Australia is perceived as one of the world's least corrupt countries, jumping one spot to eighth place out of 180 nations, new figures reveal.
Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2009 cranks Australia up a notch on the previous year, firming its international reputation, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said.
The index ranks countries by their perceived levels of corruption, which is determined by expert assessments and surveys.
It is a show of continued improvement for Australia, which ranked 11th in 2007 on the back of the AWB oil-for-food scandal.
Mr O'Connor said the steady improvements showed Australia had done well in introducing new anti-corruption measures, including codes of conduct for ministers and lobbyists and new guidelines for government advertising.
Freedom of information legislation had also been reformed and the government had changed the way public servants are recruited to merit-based systems, he said.
Transparency International has produced its annual report since 1995.
The three least corrupt countries in the world are New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore, equal third with Sweden. The three most corrupt according to the index are Somalia, Afghanistan and Burma.
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