Public awareness of corruption in Australia
| Pages | 438-452 |
| Published date | 16 October 2007 |
| Date | 16 October 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13590790710828154 |
| Author | Diana Bowman,George Gilligan |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Public awareness of corruption
in Australia
Diana Bowman
Faculty of Law, Monash Centre for Regulatory Studies,
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and
George Gilligan
Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash University,
Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine public awareness and perceptions on corruption in
Australia, a country that traditionally has been viewed as having relatively low levels of corruption.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the findings of a random telephone survey
of 300 people aged 16 and above, across the three most populated Australian states.
Findings – The paper suggests that corruption may be a greater issue of concern for the Australian
public than has been assumed in the past, given the relatively low levels of reported systematic
corruption in Australia. Moreover, while there may be widespread agreement that corruption in
Australia is harmful and perhaps inevitable, people can find it difficult at times to differentiate
between what is corrupt and what is not.
Originality/value – The findings presented in this paper illustrate that corruption is an issue of
concern for members of the Australian public, with the majority of respondents agreeing that
corruption seems to be increasing in Australia. These findings should be considered by state and
federal anti-corruption bodies as they frame their policies and processes.
Keywords Australia, Corruption, Perceptions
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
International comparative studies report that Australia does not suffer significantly
from corruption. For example, the Transparency International (TI) Corruption
Perceptions Index 2006 surveyed 163 jurisdictions. Finland, with a score of 9.6, was
considered to be the jurisdiction least affected by corruption, while Haiti scored 1.8 and
was rated as the country most afflicted with corruption (TI, 2006). In contrast,
Australia scored 8.7 and was ranked 9th in terms of being perceived to be the least
affected by corruption. It scored better than all members of the G8 and better than most
members of the OECD and has performed consistently well in terms of TI Corruption
Perceptions Indices. It was 9th in both 2005 and 2004 and 8th in 2003 (TI, 2003, 2004,
2005).
The TI methodology seeks to measure corruption through a range of processes,
including the opinions of non-resident experts, both resident and non-resident business
leaders, and also through a number of surveys. Source surveys include amongst others:
the World Competitiveness Report, produced by the Institute for Management
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1359-0790.htm
The authors would like to acknowledge the Institute for the Study of Global Movements, Monash
University, who provided a grant to support this research project.
JFC
14,4
438
Journal of Financial Crime
Vol. 14 No. 4, 2007
pp. 438-452
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/13590790710828154
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