Victorians deserve to have trust in the people and institutions that serve them. Maintaining that trust relies on the strength and integrity of our public sector.
Every day I see the professionalism of public sector workers – helping to support government to make good decisions and deliver services across our state.
Whether it’s giving our kids a first-rate education, making sure loved ones have the care they need, delivering our enormous infrastructure agenda, ensuring Victorians have the security of a job or the stability of a home – your work makes a difference every day.
I am pleased the Victorian Public Sector Commission has developed the Public Sector Integrity Framework. This Framework will be an important resource in driving the continued dedication, professionalism, and integrity of our public sector.
However it is you serve our state, thank you for being a part of a public service Victorians can trust to make a real difference in their lives.
Hon. Jacinta Allan
Premier of Victoria
Making the best use of public resources to improve the lives of Victorians is at the heart of everything we do in the public sector.
As public servants, we have a responsibility to act in accordance with public sector values, codes of conduct and employment standards and principles.
Complex issues arise when working in government. At times it can be difficult to understand what is expected of you, what is best practice and how to know if you’re succeeding. This framework brings together this information in one spot.
The framework will help you and your organisation understand how to embed these standards into your work, such as through policies and practices that support integrity.
The Victorian Public Sector Commission is committed to supporting you to apply and maintain the highest standards of integrity to deliver the best outcomes for Victorians.
Brigid Monagle
Victorian Public Sector Commissioner
Integrity in the public sector is about doing the right thing.
This means demonstrating sound ethics and values through our work in a way that serves the best interests of the Victorian community and maintains trust in the public sector.
In practical terms, this means extra emphasis on:
Strong integrity performance underpins public trust in government. It's also a critical driver of public sector employee engagement and wellbeing.
To support and promote strong integrity performance, we have refreshed our framework for public sector integrity.
The framework has 4 parts:
Under the heading 'Domains of integrity', find links to more information on integrity requirements, policies and resources.
These links give you the right guidance and support for yourself or your public sector organisation.
Your organisation doesn't have to use this framework to replace any of its integrity frameworks or strategies. But you can use it to inform your organisation's approach.
You should implement actions against all 7 domains of integrity to strengthen integrity in your organisation.
Download a copy of the Integrity Framework Presentation.
Leadership sets the ethical tone. Leadership that sets clear expectations and communicates about integrity, acts in the public interest and is accountable, supports workforce integrity.
It focuses on:
Culture influences decision-making, priorities, attitudes and behaviours. This includes whether policies, processes and other internal controls are followed and implemented.
An integrity-based culture is one where staff at all levels are responsible for promoting integrity, which makes it safe to speak up and raise integrity concerns.
It focuses on:
A good way to track your organisation's integrity culture is through the People matter survey.
Capability is how integrity education, guidance and resources ensure that the workforce has the knowledge, awareness and skills to deliver on integrity obligations day to day.
It focuses on:
Policies and frameworks set the integrity standards and obligations that are then operationalised through integrity processes. They set the parameters for what the workforce can and can’t do.
It focuses on:
Governance and accountability ensure effective oversight and accountability for integrity practice within the organisation. This supports trust in the integrity system through transparency of both performance and planned improvements.
It focuses on:
Supports the prevention, the likelihood of detection, and appropriate responses to fraud, corruption and misconduct in line with the:
It focuses on:
We haven't developed indicators for this domain, as it's outside the VPSC’s legislated functions.
Integrity risks can lead to integrity breaches. Considered risk assessment helps agencies to meet public expectations. This supports greater awareness of and better responses to risks to protect public resources and the community.
It focuses on:
We haven't developed indicators for this domain, as it's outside the VPSC’s legislated functions.
The public sector values and codes of conduct underpin the framework's domains of integrity and outcomes.
The public sector values are:
The codes of conduct are: