Established at the suggestion of the United Nations University

For over two decades, the Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law (IEGL) and its predecessors have been in the forefront of those who have argued that good governance is essential to long-term growth in developing countries. In 2004, IEGL in its current form was established at the suggestion of the United Nations University (UNU) to fill an important gap in its research (ethics, governance and law) and a geographical gap (Oceania). Through the establishment of the Institute, Griffith University became a "United Nations University Associated Institution" - the first in Australasia.

IEGL was headquartered at Griffith University's Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, which became the first centre to join IEGL. In 2006, two more centres joined - QUT's Law and Justice Research Centre and ANU's Centre for International and Public Law. In 2008, the Center for Asian Integrity (CAI) was established in Manila, Philippines, under the auspices of IEGL, with the support of AusAID and USAID funding. The CAI is the Asia-Pacific’s first regional centre for research and the prevention of corruption. OP Jindal in Delhi and Strathmore University Law School in Nairobi joined in 2011.

IEGL aims to be a multi-centred, interdisciplinary Institute, have a strong presence in both the developed and developing world, make a significant and distinct contribution to global issues concerning institutional and community governance, to reduce injustice, and improve individual, environmental and societal well being.

Our vision and aims

IEGL's vision is to be a globally networked resource for the development of values-based governance through research and capacity building. IEGL’s mission is to build on the strengths of the participating centres to make an internationally significant contribution to research, teaching, consultancy and capacity building in the areas of institutional and community governance, with an emphasis on:

  • Values-based governance, involving a combination of ethical standard setting, legal regulation and institutional reform
  • Cross-disciplinary theorising and empirical work that brings together the normative sciences of ethics and law with the social sciences of international relations, political science, economics and sociology
  • Networking of governance centres in Australia, the region and the world

IEGL aims to engage other academic, non-government organisations, government, business and multilateral institutions and networks to improve governance and build institutional integrity in governments, corporations, non-government organisations and international institutions. IEGL’s aims are to engage in systematic consideration of:

  • The methods by which institutions and organisations at all levels may articulate and formalise the values they wish to stand for
  • The methods of seeking to realise those values through a combination of ethical standard setting, legal regulation, and institutional reform
  • To build institutional integrity and reduce corruption
  • To communicate the results of our research to relevant audiences - academics, legislators, policy makers and judges
  • To contribute to public debate and policymaking

Our predecessors

IEGL was preceded by a series of research centres starting with the National Institute for Law, Ethics and Public Affairs 1991-8 which became the core of the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance (KCELJAG 1998-2015). In 2004, the United Nations University ‘adopted’ KCELJAG and made it the headquarters of its Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law (IEGL – a joint initiative of the UNU, Griffith and other universities).