The UK government’s u-turn in the Owen Paterson (MP) case has yet again raised the question of how standards in public life can be upheld. This paper sets out the Institute for Government’s recommendations – drawn from a recent conference and their wider work on standards in public life – on how the government should...

Independent federal MP Zali Steggall claimed that, in contrast to consumer law, it was “perfectly legal” to lie in Australian political advertising. Experts told Fact Check there were no catch-all federal laws to prevent lies in political ads, though they said existing laws might apply in narrow circumstances. Verdict: Ms Steggall's claim is close to...

Repeated controversies over ministerial behaviour and failures in the process of investigating possible breaches of the ministerial code show that the ministerial code, in its current form, is no longer working. This paper offers recommendations on how Boris Johnson should overhaul the ministerial code to better reflect the complexities of modern government and restore public...

This report calls for new rules to extend the prohibition on former cabinet ministers lobbying government, new enforcement powers to ensure ministerial rules are followed, and greater transparency surrounding the outside interests of civil servants.

This inquiry was initiated following evidence that Senator Bridget McKenzie, the former Federal Sports Minister, had intervened in grant allocation decisions regarding the Community Sport Infrastructure Grant program in order to gain political advantage for Coalition candidates and members in the 2019 federal election.