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Cross-System Investigation

Cross-System Power Concentration

159,259 Australian entities scored across 7 public datasets: procurement, justice funding, political donations, charity registry, foundations, evidence programs, and tax transparency. 2,563 appear in 3+ systems. 4,841 entities operate through multiple influence channels simultaneously.

Data updated 23 March 2026
Entities Scored
159,259
across 7 datasets
Dollar Flow
$1087B
procurement + justice + donations
Revolving Door
4,841
2+ influence channels
Funding Deserts
952
of 1,669 LGAs scored >50

Source: AusTender × Justice Funding × AEC Donations × ACNC Registry × Foundations × ALMA Evidence × ATO Tax Transparency. All cross-referenced by ABN.

Highest Cross-System Power

Entities appearing in the most government datasets simultaneously. Power score weights procurement and political donations highest, with bonus points for network breadth (distinct government buyers, parties funded).

#EntitySystemsDollar Flow
1
Macquarie University
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
6$26.9M
2
La Trobe University
foundation · VIC
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
6$64.6M
3
Murdoch University
foundation · WA
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundationALMA Evidence
6$55.4M
4
Western Sydney University
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundationALMA Evidence
6$60.4M
5
Queensland University Of Technology
foundation · QLD
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$71.9M
6
University Of Southern Queensland
foundation · QLD
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$38.6M
7
The University Of New England
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$48.9M
8
Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology
foundation · VIC
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$97.5M
9
The University Of Adelaide
foundation · SA
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$347.4M
10
The University Of Queensland
foundation · QLD
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$355.7M
11
Edith Cowan University
foundation · WA
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$13.3M
12
Charles Sturt University
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$67.3M
13
Life Without Barriers
charity · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityALMA Evidence
6$2.0B
14
Southern Cross University
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$20.5M
15
Monash University
foundation · VIC
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$137.5M
16
Griffith University
foundation · QLD
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$99.9M
17
Australian National University
foundation · ACT
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$330.2M
18
University Of Western Australia
foundation · WA
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$113.4M
19
The University Of Newcastle
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$58.4M
20
The University Of Wollongong
foundation · NSW
ProcurementJustice FundingDonationsCharityFoundation
5$79.6M
Get the full PDF

The Revolving Door

4,841 entities operate through 2+ influence channels: lobbying, political donations, government contracts, and/or justice funding. 400 use 3 or more channels simultaneously. Scored by influence type: lobbying (5×), donations (3×), contracts (2×), funding (1×), plus dollar thresholds.

#EntityVectorsContracts
1
Built Pty Ltd
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$1.0B
2
Telstra Corporation Limited
company · VIC
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$11.2B
3
MICHELIN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
company · VIC
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$22.4M
4
Aspen Medical Pty Ltd
company · ACT
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$1.8B
5
KPMG
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$2.4B
6
BAYER AUSTRALIA LIMITED
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$136.9M
7
ISENTIA PTY LIMITED
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$152.4M
8
Tata Consultancy Services
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$396.4M
9
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$832.9M
10
Grocon Pty Ltd
company · VIC
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$50.0M
11
Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia) Pty Ltd
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$41.0M
12
AUSGRID
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$10.2M
13
Luerssen Australia Pty Ltd
company · WA
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$35.2M
14
SEC Newgate Pty Limited
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$13.5M
15
BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED
company · VIC
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$2.9M
16
Australia Post
company · VIC
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$5.3M
17
VMWARE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$597.8M
18
Edith Cowan University
foundation · WA
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$11.7M
19
CYBERCX PTY LTD
company · VIC
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTSFUNDED
4$97.2M
20
GRACosway Pty Ltd
company · NSW
LOBBIESDONATESCONTRACTS
3$2.3M

Over-Monitored, Under-Funded

Community-controlled organisations appear in more government datasets than average (1.41 systems vs 1.17 overall) — but receive a fraction of the money. They are more visible to government, yet less resourced by it.

2,370
Community-Controlled Orgs
1.5% of all entities
1.41
Avg Datasets Appearing In
vs 1.17 overall average
0.2%
Of Procurement Dollars
$2.14B of $1033.51B

Top Community-Controlled Entities by Power Score

The Geography of Power

Major cities receive 913x dollar flow compared to Very Remote Australia. 952 of 1,669 LGAs score above 50 on our desert index — meaning high disadvantage, low funding, and sparse entity coverage.

Dollar Flow by Remoteness

Major Cities
$1040.97B
Inner Regional
$12.91B
Outer Regional
$10.04B
Remote
$0.85B
Very Remote
$1.14B
#LGAEntitiesDesert Score
1
Unincorporated NSW
190
2
Palmerston
190
3
Mount Isa
190
4
Barkly
190
5
Laverton
190
6
Roper Gulf
190
7
Mount Magnet
WA
185
8
Coolgardie
WA
182
9
Woorabinda
180
10
Brewarrina
180
11
Unincorporated NT
180
12
Coonamble
180
13
Victoria Daly
180
14
Balonne
180
15
Moree Plains
180

7 Datasets. One Map.

1
Procurement

$853.6B in AusTender contracts. Who wins government business.

2
Justice Funding

$33.9B in social program funding. Who gets state money.

3
Political Donations

AEC donation records. Who funds the politicians.

4
Charity Registry

66K ACNC charities. The formal nonprofit sector.

5
Foundations

10.8K grant-makers. Who controls philanthropy.

6
ALMA Evidence

1,155 interventions. What actually works.

7
ATO Tax

24K entities. Who pays tax on their income.

Each dataset is public. Each entity is matched by ABN. CivicGraph is the first platform to cross-reference all seven simultaneously — revealing who appears everywhere, who holds power across systems, and who gets watched but never funded.

Methodology

Entity resolution: Entities are matched across datasets using Australian Business Number (ABN). For justice funding records without ABNs, exact canonical name matching is used as a fallback. 88.6% of justice funding records are now linked to a resolved entity.

Power score: Composite score weighting system presence (3 points per system) plus dollar-weighted bonuses for procurement (>$1M/10M/100M), donations (>$10K/100K), and justice funding (>$1M/10M). Network breadth adds points for distinct government buyers (capped at 10) and political parties funded (capped at 8).

Revolving door score: Weighted by influence type — lobbying (5×), political donations (3×), contracts (2×), funding (1×). Additional points for high-dollar donations (>$100K) and large contracts (>$10M), plus the number of political parties funded (capped at 5).

Desert score: Composite of SEIFA IRSD decile (inverted, 0-100), remoteness category (0-40), entity coverage gap (0-30), and funding gap (0-20). Higher score means more disadvantaged, more remote, fewer entities, and less funding.

Community-controlled: Entities flagged as community-controlled in the entity registry. Includes Indigenous community organisations, community cooperatives, and locally governed service providers.

Limitations: ABN matching misses entities that operate under different ABNs across datasets. Political donations data has a reporting threshold. ATO tax transparency only covers entities above $100M income (or $200M for non-reporting). Board interlock data is limited to ACNC responsible persons for small charities — ASIC officeholder data would significantly expand this coverage.

Explore the Power Map

See these entities on the interactive force-directed graph. Filter by system count, explore connections, and trace power flows across Australia.

Full Report

Download: Cross-System Power Concentration

Get the complete report as a formatted PDF with all charts, tables, and data — ready to attach to board papers or share with colleagues.

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