As part of the Government’s response to the PricewaterhouseCoopers matter, the Department of Finance led a review on the management of Conflict of Interest and confidentiality arrangements when engaging with the non-government sector. The review found that while definitions and requirements vary slightly across Commonwealth legislation and resources, their core intent is consistent – to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of an individual’s interests compromising their judgement, decisions, or actions in the workplace.
These subtle nuances, however, have led to inconsistent COI management across the Commonwealth – both within government and in external engagements. To address this, Finance developed a new Resource Management Guide (RMG) to support agencies prevent, detect and respond to breaches of COI and confidentiality obligations.
This RMG complements other integrity initiatives, including:
- the COI Better Practice Model, which supports tailored internal COI management across agencies.
- the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s (NACC) guide: Conflicts of interest and corrupt conduct: a guide for public officials which offers practical advice to Commonwealth public officials on managing COIs to reduce the risk of corrupt conduct.
Together, these resources promote a unified, risk-based approach to COI management, offering:
- a consistent definition and language.
- a standard methodology for identifying and managing COI.
- a framework for navigating complex or discretionary situations.
- a structured basis for decision-making.
