A framework for commonwealth corruption control has been launched by the federal government, with public servants on notice that it will come into effect from July 1.
The Attorney-General’s Department is planning to host a series of webinars and training ahead of the launch date to help entities successfully implement this change. Enhancing whole-of-government counter fraud and anti-corruption capability and good practice across entities will be a primary goal of the work.
In an explainer for the APS Academy, a spokesperson from the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre in the department outlined how the framework was designed to support “a modern and coherent system of accountability for protecting public resources from fraud and corruption”.
“The most significant change is to expand the framework’s application to corruption as well as fraud — requiring commonwealth entities to take steps to prevent, detect and deal with corrupt conduct,” the spokesperson said.
“This complements the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022. The changes also bring entity obligations in line with updates to the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy 2023, the Australian Government Investigation Standard 2022, and industry standards.”
Core elements of the new framework have been developed to mitigate risks that may undermine the integrity of public institutions. They include governance and oversight; targeted and rigorous risk assessments; informed and targeted control plans, and effective control frameworks encompassing appropriate prevention, detection, investigation, referral and reporting mechanisms.
The explainer stressed the policy aimed to help entities meet the PGPA Rule section 10 standard in a targeted and proportionate way. The framework was developed in consultation with stakeholders from across the APS, and took into account the size and operations of any one government entity and the nature and complexity of an entity’s fraud and corruption risks.
“This flexibility is embedded across a number of policy elements enabling officials in the entity who are responsible for managing fraud and corruption to determine what are reasonable and appropriate mechanisms for the entity,” the spokesperson said.
“For example, the policy requires entities to identify the activities, functions or programs that are at the highest risk from fraud or corruption and actively decide whether it is appropriate to undertake targeted fraud and corruption risk assessments related to these activities, functions and programs.
“This approach allows entities to prioritise their efforts and maximise the impact of their fraud and corruption control capability and resources.”
Other so-called ‘targeted and proportionate’ measures include a requirement to document and implement a fraud and corruption control plan/s and periodically review and monitor control plans to ensure they remain relevant and proportionate to risks identified in risk assessments.
The framework further requires agencies to periodically review the effectiveness of fraud and corruption controls in a way that is appropriate, cost-effective and proportionate to an entity’s risks.
“To achieve this, entities should focus their effort and resources on the most critical controls related to their highest risk activities, functions and programs.”
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