This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Government & democracy
The public lobbying register would extend beyond third-party lobbyists to services firms and in-house lobbyists who meet the bill’s lobbying-time and entity spending, revenue or industry-association conditions.
Federal lobbying rules left most lobbying hidden: in-house lobbyists were outside the codeThe existing lobbying rules the bill says are too weak and should be made law., ministers did not have to publish diaries, and the public could not see who met whom about what. The bill expands the register, requires public meeting reports and ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly., lengthens cooling-off periods, and lets the National Anti-Corruption CommissionThe federal watchdog the bill would let investigate suspected lobbying breaches. investigate breaches.
By 2023, the Commonwealth’s lobbying rules were still an administrative code aimed mainly at third-party lobbyists, leaving in-house corporate lobbying, ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly. and detailed public records of meetings largely out of view, with few real penalties for breaches. As concern about hidden access and conflicts of interest sharpened and the lobbying industry pushed back against tougher regulation, Monique Ryan introduced the bill to widen the register, force quarterly disclosures and ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly., extend cooling-off periods and let the National Anti-Corruption CommissionThe federal watchdog the bill would let investigate suspected lobbying breaches. investigate, but the proposal was later removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of bills and business; this bill was removed from it and stopped moving forward. without passing.
The main criticism was that turning the lobbying code and register into a tougher statutory scheme could be heavy-handed and based on a poor understanding of how lobbying and government actually work. That pushback appears to have come mainly from parts of the lobbying industry, especially APGRAThe lobbying industry group mentioned as pushing back against stronger rules., rather than from parties represented in the parliamentary debate.
Monique Ryan MPAn elected federal politician whose meetings with lobbyists would have to be reported. introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
232 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
The public lobbying register would extend beyond third-party lobbyists to services firms and in-house lobbyists who meet the bill’s lobbying-time and entity spending, revenue or industry-association conditions.
Lobbyists would have to file public quarterly reports showing who they met in Parliament, what issues they raised and who attended.
Federal ministers would have to publish monthly diaries covering official meetings, calls, events and the key matters discussed.
Former ministers, senior advisers and top officials would face a three-year ban on lobbying government after leaving office.
The National Anti-Corruption CommissionThe federal watchdog the bill would let investigate suspected lobbying breaches. would be able to investigate suspected breaches, and lobbyists could face fines or lose their registration.
It enhances the integrity of Government decision-making by extending the Register of Lobbyists to include registered professional lobbyists acting on behalf of third parties, services firms, and lobbyists acting on behalf of businesses and industry bodies (‘in house lobbyists’).Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) explanatory memorandum
It enhances transparency and accountability by requiring lobbyists to prepare a quarterly return that must be uploaded to the publicly searchable online Register of Lobbyists. It must detail all meetings with members of parliament and their senior advisers must, note the key issues discussed, and specify those persons in attendance.Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) explanatory memorandum
It requires the publication of Ministers’ diaries, such that meetings with both registered and non-registered lobbyists are disclosed. All meetings with stakeholders, external organisations and lobbyists that relate to the Minister’s responsibilities must be listed. This includes meetings held at office and offsite, scheduled phone calls, and events where a Minister attends in an official capacity. All events and functions attended by the Minister (or Parliamentary Secretary) that relate to their Ministerial responsibilities must also be included in their diaries. (This clause extends the publication requirement to Parliamentary Secretaries because a Parliamentary Secretary is a Minister under s4 of the Ministers of State Act 1952.)Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) explanatory memorandum
It extends the post-employment cooling-off period for former Ministers and senior government officials and advisers to three years, in keeping with international best practice.Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) explanatory memorandum
It imposes sanctions for breaches including fines and suspension or revocation of registration.Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) explanatory memorandum
Context
By 2023, the Commonwealth’s lobbying rules were still an administrative code aimed mainly at third-party lobbyists, leaving in-house corporate lobbying, ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly. and detailed public records of meetings largely out of view, with few real penalties for breaches. As concern about hidden access and conflicts of interest sharpened and the lobbying industry pushed back against tougher regulation, Monique Ryan introduced the bill to widen the register, force quarterly disclosures and ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly., extend cooling-off periods and let the National Anti-Corruption CommissionThe federal watchdog the bill would let investigate suspected lobbying breaches. investigate, but the proposal was later removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of bills and business; this bill was removed from it and stopped moving forward. without passing.
Federal lobbying rules still cover only a slice of lobbying activity
The explanatory memorandum said the Commonwealth code applied mainly to third-party lobbyists, not most in-house business lobbying, and did not require ministers to publish diaries or provide meaningful penalties for breaches.
Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) explanatory memorandum ↗Lobbying industry rejects calls to legislate the codeThe existing lobbying rules the bill says are too weak and should be made law. and register
The Australian Financial Review reported lobbyists were resisting proposals from the Centre for Public Integrity to put the codeThe existing lobbying rules the bill says are too weak and should be made law. and register into law and give a regulator stronger enforcement powers.
Australian Financial Review ↗Monique Ryan introduces a bill for public lobbying reports and ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly.
Ryan told Parliament the existing code was too limited and toothless, and her bill proposed a broader public register, quarterly meeting disclosures, published ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly., longer cooling-off periods and NACCThe federal watchdog the bill would let investigate suspected lobbying breaches. investigations.
Hansard ↗Bill is removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of bills and business; this bill was removed from it and stopped moving forward.
The parliamentary record shows the bill was removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of bills and business; this bill was removed from it and stopped moving forward. under standing order 42, ending its progress without the proposed federal lobbying changes becoming law.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
The main criticism was that turning the lobbying code and register into a tougher statutory scheme could be heavy-handed and based on a poor understanding of how lobbying and government actually work. That pushback appears to have come mainly from parts of the lobbying industry, especially APGRAThe lobbying industry group mentioned as pushing back against stronger rules., rather than from parties represented in the parliamentary debate.
No party represented in the debate opposed the bill, and recorded criticism was limited and industry-based.
Industry says the model is too heavy-handed
Parts of the lobbying industry argued that putting the codeThe existing lobbying rules the bill says are too weak and should be made law. and register into law, backed by stronger penalties and a stand-alone regulator, was an overreach that did not reflect contemporary lobbying practice or how government works in reality.
Further sources
Votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Ryan supports the bill and says it is needed to restore integrity and transparency by replacing a weak, unenforced lobbying code with an independent, statutory scheme.
Read in Hansard ↗Chaney supports the bill because she sees it as a practical transparency reform that would publish ministerial diariesPublic logs of ministers' meetings, calls and events that the bill would require to be published regularly., expand the lobbyist registerThe public list of lobbyists and clients that the bill would expand to cover more in-house lobbying. to in-house lobbyists, and curb gifts and hospitality from lobbyists.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
2 speakers · 2 support
“This bill is an important contribution to the restoration of integrity and transparency in this house, and I commend it to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I support this bill as another effort of the crossbench to pursue greater transparency in government and in decision-making.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42)
Removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of bills and business; this bill was removed from it and stopped moving forward. in accordance with (SO 42)
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
