INNOVATIONS AND INSIGHTS
ANTICORRUPTION: HOW KNOWING THE BASICS CAN HELP EVERY PROJECT MANAGER AVOID BEING CHALLENGED
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Since 1995, countries around the world have been assessed and surveyed on financial and judicial practices by Transparency International. The *2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) was released recently with Australia sitting at #11, certainly behind our cousins across the ditch with New Zealand taking the #1 position. Noting that corruption is defined as dishonest or fraudulent behaviour by someone in power, we spoke with Phil Sealy, FAIPM CPPD, Director of Pro Leaders Academy, an organisation that trains specifically in the areas of procurement and contracting within a government environment about some of the reasons this might be and how this might affect project managers and what we can actually do about it.
PHIL, WHEN TALKING ABOUT CORRUPTION IN NATIONS, WE OFTEN THINK OF COUNTRIES SUCH AS COLUMBIA OR SOMALIA AS BEING CORRUPT. WHY DO YOU THINK AUSTRALIA ISN’T IN THE TOP 10? Simply because many people making decisions on how to spend money or how to evaluate a contract aren’t fully aware of the legislation that they work under. We have seen this in Queensland where several local councils have seen some of the leadership before the courts having to address their decisions. The majority of people do the right thing, however the systems and processes they work within can be the challenge. 10
