Australia's federal lobbying register captures an estimated 18% of actual lobbying activity (Grattan Institute / Centre for Public Integrity). The register covers only third-party lobbyists — consultants hired on behalf of others. Corporate executives, industry association staff, and in-house government relations teams are entirely exempt.
2,300+ individuals hold "orange passes" with 24-hour unescorted access to Parliament House — roughly 10 undisclosed lobbyists for every elected federal politician.
The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) — which successfully lobbied to weaken the PRRT in 2012, resulting in $70B in LNG exports generating only $1.1B in resource tax in 2023–24 — is not a registered lobbyist.
Every interaction between a public official and a corporate representative — email, meeting, calendar entry, orange pass swipe — is logged instantly on a public blockchain ledger using Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) protocols and Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs).
Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) keep commercially sensitive content confidential while all metadata — who met whom, when, for how long — becomes an immutable public record that no minister can retrospectively alter or delete.
No Registration, No Meeting — officials are legally prohibited from meeting any interest that is not registered. This is already law in the EU (interinstitutional transparency register is a condition of institutional access) and Ireland (Lobbying Act 2015, extended in 2023 to senior civil servants).
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Act 2023, Section 73, makes public hearings the exception, requiring "exceptional circumstances." The result: 75 public complaints in the NACC's first year, a median finalisation time of 23 days, and zero major public inquiries.
The Robodebt referral illustrated the problem directly: Commissioner Brereton was found by Inspector Gail Furness SC to have "officer misconduct" and "apprehended bias." Geoffrey Nettle AC KC was appointed and directed the investigation to proceed (February 2025) — but only after the institutional self-protection reflex nearly buried it.
Fix: Amend the NACC Act to make public hearings the default. Closed hearings require explicit justification; open ones do not.