Insight 4: Raising conduct and integrity concerns

​There are a range of existing pathways available to APS employees to address concerns that relate broadly to conduct, some of which are stated in paragraph 3.3 of the Misconduct Guide:

​The Public Service Act does not provide for a specific statutory reporting mechanism. Agencies may have a range of avenues for their employees to raise concerns about behaviour, report suspected breaches of the Code, or make public interest disclosures. Such avenues may include:

• line managers
• harassment contact officers (while they cannot accept reports or complaints, these officers can provide advice on options available to employees for dealing with concerns, including avenues for reporting suspected misconduct)
• central conduct or integrity units
• nominated individuals or teams in HR, including employee advice units or hotlines, or fraud prevention and control units or hotlines
• email reporting addresses
• ​‘authorised officers’ who receive public interest disclosures.’

Since the issuing of the Misconduct Guide, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has been established, providing another potential avenue to escalate conduct concerns.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) (PID Act) creates a statutory pathway for current and former officials to disclose certain allegations of misconduct occurring in Commonwealth agencies. Agencies are required to investigate those disclosures. The PID Act offers protection to disclosers and witnesses from reprisal action. Conduct that is disclosable for the purposes of the PID Act includes conduct that is:

• illegal or corrupt;
• results in a wastage of money or property;
• results in unreasonable danger or risk to health and safety; or
• results in danger, or an increased risk of danger, to the environment.[14]

Work health and safety laws [15] impose a range of duties on persons carrying on a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to eliminate or, if not reasonably practicable to eliminate, minimise risks to the health and safety of workers and other people. Workplace bullying is a known risk to health and safety, and PCBUs must eliminate or minimise the risks of workplace bullying as part of meeting their duties under work health and safety laws. Agencies may have procedures for reporting incidents and hazards that may pose a risk to health and safety, and appoint officers to represent the health and safety interests of their work group.

The Taskforce’s review of the existing pathways available to APS employees to address conduct concerns suggests that some conduct may fall short of, for example, a public interest disclosure, a referral to the NACC, or a bullying claim. Agencies should ensure that there is a process for escalating all conduct and integrity risks within the agency that may not be captured by existing legal frameworks. This process should enable escalation of a concern outside an employee’s usual reporting line.

Creating a pro-integrity culture within the APS needs to be driven by senior leaders who, through their actions and their words, respect and require critical debate. Ethical dilemmas are rarely clear. Identifying and responding to ethical dilemmas will be informed by information available to an individual as well as that person’s perspectives and values. A pro-integrity culture is one where ethical issues can be identified and explored with confidence and respect. It does not necessarily mean that everyone will agree about how an ethical dilemma is resolved or whether, in fact, an ethical dilemma even exists. The objective must be that decision makers are in a position to make fully informed decisions based on a complete understanding of the risks and opportunities. In a workplace where openness and critical debate are genuinely encouraged, people should be more prepared to accept a decision, even where they disagree with that decision, confident that the decision is based on all relevant information and a diversity of perspectives.

The APSC could also take steps to highlight the availability of the APS Ethics Advisory service, as another avenue for employees to discuss ethical concerns with their agency’s operations.