Guide for lobbyists and registrants

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• Petitioning either House of Parliament or the Governor.
• Communicating with any committees, including joint committees, of either house of Parliament.
• Communicating with a government minister or parliamentary secretary on a matter not within their responsibilities in those positions but rather in their role as a member of Parliament.
• Communicating as part of a ‘grassroots’ campaign, provided the communication is not done for financial or other reward.
• Responding to a call for submissions, tenders, expressions of interest and similar processes.
• Providing information requested by a government representative.
• Communicating for the purposes of making an application under a written law where the application is decided by a government representative or the Governor.
• Making a verbal or written statement to the public or to a section of the public (such as a local community event or other gathering open to the public).
• Communicating on behalf of another person about a personal matter which includes anything related to the person’s personal, family and household affairs and is not related to business and commercial activity.

The full list of activities not considered lobbying is in Section 4 Part 3 of the Act.

A person who was employed in a ‘relevant office’ is not able to be registered as a lobbyist for 12 months after they leave the relevant office.

People affected by this definition include a:

• member of either house of Parliament
• senator for Western Australia in the Australian Senator
• member of the Australian House of Representatives for an electoral division in WA
• chief executive officer of a government trading enterprise
• chief executive officer or managing director of an entity in Section 5 of the Integrity (Lobbyists) Regulations 2016
• senior public sector executive*.

* A senior public sector executive is a person who:

• is employed as a public sector officer as defined by the Public Sector Management Act 1994 which includes staff of departments, SES organisations, non-SES organisations and ministerial offices
• provides policy advice and undertakes managerial responsibilities as their primary work
• has a salary equal to or greater than Level 8 (Public Sector General Agreement). 

In exceptional circumstances, the Public Sector Commissioner has the discretion to waive the disqualification requirement.

More information about relevant officers is in section 14(1) of the Integrity (Lobbyist) Act 2016.

The Lobbyist Code of Conduct incorporates behaviour and accountability standards which lobbyists are required by legislation to comply with.

It prohibits individuals and firms from engaging in lobbying on behalf of third parties unless they have been accepted onto the Register of Lobbyists.

The Public Sector Commissioner has the authority to refuse, cancel or restrict a registration if non-compliance or unethical conduct is detected.

When making initial contact with a government representative on behalf of a third party client for whom you are providing paid or unpaid services, you must inform the government representative:

• that you are listed on the Register of Lobbyists in WA
• if you are an employee or person engaged by a registered person
• that you are making contact on behalf of a client
• the name of the client
• the nature of the client’s issue.

You must be accepted onto the Register for Lobbyists to be an accredited lobbyist to the WA Government.

It is an offence for individuals and firms to lobby government representatives on behalf of third parties if not on the register. A fine of up to $10,000 may be imposed.

A government representative must report to the Public Sector Commission the details of any breach they become aware of.

Any person or organisation on the register is prohibited from receiving success fees for lobbying.  

A success fee for lobbying activity is any commission, payment and other reward which depends directly or indirectly on the outcome of lobbying activity, or the decision about a matter for which the lobbying was undertaken.

If you receive a success fee that breaches the Act, an amount equal to the success fee received by you may be recovered in court.

Additionally, registered lobbyists who accept a success fee may be removed from the register.

It is an offence to provide false or misleading information to the Public Sector Commissioner which can be punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.

This includes:

• giving information that you know to be false or misleading
• failing to give information that is materially relevant
• omitting information from any document or communication that may mislead.

Further information is in the Act.

Use the registration portal to submit your details.

To register, you may also be requested to provide:

• your business details including ABN and names of owners, partners and major shareholders
• the names and job titles of everyone who will (if your application is approved) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf
• the names of clients who you currently provide services to, whether paid or unpaid
• the names of clients who you have provided services to in the last 3 months, whether paid or unpaid.

This information may be published on the register if your registration is approved.

As part of the registration process, you must provide a statutory declaration.  All sections of the statutory declaration must be completed and witnessed by an appropriately qualified person.  

The statutory declaration must disclose:

• any conviction of an offence punishable for a period of 2 years’ imprisonment or more in Australia or elsewhere (excluding spent convictions)
• any charge or conviction of an offence which involved dishonesty received as an adult in the last 10 years
• involuntarily removal from a lobbyist register (or equivalent) of another Australian jurisdiction
• suspension, discipline, disqualification, involuntarily deregistration or termination of membership to:
  • any professional or industry body
  • the State Administrative Tribunal of WA or similar body in any other Australian jurisdiction
  • the Supreme Court of WA or similar body in any other Australian jurisdiction
• that the applicant does not currently hold and has not held for any period of time within the last 12 months a ‘relevant office’ as defined in the Act.

In addition, you must provide the name, telephone number and email address of a person the Public Sector Commission can contact about the business's inclusion on the register, if required. This person does not need to be one of the named lobbyists. The person’s details are not published on the Register of Lobbyists however the details may be liable for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 1992.

You must also acknowledge and agree to the Code of Conduct as part of your registration. If you are the business’s contact person registering on behalf of others, you must provide all others with a copy of the code and confirm acceptance on their behalf. The Integrity (Lobbyists) Act 2016 is another important source of information.

The Code of Conduct requires lobbyists to update their details as changes occur. Your contact person receives instructions on how to keep your information up to date.

In the event of any change to their details, all people and organisations registered must submit updated details to the register within 10 business days.

Each quarter registered people and organisations must also provide confirmation that their registration details are up to date. This confirmation is required within 10 business days of 30 March, 30 June, 30 September and 30 December each year.

Registration may lapse if the updated confirmation is not provided within these timeframes.