobbyist about the restrictions on their lobbying activity.
Recommendation 29
That, where a lobbyist’s registration is subject to a restriction, the register provide details of topics or matters in respect of which the person is not permitted to lobby in the publicly searchable register.
Recommendation 30
That the Processes Document be updated to include more detailed guidance to the administrator regarding the level of detail required to be provided to comply with the requirements in s 8(1)(b).
Recommendation 31
That the Lobbyists Register website be updated to provide clear information and complaints processes to public officers and members of the pubic regarding both administrative and register-related complaints, and complaints about lobbying conduct. Internal documents and the public website should be updated to reflect public officers’ reporting obligations.
Published responses
No published response was found.
Coverage
This publisher
- Office for Public Integrity: publishes only its annual reports (excluded); no OPI report or statement records.
- Since October 2021 the Commission does not make findings of corrupt conduct; most records have no findings.
- Government and agency responses are recorded only where the Commission's page links them or the report reproduces them; implementation status is not published by the Commission as structured data.
- Scanned reports without a text layer are not read (no OCR); their recommendations stay not_extracted.
- Recommendations are extracted only from numbered 'Recommendation N' lists; reports that set out recommendations in prose, tables or unnumbered lists keep recommendations_status not_extracted.
- Findings are extracted only from investigation reports that state them in the Commissioner's own words (Oakden 2018, Gillman 2015); public statements are not read for findings.