The Integrity Coordinating Group has been formed to promote and strengthen integrity in WA public bodies. Individual and collective integrity is essential for these bodies to deliver their services effectively in accordance with legal requirements. The group is collaborating to support integrity in public bodies by encouraging coordinated research, evaluation and monitoring and fostering operational cooperation and consistency in communication and education.

The member bodies of the Integrity Coordinating Group also support integrity through their independent roles under their own legislation (as outlined under member bodies) and their specific roles to receive public interest disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003.

So what does integrity mean
Integrity means earning and sustaining public trust by:

• Serving the public interest
• Using powers responsibly
• Acting with honesty and transparency
• Preventing and addressing improper conduct

This is demonstrated by employees who:

• Serve the public interest with integrity by avoiding real or apparent conflicts of interest and not allowing decisions or actions to be influenced by personal or sectional interests.
• Use powers for the purpose, and in the manner, for which they were intended.
• Act without bias, make decisions by following fair and objective decision-making processes and give reasons for decisions where required.
• Behave honestly and transparently, disclosing facts, not hiding or distorting them. This includes preventing, addressing and reporting corruption, fraud and other forms of improper conduct.

Our operating environment
WA public bodies include several hundred government departments, statutory authorities, local governments and other bodies, varying in size from those employing a few people to those employing many thousands. Together these bodies employ about 147 000 people. They generate a combined revenue and expenditure in excess of $36 billion annually, in providing a range of services, and are responsible for assets valued at over $70 billion.