Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Bill 2023

The majority voted in favour of an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This means the text below will be added to the usual motion. The amendment was introduced by ACT Senator David Pocock (Independent).

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) have been implemented in the United Kingdom and United States to help combat foreign bribery by incentivising companies to self-report; and

(b) is of the opinion that:

(i) establishing a DPA scheme in Australia is worthy of consideration,

(ii) such a scheme should not function as a 'get-out-of-jail-free card' and should prioritise transparency so as to avoid the creation of a two-tiered justice system where corporate criminals are able to secretly negotiate agreements related to wrongdoings while private individuals are subject to the full force of a court of law,

(iii) further reform is needed to abolish facilitation payments, and

(iv) further reform is needed to prevent companies convicted of foreign bribery from being awarded Australian government contracts, potentially through a whole-of-government debarment scheme".