Gifts, benefits and hospitality policy

Purpose

This policy provides the principles that underpin the management of offers of gifts, hospitality and benefits offers either made or received by BPC employees.

Scope

This policy applies to all workplace participants (referred to as employees for ease of reference), including Commissioners, executives, employees, contractors, consultants and any other individual or group undertaking activity for or on behalf of the BPC.

Details

Guiding principles

1. Impartiality - individuals prioritise the public interest over their own private interests.
2. Accountability - individuals are accountable for compliance with this policy.
3. Manager - oversees their employees’ compliance with the policy.
4. Integrity - individuals strive to earn and sustain public trust.
5. Risk-based approach - gifts, benefits and hospitality risks are assessed and managed.
6. Decline – all offers over $20 unless permitted by BPC procedures or business rules.
7. Declare – all offers which exceed $20 and where required by BPC procedures or business rules.

Implementation

1. All employees receive education and reinforcement regarding their integrity obligations.
2. Employees must attest annually to their compliance with this Policy.
3. Employees must immediately report suspected breaches of this Policy.
4. A biennial external risk assessment informs implementation.
5. RAF monitors the implementation of the Policy.
6. Breaches of the Policy resulting in a significant loss for the BPC are reported to RAF.

Contraventions

Actions inconsistent with this policy and related procedures may constitute misconduct and attract disciplinary action consistent with the relevant industrial instrument and legislation, including dismissal.

Review and amendment

RAF will review the Policy biennially and recommend the refreshed policy to the Board for its approval.

Responsibilities

Definitions and acronyms

Related documents

Appendix 1

Compliance with VPSC gifts, benefits and hospitality requirements.

VPSC minimum accountabilities: Managing gifts, benefits and hospitality in the Victorian public sector

Mandate for GBH Policy

• Establish, implement and review organisational policies and processes for the effective management of gifts, benefits and hospitality that comprehensively address these minimum accountabilities.

VPSC Model COI Policy

• Policy principles:
  • Impartiality, Accountability, Integrity
• Definitions:
  • Business associate, benefits, ceremonial gifts, conflict of interest, gifts, hospitality, legitimate business benefit, public official, public register, register, token offer, non-token offer.
  • Token offers – circumstances when they may be retained (Definition of token offer reduced from $50 to $20)
• Contraventions
• Speak up

Mandate for business rules: Offering GBH and managing GBH offers

Public officials offered gifts, benefits and hospitality:

• do not, for themselves or others, seek or solicit gifts, benefits and hospitality
• refuse all offers of gifts, benefits and hospitality that:
  • are money, items used in a similar way to money, or items easily converted to money
  • give rise to an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest
  • may adversely affect their standing as a public official or which may bring their public sector employer or the public sector into disrepute
  • are non-token offers without a legitimate business benefit
• decline all non-token offers
• refuse bribes or inducements and report inducements and bribery attempts (Also Procedure: Reporting fraud, corruption and other losses)
• ensure that any gifts, benefits and hospitality provided is for a business purpose, in that it furthers the conduct of official business or other legitimate organisational goals or promotes and supports government policy objectives and priorities
• ensure that any costs are proportionate to the benefits obtained for the State and would be considered reasonable in terms of community expectations
• ensure that when hospitality is provided, individuals demonstrate professionalism in their conduct, and uphold their obligation to extend a duty of care to other participants
• establish and maintain a register for gifts, benefits and hospitality offered to public officials that, at a minimum, records sufficient information to effectively monitor, assess and report on these minimum accountabilities
• communicate and make clear within the organisation that a breach of the gifts, benefits and hospitality policies or processes may constitute a breach of binding codes of conduct or criminal or corrupt conduct and may result in disciplinary action
• establish and communicate a clear policy position to business associates on the offering of gifts, benefits and hospitality to employees, including possible consequences for a business associate acting contrary to the organisation’s policy position. This must take into consideration any whole of Victorian Government supplier codes of conduct
• report at least annually to the organisation’s audit committee on the administration and quality control of its gifts, benefits and hospitality policy, processes and register. This report must include analysis of the organisation’s gifts, benefits and hospitality risks (including repeat offers from the same source and offers from business associates), risk mitigation measures and any proposed improvements
• publish the organisation’s gifts, benefits and hospitality policy and register on the organisation’s public website (applies only to organisations with an established website). The published register should cover the current and the previous financial year.

VPSC Model COI Policy

• Token offers – circumstances when they may be retained
• Non-token offers - circumstances when they may be retained
• Recording non-token offers – whether accepted or declined
• Ownership – approval requirements and disposal of offers not retained
• Repeat offers – requirement to refuse and report
• Ceremonial gifts
• Hospitality provided by Victorian public sector organisations
• Management of the provision of gifts, benefits and hospitality
• Host test – hospitality, objectives, spent, trust
• Containing costs – maximum unbudgeted expenses
• Alcohol – prohibition for internal events, modest provision for external-facing events
• Catering – allowable timeframes for provision of internal catering