Two-thirds of Australians believe corruption is common in the federal government and more than 80% of Australians view pork barrelling as a form of corrupt conduct, new polling suggests.
Polling commissioned by the Australia Institute suggests the vast majority of Australians view corruption as common within all forms of government.
Seventy per cent believe it is common at a state and territory level and 66% say it is common in the federal government.
The polling also suggests Australians view a broad range of behaviour as corrupt conduct. That includes appointing friends and colleagues to a public role over more qualified applicants, which 86% of respondents viewed as corrupt, and the allocation of public money to marginal seats to win votes, which 81% believed to be corrupt.
More than 80% of respondents also believed it was corrupt for a senior public servant to mislead parliament or cabinet or for the government to sign contracts with foreign firms after being alerted to the risk that money could flow to corrupt officials.
Robert Redlich KC, a former commissioner of Victoria’s anti-corruption commission, said the polling reflected the gravity of so-called “grey corruption” – forms of questionable conduct that are not criminal.
“Grey corruption has precisely the same deleterious effects on the public good as a crime but is far more prevalent,” he said. “All branches of the executive are too disposed to satisfy the political objectives of the government of the day at the expense of public interest.
“The risk is presently high that the exercise of power can be undertaken for that improper purpose without the fear of accountability.”
The polling results – drawn from a nationally representative sample and adhering to standards set by the Australian Polling Council’s quality mark – are largely in line with other barometers of public trust and corruption perceptions.
Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index showed a slight improvement in public views about corruption in Australia this year, attributed to the establishment of a federal anti-corruption commission.
But Australia’s rating remains at near-record low levels and its global ranking is now 13th, a drop of six places since 2012.
In 2018, a joint survey by Transparency International and Griffith University found 85% of Australians believed at least “some” federal politicians to be corrupt.
Bill Browne, the Australia Institute’s democracy and accountability program director, said the recent polling made it clear that Australians adopted a “definition of corruption that goes beyond criminal conduct”, which included nepotistic appointments and pork barrelling.
“When a majority of Australians perceive corruption as commonplace across all levels of government, it has implications for trust in Australian democracy,” he said.
