Trust is the glue that holds democracies together. People must trust that their elected representatives and the system they work within are acting in the public interest. But in Australia and similar democracies, we are witnessing a decline in public trust. This is the inevitable consequence of the growing influence of vested interests, governments avoiding ...
The Centre for Public Integrity
Research and Advocacy to Build a Transparent and Trustworthy Democracy

GOAL
$60,000
Field of Interest
- Strengthening Democracy
Target Population
- General population
- Professional workforce

The Centre for Public Integrity is an independent think tank dedicated to restoring integrity to Australia’s democracy.
Led by some of Australia’s pre-eminent jurists and legal academics, we have four research pillars:
Money in Politics – Eliminating the undue influence of money in politics
Executive Power – Ensuring the elected executive plays by the rules of our democratic system
Accountability Institutions – Protecting independence and funding of Australia’s accountability institutions
Transparency – Ensuring transparency in the exercise of public power
Our values drive all we do. And match what we ask of others.
- We are accountable. We hold ourselves responsible for what we do.
- We are innovative. We think creatively about the big problems facing democracy and design innovative policy solutions
- We are transparent. We’re open about where our money comes from, who we work with and how we go about our work
- We are rigorous. Our research is meticulous, guided by committees comprising the country’s most eminent academics and practitioners and overseen by a Research Committee of senior academics and jurists.
- We are ambitious. We live to think big and increase ambition on integrity reform.
We are a DGR1-endorsed not-for-profit charity funded by philanthropic foundations and donations from the public.
Project Summary
Trust is the glue that holds democracies together. People must trust that their elected representatives and the system they work within are acting in the public interest. But in Australia and similar democracies, we are witnessing a decline in public trust. This is the inevitable consequence of the growing influence of vested interests, governments avoiding transparency, and diminishing accountability.
When people no longer believe institutions and governments are acting in their best interest, they lose trust in democracy itself and elect populist, reactionary governments. The Centre’s approach is the antidote to this. Our research and advocacy are designed to build a democracy that is transparent, trustworthy, and resilient to future stressors.
We are seeking investment in our work to scale our impact, by increasing our research resourcing and bringing in administrative support (freeing up executive time to pursue the Centre’s strategic goals).
Our method is proven. It is unique in Australia, as we leverage our experts to create evidence based, public law-informed research solutions that are championed by pre-eminent Australian experts.
This method involves:
– Producing research that is led by committees of experts, and whose rigor is ensured by a research review committee of senior academics. Our research methodology is designed to cut through, obtain media attention, and influence policymakers. Since inception, we have produced 57 research reports.
– Building relationships of respect and trust with journalists, to ensure that our research receives substantial coverage and we are the go-to voice on integrity matters in Australia: Since inception, we have been quoted more than 450 times in print media, from The Australian to The Guardian and featured repeatedly on ABC 730 and Four Corners, as well as on Sky News and myriad other news and radio programs.
– Building relationships of respect and trust with policymakers. Since inception, we have been relied on as integrity experts by politicians across the spectrum and been the partner of Dr Helen Haines MP and Dr Sophie Scamps MP in
their efforts to produce gold-standard legislative frameworks (for grants administration reform, and public appointments reform respectively). This work, which we are uniquely positioned to do, set powerful standards against which other reforms and other legislative initiatives can be measured. We have participated in legislative consultation processes, achieving concrete improvements to legislation and bringing a public-law informed perspective on integrity issues that is unique in the ecosystem.
– Using our incomparable expert network to advocate powerfully for our reform recommendations.
– Employing our expertise as political strategists in order to create and seize opportunities to progress our reform agenda
See the attached proposal for our full plan to scale our impact to foster a transparent and trustworthy democracy.
Project Outcomes
Over the past five years, with a maximum annual expenditure of $350,000, the Centre has
been pivotal in:
- Establishing Australia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission
and ensuring it has sufficient powers to perform its functions
- Achieving the abolition of the compromised Administrative Appeals Tribunal and
protecting the new Administrative Review Tribunal from politicised appointments
- Shifting the national conversation towards transparency
and integrity in political finance and lobbying
- Popularising dark money analysis following the AEC disclosures
(we pioneered this research five years ago)
- Achieving significant integrity advancements in Victoria.
The Centre’s role in these achievements is set out in detail in our report ‘Five Years of
Impact’, which puts beyond doubt that our impact has significantly outsized our resourcing. Please email grants@communityfoundation.org.au to receive a copy.
As a registered Australian Research Institute with a proven track record and strategic
approach guided by some of Australia’s most eminent jurists and academics, the Centre is
uniquely positioned to halt the erosion of integrity in our democracy.
Investentwill enable us to:
- Increase our research capacity and fund administrative support,
freeing up executive time for the prosecution of strategic goals
- Secure a research director and an expert strategist, driving
systemic change.
- Underwrites our operational expansion, setting the stage for a decade of impact across all Australian jurisdictions
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $490,000
FUNDING
Funding source | Amount |
---|---|
Myer Foundation (confirmed) | $50,000 |
Private donors (confirmed) | $150,000 |
Other philanthropic donors (unconfirmed) | $230,000 |
Funding gap (unconfirmed) | $60,000 |
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