Top companies fail on corruption code

The analysis, based on each company's published reports, found the country's top 50 companies met legislative requirements but could improve their anti-corruption efforts by publicising their policies and codes of conduct.

The dramatically titled Bribery and Corruption Report was compiled by Britain's Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Net Balance Foundation, a division of the Melbourne-based advisory company Net Balance Management Group.

Net Balance Foundation general manager Ross Wyatt said the document, which is the first of its kind in Australia, did not suggest that Australian companies allowed corruption to flourish.

"This is about disclosure of processes to manage bribery and corruption," he said. "This is about disclosing to a voluntary code."

The codes recommended include the AA1000 code, established by Net Balance Foundation partner AccountAbility, or those of sustainability reporting advocate Global Reporting Initiative.

The report also suggested a gift policy to determine which gifts might be accepted, and which should be reported.

Of the top 50 companies, the report found Stockland, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, Insurance Australia Group, Brambles, Transurban, Foster's, GPT Group, Macquarie and Mirvac were the best-performing companies, according to its anti-corruption criteria. It listed the oil and gas, chemicals, industrial metals, mining, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications sectors as those most at risk of corruption.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission declined to comment.

LINK

? For a description of the Net Balance Foundation, go to tinyurl.com/5gvjat