Corruption and control: a corruption reduction approach

Published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13590791211266377Purpose – Corruption is a significant financial crime which is estimated by the World Economic Forum to cost about 5 per cent of global GDP or $2.6 trillion dollars. Explanations of corruption, like explanations of crime, tend to focus on the individuals who commit corruption and the wider conditions which give rise to corrupt behaviour. Approaches designed to reduce corruption usually propose stiffer sanctions, institutional reforms and the passing of new laws. The purpose of this paper is to outline a complementary perspective with which to consider corruption. Design/methodology/approach – Grounded in situational crime prevention and related criminological theory, the paper argues that opportunities in the immediate environment play a causal role in generating corruption. It proposes that corruption can be minimised by removing or reducing opportunities which are conducive to corrupt behaviour. In total, five cases are chosen as illustrative examples of how situational crime prevention might usefully be applied to corruption, focussing on the Type, Activities, Sectors and Places (TASP) that comprise corruption events. Findings – A framework is developed for the empirical study of corruption in local settings. Originality/value – The paper explores how situational crime prevention can usefully inform the analysis and prevention of corruption

Policy design for an ageing population

Published online: 29 Mar 2018.This article describes how a state government in Australia designed and implemented policy for an ageing population. In 1984, the parliament of South Australia passed legislation which aimed to lay a foundation for the successful ageing of the population. Three components are examined here, the legislation, policy design, and practice. Although the legislation was passed more than 30 years ago, there are lessons and implications for today. The author was appointed Commissioner in 1985 and had responsibility for the policy design and implementation.Adam Grayca

Making Corruption Disappear in Local Government

“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Public Integrity on 9 Dec 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10999922.2015.1093400”. This author accepted manuscript is made available following 18 month embargo from date of publication (9 Dec 2015) in accordance with the publisher's copyright policy.Local government corruption is a phenomenon across the world. This article draws upon survey work in Victoria, Australia, to show that citizens believe that corruption exists in local government and experience it, but rarely report it to an anti-corruption agency or elsewhere. Even when reported, tracing the outcome from state-level authorities to the local government becomes an exercise in futility, because the corrupt act is dealt with in policy frameworks that make it effectively disappear. As a result, corruption as perceived or experienced in the everyday life of citizens is different from what is defined in law and dealt with by public bodies. While the data here are Australian, the lessons and principles can be applied in many other countries

Preventing fraud and providing services: The private healthcare insurance sector

The private healthcare insurance sector is rarely the subject of criminological analysis unless seen as corrupt. It is even more unusual that it is the subject of analysis as a victim of fraud. This paper is thus different in that it establishes a picture of international private healthcare insurance sectors approach in preventing fraud and providing healthcare services. We start by explaining why the private health insurance markets exist. This is followed by the methods employed to secure innovative data from the private health insurance sector. The results of the research conducted in collaboration with the International Federation of Health Plans are then presented. A discussion on key aspects of this research is then examined before we lastly, consider a way forward and the development of fraud resilience in the private insurance healthcare market

Mapping corruption in procurement

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on understanding and preventing corruption in procurement in public sector settings. Just as not all corruption is the same, not all procurement is the same. One purpose is to analyze different types of procurements: standard, customized, intangible and complex. Corruption in procurement undermines public administration, and the purpose of this paper is to identify different types of procurements and provide readers with a framework for analysis and subsequent intervention. Design/methodology/approach – In all, 42 actual cases of public sector corruption in procurement are examined, and from these, an analytical matrix is developed. These cases are derived from the reports of the New South Wales (Australia) Independent Commission against Corruption. These cases represent all of the procurement cases that the ICAC has taken to a formal hearing in its 30 years of existence. Findings – While fraud is a major feature of corruption in procurement, there are significant organizational facilitators, and a number of slippage points in organizations are identified. These include peer culture, lack of due process, temptation and managerial incompetence/willful disregard, and these are built into a matrix which can be used in different countries or settings by readers wishing to understand and prevent different types of corruption in procurement in their agencies. Originality/value – This paper uses cases that have not previously been aggregated or analyzed and provides analytical tools for practitioners and academics.Adam Grayca

A new Victorian era: getting crime out of commercial sex

Approaches to social crimes differ widely around the world, with different cultures applying their own standards of what is, or is not, acceptable behaviour. In Australia, the states and territories have been changing their outlook on the sale of sexual services (sex work), those who sell these services (sex workers) and their working environment (brothels). As a multi-jurisdictional federation, there is little consistency to the changes or how commercial sex is treated by the law and police. This chapter explores one type of social crime—commercial sex—and the effects of decriminalisation in the state of Victoria, Australia. Shifting sex work from the criminal law to a more administrative environment makes it a candidate for the process of crime-proofing legislation, a process under theoretical development in Europe aimed at minimising the unintended criminogenic effects of legislative action. We ask how successful is decriminalisation in preventing the criminality associated with commercial sex and whether decriminalisation will prevent or increase such criminality.Adam Masters, Adam Grayca

How Australians Live: Social Policy in Theory and Practice

The new edition of this title brings the examination of the theory and practice of the welfare state in Australia up to date with documentation of changes since the first edition in 1989.Adam Graycar and Adam Jamrozi