Gifts Benefits and Hospitality

1 Policy Statement

This Human Resource Management Policy outlines the procedures for all employees of the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) relating to the provision and receipt of gifts, benefits and hospitality.

Employees of the OIC are employed under the Public Sector Act 2022 (PSA) or appointed by the Governor in Council for Statutory appointments. OIC Human Resource policies are developed to align with the PSA and policies, procedures and directives issued by the Minister for Industrial Relations and the Public Sector Commission. All OIC Human Resource policies are approved by the Information Commissioner and are representative of the size and function and establishment of the OIC.

The purpose of this Policy is to prescribe the procedures for employees relating to the provision and receipt of gifts, benefits and hospitality.

2 Application

This policy applies to all employees of the OIC.

As an integrity agency, the OIC relies on being independent and being seen to be impartial in the performance of its functions. Giving or receiving gifts, benefits or hospitality may be inappropriate as it could lead to the perception that independence and/or impartiality has been compromised.

In certain circumstances the giving or receiving of gifts, benefits and hospitality may be deemed necessary and appropriate as a matter of common courtesy when connected with OIC e official duty and business.

The provision and receipt of gifts, benefits and hospitality must adhere strictly with this policy and the OIC Code of Conduct.

All offers or receipt of gifts, benefits or hospitality must be reported (refer Appendix A) to the Information Commissioner via the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) member to whom the employee reports. Details of all gifts/benefits and hospitality are to be maintained by the Executive Coordinator.

3 Gifts and benefits

3.1 Receiving gifts and benefits

Employees must not ask for or encourage the offer of any gift, benefit or hospitality in connection with the performance of their official duties.

Any offers of cash or any items which are readily converted into cash must not be accepted in any circumstance.
Employees may be approved to accept a form of gift, benefit or hospitality in connection with the performance of their official duties where:
- The Commissioner has decided that it is appropriate to accept the gift, benefit or hospitality after discussion with the employee and their ELT member and the gift, benefit or hospitality is of a retail value not exceeding $150, or
- the gift is offered at an occasion such as when an employee has spoken at a function and the personal gift is of nominal value and is customary.
All nominal or reportable gifts/benefits accepted by an employee remain the property of the Office unless the Information Commissioner approves retention of the gifts/benefits by the employee.

3.2 Retaining Gifts and Benefits

The Information Commissioner may approve an employee accepting and personally retaining a gift or benefit where it relates to the receipt of normal entertainment, hospitality, travel, accommodation or minor presentational benefit provided that:
- the gift/benefit does not form part of a pattern of recurrent gift giving, and
- the gift/benefit is not over $150 in value.
On accepting a gift/benefit the employee must ensure that there is no obligation attached to the gift/benefit. The Information Commissioner must be satisfied that this is the case before approving the retention of the gift/benefit by the employee.
Details of all retained gifts/benefits are to be maintained by the Executive Coordinator and recorded in the OIC Register of Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality.

3.3 Reportable Gifts and Benefits

All offers and receipt of reportable gifts or benefits must be reported to the Information Commissioner via the employee’s ELT member.
All reportable gifts become the property of the OIC.
All reportable gifts must be recorded in the Register of Reportable Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality.
- The Information Commissioner may direct that any significant/reportable gift:
- be returned to the person who gave it,
- be retained by the employee,
- be raffled, with the proceeds given to a charity of the recipient’s choosing, or
- be given to that charity.
All reportable gifts and benefits must be recorded in the OIC Register of Reportable Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality and this part of the register must be published under the Right to Information Act 2009 as part of the Office’s publications scheme.

4 Hospitality

4.1 Accepting Hospitality

Employees must not ask for or encourage the offer of hospitality in connection with the performance of their official duties.
All offers and receipt of hospitality must be reported to the Information Commissioner in accordance with his policy via the employee’s ELT member.
The Information Commissioner may approve receipt of hospitality where it is appropriate and in the public interest to accept an offer of hospitality. Reasons why the IC may approve receipt of such hospitality include:
establishing effective working relationships,
exchanging information and gaining operational intelligence to enhance effectiveness of the OIC.

In determining appropriateness, the Information Commissioner will consider:

the circumstances in which the hospitality is offered
if acceptance may give rise to an impression that the employee may be compromised or put under obligation
the timing of the offer
the value, frequency and scale of the hospitality
the social context

4.2 Hospitality on Official Trips

Staff may accept hospitality when travelling in an official capacity on behalf of the OIC or representing the OIC at an official function and that hospitality takes the form of meals, drinks, offered by the host at a reasonable value.
Prior to a trip, the Information Commissioner’s position in relation to accepting hospitality must be ascertained and an appropriate response approved in advance.
Employees may not accept any other form of hospitality without the prior approval of the Information Commissioner.

4.3 Hospitality offered by the Office

It may be appropriate to provide hospitality to individuals of particular importance to the OIC. Such expenditure must be approved by the Information Commissioner in advance. Examples of this would include hospitality to:

interstate and overseas visitors
representatives of relevant organisations

General expenditure considered reasonable as official hospitality may include:

provision of tea, coffee, morning or afternoon tea for official visitors
provision of refreshments/lunches/dinners for internal meetings, conferences, seminars and workshops
attendance at official functions for which charges are incurred

Working meals should be of a light nature at the work/meeting location, unless associated with a seminar or other function at a particular venue.

In circumstances where the OIC is hosting a conference or official meetings, costs associated with receptions would be considered as part of the overall expenditure for the event.

The expenditure of public monies on hospitality must be capable of withstanding public scrutiny.

4.4 Recording Hospitality Expenditure

When seeking approval of expenditure for hospitality, the following documentation must be provided to the Information Commissioner:

description of the official purpose
certification that expenditure is to be incurred in relation to the performance of official duties and responsibilities of the individual or individuals attending the function
quote, invoice or account validating expenditure
names of Office employees in attendance, guests, and any external organisations represented by these guests.

An OIC credit card will not be used for private expenditure for entertainment and hospitality irrespective of any intention to refund the OIC in the future.

A review of expenditure on entertainment and hospitality will be completed annually as part of the OIC’s internal audit.

Quarterly Fringe Benefit Tax returns require full disclosure of the details of any entertainment or hospitality undertaken by the OIC.

5 Conflicts of Interest

Employees must recognise and understand that the acceptance of a gift, benefit or hospitality constitutes a conflict of interest – real, perceived or potential.

Employees must adhere to the processes outlined in the Office Code of Conduct and the OIC policy and procedure on declaring and managing conflicts of interest.

6 Procedures for types of gifts benefits and hospitality

	Gifts or Benefits		Intangible Gifts (Hospitality)
Procedures	Less than $150	More than $150	Less than $150	More than $150
Must declare	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Decision and information recorded in register	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Decision and information reported on publications scheme	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Employee may retain	Yes	No	Not applicable	Not applicable
Employee may purchase	No	No	No	No
Aggregates from same donor noted	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

7 Definitions

Retail value means the reasonable retail value of the gift or benefit.
Gifts and benefits means:
the transfer of property or other benefit without recompense or for a consideration substantially less than full consideration; or
a loan of property made on a permanent, or an indefinite, basis; received or given by an official when they are acting in their official capacity. For the purposes of this directive, gifts and/or benefits include tangible items of lasting value and intangible items of no lasting value (including hospitality). It does not include any gifts or benefits given or received under an appropriately approved employee health and well-being program or an appropriately approved rewards and recognition program. It does not include benefits negotiated when an agency sponsors a service, product or activity on its own or with another government agency, as may occur under the Queensland Government Sponsorship Policy.
Public perception means the perception of a fair-minded person in possession of the facts.
Nominal gifts, benefits and hospitality – retail value up to $150.
Reportable gifts, benefits and hospitality – retail value over $150.
Retainable gifts and benefits – means an employee may retain the gift/benefit if approved by the Information Commissioner.

8 Review and Revision

This Policy will be reviewed annually and may be revised as deemed necessary by the document owner.

Revision Date	Version	Prepared by	Summary of revisions and amendments	Approver
November 2011	2	Greg Argue		Information Commissioner
January 2024	3	Tebony Justins	Update references to PSC Act and change MCES to COO, update formatting.	Information Commissioner

9 Associated Policies, Procedures or Guidelines

Public Service Commission Directive 22/09 Gifts and Benefits
Office of the Information Commissioner Code of Conduct

10 Associated Legislation, Standards or Requirements

Public Sector Act 2022

Download the Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Declaration form (PDF, 86.43 KB)