| Q: For whom
are these policies applicable to?
A: These policies apply to all academic and general
staff of the University.
Q: Why has the University
suddenly decided to implement these policies?
A: In 2001, the Independent Commission Against Corruption
undertook a Corruption Resistance Review of the University.
In June 2001, the ICAC issued a report on its findings.
ICAC recommended the development of these three policies.
Q: Why do I need to know about
these policies?
A: Staff of the University have an obligation to avoid
unacceptable ethical, legal, financial or other conflicts
of interest and to ensure that their activities and
interests do not conflict with their obligations to,
or the welfare of, the University.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
Q:
Why am I being asked to do this?
A: The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption
reviewed the University’s policies and procedures
from a corruption prevention perspective and recommended
to the University that it implement better and stronger
policy and practice on conflict of interest.
They recommended:
Recommendation 12:
That the University consider expanding its conflicts
of interest policy to cover personal, professional
and recreational associations staff have outside the
University and to provide guidance on managing conflicts
of interest.
Recommendation 13:
That the University ensure its conflict of interest
policy and the potential for conflicts of interest
to compromise decision making processes are more clearly
promoted to staff.
Module 9 of the Commission’s “Practical
Guide to Corruption Prevention” which relates
to Conflicts of Interest may be of assistance in implementing
this recommendation.
Q: Does the policy
apply to all staff?
A: Yes, the policy applies to all staff including the
Vice-Chancellor, Senior Executive and the Deans.
Q: I have no conflict
of interest to declare, do I have to reply?
A: Yes, nearly all of the returns submitted so far
have been nil returns. The form should have been better
designed to include a simple tick box at the bottom
for nil returns and this change has been made for the
future.
Q: Do I have to declare
the type of close personal relationship?
A: No, close personal relationships are defined in
the policy as:
close personal relationship - refers to married/de facto
partners, sexual partners, near relatives or close friends.
It does not include normal acquaintance between staff
and students.
Disclosure does not mean that the University needs to
know the specific kind of close personal relationship
involved and you can see that there has been an attempt
to make it clear that normal friendly relationships
between staff and students are not a matter that requires
disclosure.
Q: Do I have to declare
any close personal relationship with a student?
A: No, not in every case. If you look at section 7.8
of the policy, it says, in part,
“Staff members should disclose to the University,
at the earliest possible stage, any close personal relationship
with a student which is likely to give rise to a conflict
of interest in the making of any decisions".
This means that if you are involved in the supervision,
assessment, admission or some other process where you
have a decision making role involving the student with
whom you have a close personal relationship, you should
disclose it. Disclosure is not required where such a
decision making dimension is not present.
Q: Do I have to declare
any close personal relationship with a staff member?
A: Not necessarily. It would provide a greater degree
of protection for you if you did but the same principle
that applies to close personal relationships with students
applies to close personal relationships with staff.
If you may be involved with decision making which affects
a staff member (or a candidate for a job at the University)
with whom you have a close personal relationship, then
you should disclose it. Paraphrasing the policy, this
might include cases where:
- one staff member is the direct supervisor of the
other;
- one staff member is involved in procedures leading
to the appointment or promotion of the other staff
member or in any other procedure relating to the conditions
of appointment such as the classification of that
person's position and the granting of leave;
- one staff member has access to any personal files
relating to the other staff member;
- the relationship between the staff members affects,
adversely or otherwise, the interests of other staff
members.
Obviously, the implications of the policy depend on
the job that you hold. If, for instance, you work in
Personnel and have wide access to information then the
potential for a conflict of interest in much higher.
If you are a supervisor, the potential risk is higher
than if you are not a supervisor.
Q: Are such disclosures
prohibited by privacy legislation?
A: No, there are no provisions of either the federal
or state privacy laws which apply to prevent such disclosures
from being sought or obtained from our staff. The disclosure
of such conflicts of interest is necessary to ensure
fair and equitable decision making, prevent corrupt
conduct, protect the use of public funds and ensure
the protection of the rights of individual staff and
students.
The legislation provides that a public sector agency
must not collect personal information unless the information
is collected for a lawful purpose that is directly related
to the function or activity of the agency and the collection
of the information is reasonably necessary for that
purpose. An external regulatory agency (ICAC) has recommended
that we implement conflict of interest disclosures.
Further, the legislation exempts from the definition
of personal information “information or an opinion
about an individual’s suitability for appointment
or employment as a public sector official.” This
applies to us and means that such information cannot
be classified as private.
Q: Who gets to see
this information?
A: A further issue of concern has been about the collection/viewing
of the information. Staff are being asked (consistent
with the policy) to submit a declaration to their Dean
for forwarding to Personnel for filing. All records
maintained by Personnel are scanned and electronically
stored, and any access of any document is automatically
logged and recorded and any staff member is able to
review these logs. The policy does not allow for the
filing of duplicate copies in faculties or departments
and the original document is shredded by Personnel after
it has been scanned.
Q: Do I have to do
this every year?
A: A number of staff have raised concerns about being
surveyed (annually/bi-annually). The current letter
is primarily aimed at education and consciousness raising
as well as a kind of catch up for the absence of a comprehensive
policy in the past.
While the policy provides for such requests to be made
regularly, our preference is to encourage staff to address
issues as and when they arise. For example, we are now
including a conflict of interest declaration with all
selection committee papers and asking new staff to declare
any conflict of interest at entry on duty. We would
be interested in other suggestions for incorporating
such declarations into normal processes and reducing
or eliminating the need for periodic mail outs such
as this one.
Q: What happens if
I don’t return the declaration?
A: Nothing happens simply because you don’t fill
in the declaration. If you have a conflict of interest
and declare it to the University, the University becomes
responsible for working with you to address it. Therefore,
declaring the issue, consistent with the policy, gives
you some protection. If you have a conflict of interest
and don’t take the opportunity to declare it,
you alone are carrying the risk associated with that
conflict of interest.
Q: Were the Unions
consulted on this policy?
A: Yes, the University wrote to all unions on 28 February
2003 giving them a copy of the policy for comment and
inviting suggestions. Only the NTEU took up the offer
and sought detailed discussions with the University.
While during these negotiations, we tried our best to
make the policy practical, some of questions are issues
that we did not anticipate and suggest areas for further
improvement or clarification.
CORRUPTION RESISTANCE POLICY
Q: What exactly is corrupt behaviour?
A: Corrupt behaviour includes, for example, the following:
For more examples of such behaviour, please refer to
Section 2 of the Corruption Resistance Policy.
Q: What can I do to reduce the likelihood of
corrupt behaviour by myself or my staff?
A: All staff members should incorporate the corruption
resistance framework into activities for which they
are responsible. For example:-
- Ensuring that staff are aware of their obligations
to ethical conduct and public duties;
- Implementing risk management practices and procedures
designed to minimise the likelihood of corrupt activities;
- Implementing relevant controls to help ensure corruption
does not occur;
- Implementing mechanisms that allow for the ease
of reporting suspected or known instances of corruption.
SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT POLICY
Q: What is meant by the term “secondary
employment”?
A: The term secondary employment refers to any employment
with an organisation other than the University. This
includes self-employment, independent contracting or
consulting or employment by a family company. It also
includes employment already held by a person at the
time of their initial employment by the University
Q: Is any form of employment not included in
this policy?
A: No. All forms of employment are included in this
policy including unpaid or voluntary work.
Q: Are there instances where secondary employment
might become an issue covered under these policies?
A: Yes. Examples include where the unpaid or voluntary
work is undertaken during the same hours as your position
at the University. Another example is where the secondary
employment makes unauthorised use of University resources.
For more examples, refer to section 4.2 of the Secondary
Employment Policy.
Q: If I want to find a second job, do I need
to inform the University?
A: Yes you do. The staff member must obtain written
approval. The staff member wishing to obtain secondary
employment must write to their manager, requesting or
declaring such employment. This letter will then be
forwarded to Personnel and Financial Services, who will
make an assessment on the secondary employment suggested.
A staff member is not to assume the secondary employment
is approved until they have received a letter of approval
from Personnel and Financial Services.
It is important to note that the policy states that
the University will not unreasonably deny or disallow
a staff member to participate in secondary employment.
Q: Why do I need to inform the University of
any secondary employment?
A: You need to inform the University of your second
job so that an assessment is made to ensure that there
are no conflicts of interest (i.e. to ensure that there
is no conflict between your position at the University
and your position with an external organisation).
Q: How does the Secondary Employment policy
fit in with the Consultancy and Contract Research policy
– and which one is the over-ruling policy?
A: The Consultancy and Contract Research policy provides
a special framework for academic staff to participate
in the work of other organisations as a part of their
work for the University. This policy should be read
in conjunction with the Secondary Employment policy.
The Consultancy and Contract Research policy does not
apply to general staff of the University.
Q: What happens if I forget to tell the University
about any secondary employment?
A: If this secondary employment is discovered, and
the secondary employment involves a significant conflict
of interest or significant undisclosed use of University
resources (including the employee’s time), this
could lead to disciplinary action.
Q: Who can I speak to about any breaches to
these three Policies?
A: As stated in section 10 of the policy, complaints
should be made in writing to the Vice-Principal (Administration).
The complaint will be investigated and assessed according
to the standards set out in this policy.
Q: Who can I speak to for more information
on these policies?
A: For more information, you can contact the following
people:
- The Internal Auditor, for any type of question on
all three policies;
- The Lawyer, Business Risk, for any type of question
on all three policies;
- The Director, Personnel and Financial Services
in relation to staffing or finance matters;
- The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) in relation
to research matters;
- The Academic Registrar in relation to student matters;
and
- The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Operations) or Vice-Principal
Administration in respect of all other matters.
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