Fraud control plan
The Commission does not tolerate dishonest or fraudulent behaviour. Fraud against the Commonwealth is a criminal offence.
Fraud is defined as 'Dishonestly obtaining a benefit, or causing a loss, by deception or other means'.
Examples of potential fraud against the Commonwealth include:
- theft of Commonwealth assets
- staff collusion with service providers for kickbacks
- unlawful or unauthorised release of information
- providing misleading information or falsified documentation to the Commission
- creating false bank accounts to siphon money
- charging for goods or services that are incomplete or not delivered
- fraudulently inflating invoices.
The Commission’s Fraud Control Plan and Fraud Control Policy Statement align with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Framework.
The Commission aims to reflect best practice in identifying and controlling fraud risks. This is achieved by:
- adopting appropriate fraud control standards
- incorporating fraud risk identification and mitigation strategies in our business planning processes
- training our employees in ethical management, privacy and fraud awareness issues
- raising the awareness of external contractors to the Commission’s fraud control policy and ensuring that they comply with it
- providing specialised training of employees involved in fraud control activities
- actively preventing, detecting and investigating fraud
- referring offenders to appropriate entities where necessary
- seeking civil, administrative or disciplinary sanctions where appropriate
- recovering proceeds of fraudulent activity, with assistance from other entities where appropriate
- being accountable to Parliament and reporting to Government.
Fraud reporting
The continued vigilance of staff and contractors is a key component of managing the Commission’s exposure to the risk of fraud occurring. If a staff member becomes aware of, suspects, or believes they have evidence of fraud which has been committed or is being undertaken or contemplated by an official, or by any other person or organisation, they must report this to a Group Manager or a member of the Executive.
All Commission Contractors
Contractors should take into account the need to prevent and detect fraud as part of their normal responsibilities. Where relevant to their contracted responsibilities, contractors should participate in risk management exercises organised by the Commission and assist with the development of fraud control measures. They must provide assistance and co-operate fully with any fraud investigations, and report all instances of suspected fraud to the relevant contract manager in the Commission.