By the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre, Attorney-General’s Department
The Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) is excited to announce that a new Commonwealth Fraud and Corruption Control Framework (framework) will come into effect 1 July 2024.
The new framework forms part of the Government’s priority integrity reforms to improve the standards of integrity across the public sector and trust in Government. The framework is focused on prevention and has been designed to support a modern and coherent system of accountability for protecting public resources from fraud and corruption across the Commonwealth.
The framework consists of the:
- Fraud and Corruption Rule (section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (PGPA) Rule 2014) - a legislative instrument binding for all PGPA Act entities. It sets out the minimum standards for accountable authorities of PGPA Act entities in relation to managing the risk and incidents of fraud and corruption.
- Fraud and Corruption Policy - an Australian Government Policy which is binding for all Non-Corporate Commonwealth Entities. Corporate Commonwealth Entities and Commonwealth Companies are encouraged to adopt the Fraud and Corruption Policy as better practice.
- Fraud and Corruption Guidance (Resource Management Guide 201 - Preventing, detecting and dealing with fraud and corruption) - provides further guidance on the Australian Government’s expectations for fraud and corruption control arrangements for all Commonwealth entities. Guidance to be released in March 2024.
The most significant change is to expand the framework’s application to corruption as well as fraud – requiring Commonwealth entities to take steps to prevent, detect and deal with corrupt conduct. This complements the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022. The changes also brings entity obligations in line with updates to the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy 2023, the Australian Government Investigation Standard 2022, and industry standards.
What are the core elements of the framework?
The framework incorporates global best practice principles and approaches to support Australian Government entities to identify and mitigate risks that may undermine the integrity of public institutions. The core framework elements include:
- governance and oversight;
- targeted and rigorous risk assessments;
- informed and targeted control plans; and
- effective control frameworks encompassing appropriate prevention, detection, investigation, referral and reporting mechanisms.
A targeted and proportionate approach
The policy has been developed in consultation with stakeholders from across the Commonwealth and designed in a way to help entities meet the standard expected under section 10 of the PGPA Rule in a targeted and proportionate way; one that accounts for the size and operations of an entity and the nature and complexity of an entity’s fraud and corruption risks. This flexibility is embedded across a number of policy elements enabling officials in the entity who are responsible for managing fraud and corruption to determine what are reasonable and appropriate mechanisms for the entity. For example, the policy requires entities to:
- Identify the activities, functions or programs that are at the highest risk from fraud or corruption and actively decide whether it is appropriate to undertake targeted fraud and corruption risk assessments related to these activities, functions and programs. This approach allows entities to prioritise their efforts and maximise the impact of their fraud and corruption control capability and resources.
- Document and implement a fraud and corruption control plan/s and periodically review and monitor control plans to ensure they remain relevant and proportionate to risks identified in risk assessments.
- Periodically review the effectiveness of fraud and corruption controls. These reviews should be appropriate, cost-effective and proportionate to an entity’s risks. To achieve this, entities should focus their effort and resources on the most critical controls related to their highest risk activities, functions and programs.
Help to implement these changes and build counter fraud and anti-corruption capability
AGD is developing a suite of practical guidance and promotional products to help entities prepare for the commencement of the new framework and enhance their counter fraud and anti-corruption capability. AGD will also be hosting a series of webinars and training, and provide opportunities to share learnings and good practice from across government to help entities to successfully implement this change.
Explore more
To learn more about the new framework or the support available, go to Counterfraud.gov.au or reach out to the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre at info@counterfraud.gov.au.