Our Integrity, Leadership and Public Trust program researches and supports good governance in modern societies, focusing on the roles of both institutions and individuals.
Good governance relies on institutions and individuals fulfilling their missions with integrity, supported by well-designed accountability regimes, ethical leadership and commitment to the common good. This program provides national and international leadership in design of institutional integrity systems, including anti-corruption policies, the roles and powers of integrity agencies, public interest whistleblowing, and reforms to sustain and restore public trust in government and decision-making.
Underpinning this is the role of leaders in bringing good policy and politics to fruition at organisational, government and international levels. Working with regulators, industry bodies and NGOs including Transparency International, we help strengthen Australian and international institutions to deliver accountable and responsive governance and apply our insights as political theorists to deliver cutting-edge research on democratic and authoritarian leadership, cosmopolitanism, deliberative democracy, and policy and political innovation.
Program leaders
Professor AJ Brown
Public integrity, anti-corruption policy, whistleblower protection, federalism and regionalism, constitutional values, evidence-based law reform, public accountability, public trust
Professor Haig Patapan
Democratic theory and practice, political philosophy, political leadership and comparative constitutionalism.
Our team
Dr Samuel Ankamah
Horizontal and social accountability, public integrity systems, political will, participatory government
Dr Vanessa Ercole
Political philosophy, history of political theory, ethics in political thought and practice
Associate Professor Gideon Baker
Political theory, history of political thought, democratic theory, ethics in international relations
Professor Kai He
International relations theory and international security; foreign policy analysis and international political economy; public opinion; foreign policy crisis behaviour; Chinese politics and Sino-US relations.
Professor Andrea Carson
Political communication, journalism, media regulation, dis/misinformation, public trust
Professor Huiyun Feng
Foreign policy analysis, Asia security studies, Chinese politics, female leadership
Adjunct Professor Adam Graycar
Corruption studies, policy analysis, public integrity
Dr Max Grömping
Interest representation, political participation, authoritarianism, media politics
Professor Kai He
International relations theory, international security, China's international relations
Adjunct Professor John Kane
Political theory, democratic studies, moral philosophy, political leadership
Jane Olsen
Public interest whistleblowing, public integrity agencies, policy advice and evaluation
Mr J C Weliamuna
Regional and global anti-corruption policy, anti-money laundering and corrupt asset recovery, aid, development and corruption, human rights
Professor Emeritus Patrick Weller
Executive government, politics and policymaking in central governments in Westminster systems, Australian politics, international civil servants
Professor Xu Yi-chong
Energy security, international organisations, China, regional studies
Mapping and Harnessing Public Trust and Mistrust:
Australian Constitutional Values Survey 2023-27
In 2023, the Centre was awarded a $1.2 million Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant for a five-year project to develop, pilot and apply new ways of more accurately and efficiently measuring levels and dynamics of public trust in Australia and beyond.
Our work
Whistling while they work
The Centre leads the ground-breaking project, ‘Whistling while they work: improving managerial responses to whistleblowing in public and private organisations.’ This Australian Research Council-supported project includes five universities and 23 partner and supporter organisations from across Australia and New Zealand.
Australia’s national integrity system
Ten actions in five focus areas for Australian governments and the community at large.