Conflict of Interest

Conflict of Interest

Beyond My Label is committed to ensuring that actions and decisions taken at all levels in the organisation are informed, objective and fair. A conflict of interest may affect the way a person acts, decisions they make or the way they vote on group decisions.

Conflicts of interest must be identified and action taken to ensure that personal or individual interests do not impact on the organisation’s services, activities or decisions.

All staff, volunteers and contractors are required to act in the interests of the organisation at all times, and to notify the organisation when this conflicts with other interests or commitments.

Declaration and management of conflicts of interest are specifically required for all staff, volunteers and contractors.

Conflicts of interest

This policy requires that all staff and volunteers:

• act impartially and without prejudice
• declare any potential or actual conflict of interest
• do not accept gifts or benefits that would influence a decision

This will include situations in which:

• close personal friends or family members are involved, such as decisions about employment, discipline or dismissal, service allocation or awarding of contracts
• an individual or their close friends or family members may make a financial gain or gain some other form of advantage
• an individual is involved with another organisation or offers services that are in a competitive relationship with our organisation and therefore may have access  to commercially sensitive information, plans or financial information
• an individual is bound by prior agreements or allegiances to other individuals or agencies that require them to act in the interests of that person or agency or to take a particular position on an issue

Procedures

Registration of known conflicts of interest

A register of conflicts of interest will be kept and all staff and volunteers (if applicable) will be asked to declare:

• Potential or actual conflicts of interest that exist when a person joins the organisation
• Conflicts of interest that arise during their involvement with the organisation

The register will maintained by Paul Stephen Inglis. All potential and actual conflicts will be recorded in the register, showing:

• the name of individual
• their position or role in the organisation
• the nature of the interest they hold
• the date of record
• any incidents that arise where the interest comes into conflict with the interests of the organisation, the date of the incident and a summary of how it was managed

Identification and declaration of conflicts of interest

In addition to an initial declaration of any potential conflicts of interest at the beginning of their involvement with the organisation, all staff and volunteers are required to declare any potential or actual conflicts of interest they are aware of by:

• At the beginning of any meeting or decision making process informing those present when a conflict becomes apparent
• Outside of a meeting informing Paul Stephen Inglis when a conflict becomes apparent

Management of conflicts of interest

Where a conflict of interest is declared or identified:

For Governing body/Management Committee members:

• The Chairperson/President and/or the Governing body/Management Committee will assess whether a conflict exists
• If the matter is not resolved prior to a meeting, the Governing body/Management Committee will decide on the action to be taken by the individual. They may be asked to:
• contribute to the discussion but abstain from voting or taking part in a decision on the matter
• observe but not take part in the discussion or decision making
• leave the meeting during discussion and decision on the matter

• Governing body/Management Committee members with a significant and ongoing conflict of interest may be asked to:
• take leave of absence from the Governing body/Management Committee for the period over which the matter will be discussed and decided
• resign from the Governing body/Management Committee
• the declaration of conflict of interest will be recorded in the minutes of the Governing body/Management Committee meeting along with the action taken

For staff members:

• The conflict will be assessed by the staff member’s immediate supervisor, or for the most senior staff person, the Chairperson/President
• Where the conflict concerns a group process, the assessment may be conducted by the group convenor or the staff team concerned
• If a conflict of interest exists or there is a perception that a conflict exists, the staff member may be asked to:
• contribute to the discussion but abstain from voting or taking part in a decision on the matter
• observe but not take part in the discussion or decision making
• leave the meeting during discussion and decision on the matter

Staff involvement in external activities

Beyond My Label encourages and supports staff members becoming involved in community activities and volunteer work in their personal lives. However, it is possible that staff members may undertake volunteer or professional roles outside the organisation that give rise to a conflict of interest, or a perception of conflict (e.g. Staff undertaking consultancy work for member organisations or government agencies).

As a result Beyond My Label expects that all staff members declare their involvement in external activities related to the work of Beyond My Label  when they are employed, and discuss and plan with their supervisor how any potential conflicts of interest can be managed. Staff members taking on other (new) work outside Beyond My Label need to inform their supervisor.

Contractors

All contracts with external consultants or Participants of the NDIS being engaged by the organisation will include a declaration that no conflict of interest exists.

End of document