TOUGH NEW MEASURES TO COMBAT CORPORATE CRIME

Companies will be forced to actively guard against foreign bribery, and will be held responsible for bribery committed by their employees and contractors, under new laws introduced by the Coalition Government today.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Corporate Crime) Bill 2017 will also provide incentives for companies to come forward and work with government agencies.

Corporate crime is estimated to cost Australia more than $8.5 billion each year. It hurts our businesses, hinders economic growth and jeopardises Australia's international reputation.

The reforms remove undue barriers to successful investigations and prosecutions and strengthens offences for companies operating offshore. A new offence of failing to prevent foreign bribery will be created and amendments will be made to broaden the existing foreign bribery offence.

It also establishes a deferred prosecution agreement scheme, providing incentives for companies to report wrongdoing themselves. This gives prosecutors the option of negotiating agreements with companies suspected of corporate wrongdoing, with safeguards to ensure justice is done without incurring the costs of lengthy trial processes.

Agreements would require the company to abide by certain conditions, such as cooperation with a related investigation, payment of a financial penalty and implementation of a compliance program. Similar schemes have been used to effectively tackle corporate crime and transform corporate culture in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Australian law enforcement agencies face significant challenges in detecting and responding to foreign bribery. It is inherently challenging to investigate - there is often no readily identifiable victim, evidence is often offshore, and bribes can be concealed in legitimate business transactions.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates the average time to resolve foreign bribery cases is more than seven years.

The reforms build on this Government's commitment to tackling corporate crime through an investment of an additional $14.7m to bolster the dedicated AFP-led Fraud and Anti-Corruption Centre, and $128 million to establish the Serious Financial Crimes Taskforce, which leads the Commonwealth's operational response to high priority financial crimes.

The introduction of these reforms comes ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day on Saturday.