Official Conduct
How does OPSSC monitor?
OPSSC monitors:
- ethical behaviour of public sector departments and employees— covered by the general principles of official conduct set out in Section 9 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994; and
- employment related issues—covered by the general principles of human resource management set out in Section 8 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994.
OPSSC does not monitor:
- matters of corruption— these are managed by the Corruption and Crime Commission;
- financial management—these matters are managed by the Office of the Auditor General;
- administrative decision making —these matters are managed by the Ombudsman’s Office; and
- discipline matters—these are manged by agencies themselves.
How does OPSSC manage inquiries?
- Matters are referred to OPSSC, usually in writing from a variety of sources; for example, from members of the public, members of Parliament, public sector agencies or public sector employees.
- The information is assessed to determine whether it falls within the jurisdiction of OPSSC, such as:
- If appropriate, OPSSC then conducts an inquiry . This may involve obtaining information from a range of sources, interviewing key people and so on.
- The investigation assists the Commissioner to determine if there has been compliance with the relevant legislation or codes.
- The Commissioner informs parties on the outcome. Where appropriate, recommendations for practice improvement in the sector are made and OPSSC can assist agencies in this regard.
- OPSSC reports matters of compliance to Parliament and Ministers as appropriate.
How can you make a Compliance Inquiry (General)?
- You can read the About us section on this web site for general information. You can also phone and talk to someone via the OPSSC Assist line on 1800 676 607.
- If you would like to let us know about your concerns then complete the form below and email to OPSSC.
Important note on our function:
OPSSC is not able to provide direct remedy when you raise issues about official conduct. Its role in assessing the information that you provide is limited to determining whether or not there has been compliance with the relevant legislation or codes. Any matters of non-compliance are brought to the attention of the relevant parties and recommendations for improving practice in the sector are made.
The OPSSC Director, Public Sector Compliance Monitoring, is Martin Clifford and he can be contacted regarding investigations. Martin is also the OPSSC Principal Public Interest Disclosure Officer. Telephone direct on 9260 6645 or email Martin Clifford.
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Page last updated: July 09 2009