We're all responsible for demonstrating high standards of personal and professional behaviour in our work and daily interactions.

This includes staff, students, or the University’s other stakeholders, such as visitors, the general public or contractors.

These conduct expectations are contained in policies, ethical codes and guidelines, and are supported and communicated by management and regular training.

The policies, codes and guidelines are accessed on Murdoch University website and intranet via the Policy and Procedure Management system (PPM).

Breaches of conduct requirements

Depending on the seriousness of the behaviour, a breach of the conduct requirements may result in a range of actions, such as counselling, training, demotion, fines or, in the most serious cases, termination of employment or criminal proceedings.

Misconduct

More serious cases of a breach of the University’s conduct requirements may also be considered misconduct under the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003 (CCM Act). This involves behaviour by a public officer which is corrupt, dishonest, criminal or shows a breach of the trust placed in the officer by virtue of their position.

Misconduct as defined in the CCM Act relates to misconduct by a public officer, which is generally anyone using public resources to carry out a public function under a written law. Staff of the University, both Academic and Professional, are considered public officers.

The CCM Act defines two types of misconduct, serious and minor:

Serious misconduct is when a public officer:

• acts corruptly or corruptly fails to act in the course of their duties; OR
• corruptly takes advantage of their position for the benefit or detriment of any person; OR
• commits an offence which carries a penalty of two or more years imprisonment.

Minor misconduct is behaviour by a public officer which:

• adversely affects the honest or impartial performance of the functions of a public authority or public officer; or
• involves the performance of functions in a manner that is not honest or impartial; or
• involves a breach of the trust placed in the public officer; or 
• involves the misuse of information or material that the public officer has acquired in connection with their functions as a public officer, whether the misuse is for the benefit of the public officer or the benefit or detriment of another person.

To be considered misconduct under the CCM Act, however, the behaviour would need to be sufficiently serious that it could result in the officer’s employment being terminated.

Further information about the definition of misconduct is found on the websites of the

Public Sector Commission and Corruption and Crime Commission

Suspected breaches of conduct - enquiries and reports

If staff or students consider that Murdoch University’s conduct standards may have been breached, they are encouraged to discuss the matter with one of the people listed below.

Any person, including staff, students and the general public, can report behaviours which they think may be misconduct. Such reports are preferably made in writing and should be provided to a person listed below.

These people have a good knowledge of Murdoch University conduct policies and guidelines and are trained to deal with enquiries about conduct matters. They will treat your enquiry or report confidentially and provide you with further information about how your enquiry or report will be handled. They will also be able to let you know about legal provisions to protect people from being victimised for having made a report.

One means of reporting information is the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 (PID Act) which enables people to make disclosures about wrongdoing within the State public sector, local government and public universities without fear of reprisal in certain circumstances. Further information about the PID Act and how to make a disclosure in this way can be obtained from the PID officer listed below or the Public Sector Commission website.

Contacts for further enquiries or to make a report

Position/person

University Integrity Officer – Director Internal audit and risk management, Kerrynne Batten

Public Interest Disclosure Officer - Director Internal audit and risk management, Kerrynne Batten, and Director People and Culture, Bob Farrelly

Finance Office – manager Financial Support and Procurement, Michelle Paul-Davie, and Manager Financial Accounting, Jen Koh

People and Culture Office – Human Resource Advisors and Manager, Industrial Relations and Equity Refer - http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Human-Resources/Equity-and-Social-Justice/Equal-Opportunity-Grievance-Management-Procedure/Information-and-Grievance-Officers/

For STUDENTS: University Secretary’s Office – Ms Trudi McGlade, via email UniversitySecretary@murdoch.edu.au

 

Murdoch University takes reports of suspected breaches very seriously. Addressing behaviour which falls below expected standards shows Murdoch University’s commitment to high standards of behaviour and sends a clear message that poor behaviour will not be tolerated. 

By law, if Murdoch University receives a report of behaviour which may be considered misconduct under the CCM Act, it must report it to the Corruption and Crime Commission (in the case of serious misconduct) or to the Public Sector Commission (in the case of minor misconduct). The University has an obligation to report suspected misconduct once there is a reasonable suspicion of such behaviour. Please note – staff do not need to determine reasonable suspicion or otherwise. Referring matters to the University Integrity Officer or one of the Public Interest Disclosure Officers, either directly or via one of the contacts above, will then facilitate the Officer to assess “reasonable suspicion” and next steps.

Staff can also obtain further knowledge on fraud, corruption or misconduct by completing the relevant online training modules. These can be found at:

https://goto.murdoch.edu.au/MurdocheLearning

For further information about the information contained in this leaflet contact:  

Director, People and Culture – Mr Bob Farrelly (09 93602131 / x2131)

Director, Internal audit and Risk management – Ms Kerrynne Batten (08 93606167 / x6167)