Review of anti-corruption strategies Rob McCusker - Australian ...

portrayed as key, but salary reform alone will not eliminate incentives for bureaucratic corruption where
high level civil servants retain control of resources.
The success of civil service reform also hinges upon the independence and integrity of the judicial system.
Judicial reform aims to put mechanisms in place that provide for job stability, career paths and adequate
salaries. It also requires strengthening the prosecutors’ and defenders’ offices and establishing internal
controls to prevent corruption within the judicial system through such entities as professional ethics codes
and inspection systems (Tay & Seda 2003).
Private sector
The business sector must also be included in any anti-corruption approach. This cooperation should be
orchestrated through the creation of self-regulatory practices in the form of codes of conduct subject
to external and objective monitoring. The aim should be placed realistically at setting and adhering to
minimum standards. However, this model has attracted criticism from commentators on the activities of
corporations in developed economies and has largely given way to the Sarbanes Oxley legislation and
related regulatory framework (Carr 2006).
The business sector has historically been seen as part of the corruption problem rather than central to its
mitigation, given that the business sector has long recognised the competitive advantage to be achieved
through selective acts of bribery, whether in a blatant pay off situation or the more common (and corporately
more excusable) payment of ‘speed’ money to oil, rather than start, the wheels of bureaucracy.
The introduction of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International
Business Transactions (OECD 1997) has, arguably, put pressure upon the business sector to develop
integrity management systems. It is suggested that such systems need to reflect both the corporate
culture and the culture of the country in which they operate.
Another issue is the interface between the public and private sectors which, in an increasing industrialised
environment, has facilitated a high degree of mutually beneficial, yet corrupt, practices. This is said to be
particularly acute in smaller countries in which citizens may be influenced by kinship loyalties that may
subsume a broader anti-corruption effort. The impact of this discontinuity may be exacerbated if the level
of knowledge and understanding of the broader impacts of sustained corruption upon a society is at a
low level. The OECD has developed guidelines for managing conflict of interest in the public service which
seek to raise awareness of the issue and lay down instances of prohibited conduct, the occurrence of
which would result in corrupt practices (OECD 2003).
Given their financial power, businesses need to play a leading role in framing and implementing corporate
ethics, strategies and approaches. A key element of transparency is the availability of and free access
to information. However, in many countries ‘…there are bureaucratic practices that are at odds with
disclosure systems or mechanisms that would allow the public to appraise the performance of public
sector officials or to evaluate the impact of government progress or projects’ (Tay & Seda 2003). A
catalyst for change in the fight against corruption, NGOs can bring to the mainstream a concern for
corruption and break down the long tradition of vertical decision making in the management of public
affairs which undermines transparency and accountability processes. While of value, it is important not
to overstate the importance of investigative journalism. In Singapore, for example, the media plays a
supportive and shaming role, not an investigative one (Tay & Seda 2003).
Public support
It has long been maintained that anti-corruption campaigns cannot succeed without attaining and
maintaining public support. Two broad and complementary strategies can increase that support and
impact upon the success of anti-corruption strategies. First, there are public awareness programs