Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality

Management of offers of gifts, benefits and hospitality

This chapter sets out the process for accepting, declining and recording offers of gifts, benefits and hospitality.

Conflict of interest and reputational risks

When deciding whether to accept an offer, school staff need to first consider if the offer could be perceived as influencing them in performing their duties or lead to reputational damage. The more valuable the offer, the more likely that a conflict of interest or reputational risk exists.

Thanks is enough

The default position of the department is to politely decline all offers.

'Thanks is enough' is the desired standard for school staff when responding to offers of gifts, benefits and hospitality – ensuring impartiality in decision making with business or suppliers.

The approach means that a simple thank you is all we need from businesses or suppliers to show their appreciation.

The GIFT test below can be used as a guide to the appropriateness of accepting a gift. Answering 'yes' to any of the below tests would usually lead to a decision to decline an offer.

GIFT test

Giver

Who is providing the gift, benefit or hospitality, what is their relationship to me and does that represent a conflict of interest?

Does my role require me to select suppliers? Could the person or organisation benefit from a decision I make?

Influence

Could the giver be seeking to gain an advantage or influence my decisions or actions?

Has the gift, benefit or hospitality been offered to me publicly or privately? Is it a courtesy, token of appreciation or a valuable non-token offer? Does its timing coincide with a decision I am about to make?

Favour

Is the giver seeking a favour in return for the gift, benefit or hospitality?

Has the gift, benefit or hospitality been offered dishonestly? Has the giver made several offers over the past 12 months?

Would accepting it create an obligation to return a favour?

Trust

Would accepting the gift, benefit or hospitality diminish public trust?

Would the public view acceptance of this gift, benefit or hospitality as a betrayal of their trust? Would my colleagues, family, friends or associates think I was diminishing public trust?

Requirement to refuse offers

School staff must refuse all offers of gifts, benefits or hospitality:

• in the form of money, that are used in a similar way to money or that are easily converted to money (except for gifts of appreciation)
• which may give rise to an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest
• which could compromise the public’s trust that they will perform their public duties in an impartial manner, or the public’s trust in the impartiality of their school, the department or the public sector
• that are inconsistent with community expectations
• which could reasonably be seen as a bribe or other inducement – any such offers must be reported to the staff member’s authorised delegate (who should report any criminal or corrupt conduct to Victoria Police or the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission)
• for which there is no legitimate business reason to accept the offer (non-token offers) – even where an offer complies with all the other requirements above, it must be refused if it does not further the conduct of official business, or other legitimate goals, of the staff member’s school, the public sector or the state
• made by a person or organisation about which they will likely make or influence a decision (this also applies to processes involving sponsorship or regulation), particularly offers:
  • made by a current or prospective supplier
  • made during a procurement or tender process by a person or organisation involved in that process
• likely to be a bribe or inducement to make a decision or act in a particular way
• that extend to their relatives or friends
• where, in relation to hospitality and events, the department will already be sufficiently represented to meet its business needs
• where acceptance could be perceived as endorsement of a product or service, or where acceptance would unfairly advantage the sponsor in future procurement decisions
• made by a person or organisation with a primary purpose to lobby ministers, members of parliament or public sector organisations
• made in secret.

School staff are considered to make business decisions about any entity when they, or their direct report, make or are likely to make or influence a decision about that entity.

Gifts valued at $500 or more

Gifts valued at $500 or more must be declined or transferred to the school if there is a legitimate business benefit. The exceptions to this provision are:

• gifts of appreciation when offered by multiple sources (for example, when students or parents/carers pool money together to purchase a present for a staff member)
• sponsored travel and conference or meeting attendance offers where these are effectively consumed by the recipient and are unable to be transferred.

Bribes and inducements

If a school staff member considers they have been offered a bribe or inducement, they must report the offer to their authorised delegate (who must report any criminal or corrupt conduct to Victoria Police or the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission).

Learning and development offers from suppliers

Accepting offers from suppliers for free or discounted development opportunities that they were not contracted to provide will not pass the GIFT test above in some circumstances.

School staff may only accept development opportunities from suppliers where there is a legitimate business reason, attendance meets community expectations and any risk of conflict of interest can be appropriately managed.

For example, if a supplier sent a link for a webinar that is free for everyone, attending the free webinar would most likely meet community expectations and can be accepted under this policy.

Schools may consider incorporating training and development requirements into supplier contracts as deliverables to ensure conflicts of interest are managed. If a supplier delivers a training program that was specified as a deliverable in its contract with the department, school staff would be permitted to accept that under this policy.

GIFT Test

School staff are encouraged to use the GIFT Test (discussed above) to determine if an offer must be refused.

Requirement to declare offers

Token offer

A token offer is a gift, benefit or hospitality that is of inconsequential or trivial value to both the person making the offer and the recipient (such as basic courtesy). The minimum accountabilities state that token offers must be worth less than $50.

This does not apply to a person employed under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 in a Victorian government school, who receives an offer from or on behalf of a parent, guardian, carer or student intended to express appreciation of the person’s contribution to the education of a student or students, in which case a token cannot be worth more than $100.

Unless it is a ceremonial gift (see below) a token offer does not need to be declared in the department’s online register and does not need to have a legitimate business benefit to be retained. However, all other acceptance conditions apply (for example, it cannot be a voucher, cannot extend to family, and cannot be from a supplier).

Non-token offer

A non-token offer is a gift, benefit or hospitality that is – or may be perceived to be by the recipient, the person making the offer or the wider community – of more than inconsequential value. All offers worth $50 or more are non-token offers and must be recorded on a gift, benefit and hospitality register (except for specific offers received by a person employed in a Victorian government school, as defined under ‘token offer’).

School staff can only accept non-token offers if they have a legitimate business benefit. All accepted non-token offers must be approved electronically by the recipient’s authorised delegate, recorded in the gifts, benefits and hospitality register and be consistent with the following requirements:

• none of the conditions to refuse an offer have been met (refer to the ‘Requirement to refuse offers’ section above)
• there is a legitimate business reason for acceptance: it is offered in the course of the individual’s official duties, relates to the individual’s responsibilities and has a benefit to the department, public sector or the state.

School staff may be offered a gift or hospitality where there is no opportunity to seek written approval from their authorised delegate prior to accepting. For example, they may be offered a wrapped gift that they later identify as being a non-token gift. In these cases, the individual must seek approval from their authorised delegate within 5 business days.

Where the gift cannot be accepted, the gift must be returned or ownership transferred to the school.

Ceremonial gifts

Ceremonial gifts are official gifts provided as part of the culture and practices of communities and government, within Australia or internationally. Ceremonial gifts are the property of the school, irrespective of value. If it is appropriate to accept a ceremonial gift, it must be accepted by individuals on behalf of the school and not accepted personally.

Token and non-token ceremonial gifts are government property and must be recorded on the department’s register (staff login required).

Gifts of appreciation

A gift of appreciation is an offer from or on behalf of a parent, carer or student(s) made to members of the teaching service, intended to express appreciation of the teacher’s contribution to the education of a student or students. Where the estimated value is $100 or less, the gift of appreciation is considered token and does not need to be declared. A gift with an estimated or actual value above $100 is considered non-token and must be declared.

Gifts of appreciation may be provided by an individual or group of students, parents or carers. It is the total value of the offer rather than the individual contribution by each donor that determines if the offer is non-token.

Gifts or benefits offered to a member of the teaching service by other members of the community (for example, community groups, businesses) are not gifts of appreciation and are subject to the standard token offer threshold of $50.

Gifts of appreciation received by a member of the teaching service that are valued above $100 are non-token gifts. School staff must declare and seek approval to retain non-token gifts in the registry system. These gifts have a unique legitimate business benefit (gift of appreciation).

Non-cash vouchers as defined in this policy that are offered as gifts of appreciation may be accepted. However, cash vouchers are prohibited, for example a pre-paid visa card.

Where the total estimated value of a gift of appreciation (and not the value of each individual contribution for group offer) is equal to or exceeds $500, the authorised delegate has discretion to allow the recipient to retain it only when it has been offered by multiple students, parents or carers. Otherwise, the gift of appreciation must be either declined or transferred to the ownership of the school.

Targeted email and spam

Generic offers and spam do not need to be declared if they are declined or unanswered.

Generic offers may appear personalised by being addressed to school staff directly, or through the use of generative language tools that can quickly and believably personalise the body of emails whilst still sending them to a large number of people.

If school staff are unsure if it is a generic offer they may raise it with their authorised delegate to determine if it needs to be declared. Some useful questions to ask when unsure are:

• Do I have a relationship with the person who sent the email?
• Do I have a relationship with the organisation who sent the email?
• Is the offer related to my work at school?

If the answer to all of the above is ‘no’ then it is likely a generic offer and does not need to be declared if declined or unanswered.

Repeat offers

Receiving multiple offers (token or non-token) from the same person or organisation can generate a stronger perception that the person or organisation could influence the recipient. School staff must refuse repeat offers from the same source if they create a conflict of interest or may lead to reputational damage.

Repeat offers that are gifts of appreciation may be retained subject to approval by the authorised delegate and having considered the cumulative value of the offers.

Hospitality provided by Victorian Public Sector organisations

Victorian public sector organisations may provide hospitality to stakeholders, as part of their functions. When offered hospitality by a Victorian public sector organisation, school staff must consider the requirements of the minimum accountabilities.

Accepted hospitality offered by a Victorian public sector organisation as part of official business does not need to be declared or reported, where the reason for the school staff's attendance is consistent with the department’s functions and objectives and with the school staff's role.

Sponsored travel and conference offers

Sponsored travel and conference offers must be declined unless a legitimate business benefit for acceptance can be demonstrated. Authorised delegates approving acceptance of sponsored travel offers must determine that no conflict of interest or improper influence will result from acceptance and ensure there is a legitimate business benefit from acceptance.

All offers of sponsored travel from suppliers, potential suppliers or organisations about whom school staff make business decisions must be refused, whether they are the donor or sponsor of the event.

If travel is in the public interest, the school may consider paying for the travel, accommodation and associated costs in full. School staff must be careful not to accept any sponsored travel offer where this could be perceived as endorsing an organisation or product.

School staff must declare and receive approval for any sponsored travel offer under this policy, before submitting a request for travel approval.

Guidance on the management of travel can be found in the Travel policy.

Sponsored travel requests valued at $500 and above can be accepted if all the conditions for acceptance are met.

Information required in the declaration

All ceremonial gifts and non-token offers, whether accepted or declined, must be declared in the department’s online gifts, benefits and hospitality register (staff login required). This includes non-token gifts given to school staff by the department or a school at a reward and recognition event, retirement or length of service milestone.

Value

The value of the gift needs to be declared, see the ‘Valuing offers’ section below.

Legitimate business benefit

The legitimate business benefit (acceptance rationale) for accepting the non-token offer must be recorded in the register with sufficient detail to link the acceptance to the school staff’s work functions and benefit to the department, school, public sector or state.

School staff must consider the following examples of acceptable and unacceptable levels of detail to be included in the department’s register when recording the business reason.

Unacceptable

• Networking
• Maintaining stakeholder relationships

Acceptable

• Attending professional learning in order to maintain the school’s accreditation with an organisation
• Representing the school as a finalist at an award ceremony

Timing

Declarable offers are required to be declared by recipients in the registry system within 5 days of the offer date, and where possible, be approved prior to acceptance.

Where there is no opportunity to declare the non-token offer or ceremonial gift and seek approval from an authorised delegate prior to acceptance, the recipient must declare the non-token offer in the registry system within 5 days of the acceptance date and provide an explanation of the circumstances to the authorised delegate.

Unjustified delays in declaring offers constitute non-compliance with this policy.

Accepted token offers and declined or unanswered generic ‘spam’ offers do not need to be declared.

Access to the register is restricted to relevant persons within the department.

Valuing offers

In considering the value of a gift, benefit or hospitality, it is the highest of:

• the retail or replacement cost of the gift, benefit or hospitality
• the value of the gift or benefit to the recipient.

Where the retail cost of the gift, benefit or hospitality is not immediately clear, school staff must conduct a simple internet search to determine the cost.

If the exact gift, benefit or hospitality cannot be purchased or found, school staff may estimate the cost using other products of a similar quality and standard.

Ownership of gifts offered to school staff

Non-token gifts with a legitimate business benefit that have been accepted by school staff for their work or contribution may be retained by the school staff where the gift is not likely to bring them, the department or school into disrepute, and where their authorised delegate has provided written approval.

School staff must transfer to the school any ceremonial gifts or gifts valued at $500 or more (except for gifts of appreciation funded by multiple families).

Authorised delegates

Under this policy, nominated individuals fulfil the responsibilities of authorised delegates.

Authorised delegates are responsible for considering and approving or declining recipient’s acceptance decisions within the Registry system (staff login required). Authorised delegates’ responsibilities are non-delegable.

In approving a recipient’s proposed acceptance decision, the authorised delegate is confirming that the offer:

• will provide a legitimate business benefit to the department or school
• does not raise a conflict of interest
• is not from a supplier, potential supplier or organisation about whom the recipient or authorised delegate makes business decisions, as these must be refused
• will not bring the recipient, department, school, or public sector into disrepute
• complies with this policy.

The authorised delegate for:

• members of the teaching service, administrative staff or school contractors – is the principal
• assistant principals – is the principal
• principals – is the regional director
• school council members, employees or contractors – is the school council. In the registry system, declarations of school council members, employees and contractors are authorised by principals on behalf of school councils. Principals must attach evidence of the school council's approval to the registry system declaration record.

For declined offers, authorised delegates are notified of submitted declarations but are not required to make an approval decision.

Timeliness of approval decisions

Authorised delegates must review all declared non-token offers in the registry system and make an approval decision within 10 days for non-token offers proposed to be accepted, and where possible prior to acceptance.

Where there is less than 10 days before an offer event date, authorised delegates must make reasonable efforts to provide an approval decision in the registry system prior to the event date.