Definitions
| Gifts | Free or discounted items and any item (including gift cards and vouchers) that would generally be seen by the public as a gift. These include items of high value (e.g. artwork, jewellery, or expensive pens), or services (such as car repair), low value (e.g. small bunch of flowers) and consumables (e.g. chocolates). Fundraising by public sector organisations that is consistent with relevant legislation and any government policy is not prohibited under the minimum accountabilities. Individual fundraising undertaken by our employees in a private capacity does not breach the minimum accountabilities as long as it is clearly undertaken in a private capacity. This kind of fundraising might include selling chocolates. |
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| Benefits | Preferential treatment, privileged access, favours or other advantage offered to an individual. This may include invitations to sporting, cultural or social events, access to discounts and loyalty programs, and promises of a new job. The value of benefits may be difficult to define in dollars, but as they are valued by the individual, they may be used to influence the individual’s behaviour. |
| Hospitality | The friendly reception and entertainment of guests. Hospitality may range from light refreshments at a business meeting to expensive restaurant meals and sponsored travel and accommodation. |
| Conflicts of interest | |
| Actual conflicts of interest | A real conflict between an employee’s public duties and private interests. |
| Potential conflicts of interest | An employee has private interests that could conflict with their public duties. This refers to circumstances where it is foreseeable that a conflict may arise in future and steps should be taken now to mitigate that future risk. |
| Perceived conflict of interest | The public or a third party could form the view that an employee’s private interests could improperly influence their decisions or actions, now or in the future. |
| Supplier | Company or individual that supplies goods or services to the public sector organisation or could reasonably be expected to seek to supply goods or services to the public sector organisation. This is consistent with the definition adopted by the Victorian Government Purchasing Board in its Supplier Code of Conduct. |
| Business associate | An external individual or entity which the organisation has, or plans to establish, some form of business relationship, or who may seek commercial or other advantage by offering gifts, benefits or hospitality. |
| Legitimate business benefit | Gifts, benefits and hospitality accepted or provided for a business purpose, in that it furthers the conduct of official business or other legitimate goals of the organisation, public sector or State. |
| Public official | As defined under section 4 of the Public Administration Act 2004. Public officials include:
directors of public entities. |
| Gifts Benefits and Hospitality Register | Official gifts and items include:
Sometimes accepted or given on behalf of our organisation as part of business with official delegates or representatives of a community group, organisation, or government. Official gifts and items are declared and recorded regardless of their value and regardless of whether they were accepted or refused. |
| Token offer | The offer of a gift, benefit or hospitality that is offered as a courtesy or is of inconsequential or trivial value to both the person making the offer and the individual. Whilst the primary determinant of a token offer is that it would not be reasonably perceived within or outside the organisation as influencing an individual or raising an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest, it cannot be worth more than $50 (including cumulative offers from the same source over a 12-month period). |
| Non token offer | The offer of a gift, benefit or hospitality that is, or may be perceived to be by the recipient, the person making the offer or by the wider community, of more than inconsequential value. All offers worth more than $50 are non-token offers and must be recorded on a gifts, benefit and hospitality register. |
Updated