The Attorney-General has published Guidance on adequate procedures to prevent the commission of foreign bribery. Background.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Act 2024 introduced a new corporate offence of failing to prevent foreign bribery in section 70.2 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code,

A company will have a defence to the new offence, if it can show that it had ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent the commission of foreign bribery by its associates, including employees, external contractors, agents and subsidiaries.

The Guidance outlines the steps corporations can take to establish an effective anti-bribery compliance program and suggests types of controls to consider when implementing such a program, including steps corporations can take to prevent an associate from bribing foreign public officials.

The Guidelines state that although self-reporting is not needed for a corporation to make use of the ‘adequate procedures’ defence, a decision to self-report and cooperate with investigative and enforcement actions will be considered by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in determining whether a prosecution of a self-reporting corporation is in the public interest consistent with the Self-Reporting Guidelines and Prosecution Policy.

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.