Lobbying is a legitimate act of democratic participation which can support informed and inclusive decision making. However, lobbying may lead to specific interests being favoured over the public interest. This brief outlines proposed international standards for lobbying regulation, investigates how Australia’s current federal scheme compares, canvasses developments across other jurisdictions and highlights avenues of reform.

This report presents potential solutions for protecting Australia’s democracy, including common-sense actions to renew trust in politics. It finds that Australians say the most important factors influencing who they vote for are which party or candidate has a plan to address Australia’s long-term issues, and the integrity and accountability of parties or candidates.

The integrity scorecard assesses the first six months of the re-elected Rockliff Government (Tasmanian Government) across eight reform areas, including Right to Information, ministerial diary disclosure, lobbying oversight, integrity in appointments, parliamentary standards, government advertising, the Government’s relationship with integrity officers and reforms to the Integrity Commission. It finds an uneven integrity performance.

This submission to the Senate Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy draws on research conducted ahead of the 2025 Australian Federal Election to track political advertising in key electorates. The research revealed that astroturfing in climate and energy debates is not the work of fringe actors but a systematic strategy of mainstream...

This paper examines the central shortcomings of the Australian regime for regulating lobbying and proposes comprehensive reform to address them. It calls on the federal government to work towards re-building trust with the public by prioritising transparency, integrity and equality in lobbying. The paper proposes comprehensive legislative reform is urgently recommended. It provides 15 recommendations.