Australia back in the top 10 countries perceived as least corrupt on the Corruption Perceptions Index
For the first time since 2016, Australia has climbed back into the top 10 countries perceived as least corrupt on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
In Transparency International's 2024 report on global corruption perceptions, Australia was given a score of 77/100, where zero means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. This places us alongside the Republic of Ireland and the Republic of Iceland in joint tenth, and just behind the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 180 countries based on perceived levels of public sector corruption, from least to most corrupt. As corruption is a hidden crime, much like fraud, this index is calculated by allocating each country a score. Transparency International calculate these scores through a combination of at least 3 data sources from 13 different surveys or assessments of corruption collected by institutions like the World bank and World Economic Forum. The index scores countries on their perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of zero to 100.
Australia's recent climb in our score has come after several years of declining ratings, reaching a low point in 2021 at 73/100. The increase of our ranking represents several years of work in improving public sector integrity measures. This has included work on transparency, upholding government integrity and minimising corruption by supporting legislative reform that strengthens Australia's foreign bribery offences. We have introduced a new Fraud and Corruption Control Framework and helped establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and Administrative Review Tribunal.
However, the rise in Australia's ranking comes in the middle of a general deterioration of corruption perceptions globally, with 47 of the 180 countries in the index registering declining scores. Only 32, including Australia, registered improvements. With corruption becoming more transnational, there is still work to do to improve public sector integrity. By progressing further integrity reforms and transparency measures, and embedding fraud and corruption controls into program design, we all have a part to play in making Australia's public sector as transparent and honest as we can.
You can learn more about our ranking, and about some of the threats to integrity that impact high-performers in transparency and countries in the Asia-Pacific region, on the Transparency International Australia website.
Author: Steven Jarvis