Same Lobbyist.
Different Owners.
Three competing equipment suppliers, owned by three different investors, all hire the same lobbying firm.
The register tells you who the clients are. It doesn’t tell you what they asked for.
The Lobbyist Count
How many registered lobbyists work for care companies, and how many used to work in government. Count coming.
One Firm, Five Clients
Hawker Britton’s official ACT and Tasmanian register entries both list the same five care and finance clients.[1]
| Client | Who owns it, or what it is |
|---|---|
| Aidacare | Quadrant Private Equity bought a majority in December 2022.[2] |
| Independent Living Specialists | In Riverside’s investment portfolio.[3] |
| Country Care Group | Next Capital bought 51% in December 2022.[4] |
| Affinity Education | Childcare group controlled by Quadrant, with the Future Fund’s No.7C vehicle in its disclosed structure.[5] |
| HESTA | The health and community services super fund.[1] |
Country Care Group and two people were acquitted of criminal cartel charges in 2021.[4]
What You Can Buy
The ACT register lists Hawker Britton’s staff history. Simon Banks was chief of staff to a federal opposition leader. Others worked in ministerial offices and departments.[1]
Clients can buy that knowledge of government. The register doesn’t show what those advisers ask serving ministers to do.
Other firms with clients in care, investment management and pharmaceuticals include GRACosway, EJF Advisory, Envoy Public Affairs, Principle Advisory and Nexus APAC.[6]
Most lobbying isn’t on any register.
The Commonwealth code covers third-party lobbyists. In-house staff lobbying for their own employer, and much of what peak bodies do, falls outside it.[7]
Synergy 360
Parliament’s Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit looked at procurements involving Services Australia, the NDIA, Synergy 360, Stuart Robert and John Margerison.[8]
It raised serious concerns and recommended a referral to the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Its interim report made no findings against individuals, and Robert denied wrongdoing.[8]
The contracts, introductions, invoices and financial interests behind those deals are the records that would settle it.
Join the client’s name to the request, the officials approached, the date and the papers handed over. Then publish it.
Sources
- ACT Legislative Assembly and Tasmanian Integrity Commission, Hawker Britton register entries, checked 5 October 2026. https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/functions/accessability-review/2018-project/act-register-of-lobbyists-update/act-register-of-lobbyists/act-register-of-lobbyists4/Hawker-Britton https://lobbyists.integrity.tas.gov.au/register/hawker-britton-group-pty-ltd
- Mergers Alliance and Greenstone Partners, Aidacare transaction record, 9 December 2022. https://www.mergers-alliance.com/madds/aidacare/
- Riverside, Independent Living Specialists portfolio page, checked 5 October 2026. https://www.riversidecompany.com/investment-portfolio/independent-living-specialists/
- Next Capital, Country Care Group majority investment, 20 December 2022; ACCC, Country Care CEO and former employee acquitted of criminal cartel offences, 2 June 2021. https://nextcapital.com.au/next-capital-buys-into-rehabilitation-retailer-country-care-group/ https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/country-care-ceo-and-former-employee-acquitted-of-criminal-cartel-offences
- Affinity Education Group, answers to supplementary questions, NSW Legislative Council, received 22 October 2025, question 15. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/other/22593/1a.%20ASQ%20-%20Affinity%20-%20received%2022%20October%202025.PDF
- Australian Government Register of Lobbyists; Enough research extract of registered lobbyists for Future Fund-linked care companies, 5 October 2026. https://lobbyists.ag.gov.au/register
- Attorney-General’s Department, Lobbying Code of Conduct. https://www.ag.gov.au/integrity/publications/lobbying-code-conduct
- Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, inquiry into procurement at Services Australia and the NDIA, interim report foreword. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Public_Accounts_and_Audit/SAandNDIA/Interim_Report/Foreword