The Fairfax media recently ran a series of stories which alleged
that there was evidence of a level of corruption in the Australian
Customs and Border Protection Services ("Customs").
The articles pointed to a number of Customs officers who had
been dismissed over time as evidence of a systemic problem within
Customs which was allowing the passage of illegal drugs and other
contraband goods. The Federal Government seemingly agreed that
there was an unacceptably high level of risk of corruption within
Customs among other Government Agencies and has endorsed the
introduction of "Integrity Testing" as a means to
identify and eliminate corruption. In this context "Integrity
Testing" would allow officials to "test" officials
by offering them bribes or otherwise encouraging them to engage in
illegal activity. Rejection of the offer or test by the official
would be to pass the test and be "cleared", at least
until the next test. Those who fail the test would be
