Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries are entrusted with the conduct of public business and must act in a manner that is consistent with the highest standards of integrity and propriety. The public, quite rightly, has high expectations of them, in terms of their personal conduct and decorum.

This report examines the adequacy of the Australian government’s legislative, institutional and policy framework in addressing all facets of institutional, organisational, political, electoral, and individual corruption and misconduct.

This report provides a high level assessment of the Australian Public Service during 2015–16 and is structured around the themes of: performance, capability, and integrity and accountability.

This note suggests a framework for distinguishing appropriate, natural, human pursuit of interests from a pursuit of interests which is injurious to the general public interest and some ways in which such injurious pursuit of interests can be countered.

‘Centralising measures’ have eroded the autonomy of local councils’ in the form of intervention in the planning and development process and absorption of responsibilities. This paper will use the case study of the Melbourne City Council (MCC) to offer scope for assessing the character of these reforms.