Former registered lobbyists or government affairs directors

Introduction

The Victorian public needs to be able to trust that the public sector is operating:

• with integrity and impartiality
• in a professional and apolitical manner.

In your role as an employee you need to place, and be seen to place, the public interest before your private interests.

Your employment obligations provide the framework for doing so, including:

• the Code of conduct for Victorian public sector employees (or similar code if you work for a special body)
• your organisation’s policies, including its conflict of interest policy.

Example

For example, item 2.2 of the employee code requires you to implement and administer the policies and programs of the elected government of the day in an apolitical manner.

Who this guide applies to

In this guide we use the term ‘employee’ to cover:

• employees
• contractors, consultants and labour hire employees required as part of their contract to comply with an employee code we issue
• any other workplace participant covered by your employer’s policy.

The guide applies to former registered lobbyists and former government affairs directors.

Former registered lobbyists

Lobbyists engaged by third party clients to influence government decision-making on their behalf must register under the Victorian Government Professional Lobbyist Code of Conduct (lobbyist code).

Use the guide if:

• you were formerly a registered lobbyist, AND
• you are now a Victorian public sector employee.

Former registered Government Affairs Directors

The lobbyist code also requires certain government affairs directors to be registered. Use this guide if:

• you were formerly a registered government affairs director, AND
• you are now a Victorian public sector employee.

Other guidance: Ongoing duty or loyalty

If this guide doesn’t apply to you but you’re an employee with an ongoing duty or loyalty to an organisation, group or cause, read our guidance on duties, loyalties and biases.

Conflicts of interest

A conflict of interest exists if you have a private interest that could influence, or reasonably be seen to influence, how you perform your public duties.

The conflict can be:

• actual – there is a conflict between your private interests and public duties
• potential – you have a private interest that could foreseeably conflict with your public duties in the future
• perceived – it is reasonable for people to believe that your private interests could influence your public duties, now or in the future.

Declaring and dealing with conflicts

Conflicts of interest must be avoided where possible. But it’s common for them to occur. If a conflict exists, you must:

1. Identify it.
2. Declare it in writing to your manager on your organisation’s conflict of interest – declaration and management plan form (or similar name).
3. Follow the approved conflict of interest management plan, which your manager will develop in consultation with you.
4. Notify your manager of any changes that may affect the plan or its risk level.
5. If in doubt, seek advice.

Source of the conflict

A conflict of interest can arise from many different sources. For example, it may be a conflict between your public duties and a loyalty or bias you have to an organisation, group, person or cause that you:

• are or were recently closely associated with, or
• have an enduring (ongoing) interest in.

Being a former registered lobbyist or former registered government affairs director can increase the risk of a conflict of interest (actual, potential or perceived).

Whilst you may not have an actual or potential conflict, it’s likely there will be a heightened risk of a perceived conflict of interest.

For example, it’s likely that the public could reasonably perceive you have a private interest that could conflict with your public duties – such as an enduring loyalty or bias resulting from your former lobbying activities.

Conflict of interest management plan

Given the increased risk of a perceived conflict of interest, we recommend that as a precautionary measure:

• when you commence as an employee a conflict of interest management plan be developed
• if you’re already an employee but no plan exists, one be developed.

The conflict of interest management plan will usually be based on risk mitigation strategies similar to those in our model policy:

• Record and monitor
• Restrict
• Remove
• Recruit
• Relinquish or resolve.

Level of risk

The plan should be proportionate to the risk level. It will depend on factors such as:

• the seniority, nature and duties of your role
• the decisions you usually make or influence
• the extent to which a reasonable member of the public is likely to perceive that you have an ongoing loyalty to or bias against your former clients that may affect your decision-making.

Risk level may vary

The risk level may vary from time to time. For example, for most of the time, the risk level of the conflict of interest may be low.

The management plan may simply be to:

• record the perceived conflict
• monitor to ensure the level of risk does not rise
• review and update the plan if the risk level changes.

If the risk level increases, stronger risk management strategies may need to be included in the plan.

Example

If the risk level rises in relation to a particular matter or type of matter, the plan should be reviewed. One possible adjustment would be that:

• for the particular matter or type of matters where the risk level has increased, the plan now has a stronger risk management strategy, such as remove – that is, you take no part in any discussion or decision making about those matters and are not present when they occur
• for your other duties, it remains at the existing level, for example record and monitor.

Inherently high risk

For some situations, the conflict of interest risk level may be inherently high risk. This will need to be reflected in the conflict of interest management plan.

Example

If you are working in the same portfolio you previously lobbied on behalf of clients, the conflict of interest risk level (actual, potential or perceived) is likely to be high – particularly if you’re in a senior position, and even more so if you’re likely to interact with the Minister’s office or any former contacts working there.

The conflict of interest management plan may need to carefully set out a range of circumstances where, at a minimum, you will be removed from taking part in any discussion or decision-making on certain issues and from being present when they occur.

In this situation, you and your manager will need to be vigilant in monitoring for changes that may affect the management plan or its risk level, to ensure the plan continues to be a suitable strategy in the public interest.

More information

• seek advice from the conflict of interest contacts set out in your employer’s policy
• see your employer’s conflict of interest policy and guidance.
• see our conflict of interest guidance on key things to know and do
• related topic: we also offer guidance on engaging with lobbyists if you are a public sector employee.