Register of Lobbyists finalised

Lobbyists must register on the Commonwealth's Register of Lobbyists.

A lobbyist is defined in clause 3 of the Lobbying Code of Conduct to mean a person, company or organisation who conducts lobbying activities on behalf of a client or whose employees conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a client. These lobbyists are sometimes known as consultant lobbyists, or third party lobbyists.

The Code does not apply to in-house lobbyists, such as government relations staff employed by companies to make representations to government on behalf of the company that employs them, or staff employed in peak industry bodies or trade unions who make representations to government on behalf of their industry or their members. These people are not required to register.

There are a number of exclusions from the definition. These include:

1. charitable, religious and other organisations or funds that are endorsed as deductible gift recipients
2. non-profit associations or organisations constituted to represent the interests of their members that are not endorsed as deductible gift recipients
3. individuals making representations on behalf of family members or friends about their personal affairs
4. members of trade delegations visiting Australia
5. persons who are registered under an Australian Government scheme regulating the activities of members of that profession, such as registered tax agents, Customs brokers, company auditors and liquidators, provided that their dealings with Government representatives are part of the normal day to day work of people in that profession, and
6. members of professions, such as doctors, lawyers or accountants, and other service providers, who make occasional representations to Government on behalf of others in a way that is incidental to the provision to them of their professional or other services. However, if a significant or regular part of the services offered by a person employed or engaged by a firm of lawyers, doctors, accountants or other service providers involves lobbying activities on behalf of clients of that firm, the firm and the person offering those services must register and identify the clients for whom they carry out lobbying activities.

The Register of Lobbyists will be fully operational from 1 July 2008. From that date, any lobbyist who wishes to contact a Government representative for the purpose of lobbying activities must be registered and must agree to comply with the requirements of the Code.

The Register is a public document that contains the following information about  lobbyists who make representations to Government on behalf of their clients:

• the business registration details and trading names of each lobbyist including, where the business is not a publicly listed company, the names of owners, partners or major shareholders, as applicable
• the names and positions of persons employed, contracted or otherwise engaged by the lobbyist to carry out lobbying activities, and
• the names of clients on whose behalf the lobbyist conducts lobbying activities.

See Open and Shut for comment.