6.12.1 Background:

Confli — ct of interest can be defined as “a conflict between the public duties and private interest of a public official, in which the public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and res — p — onsibilities”.

Managing 'conflicts of interest' is the shared responsibility of DVA managers, leaders and individual employees.  All employees have a responsibility to ask themselves whether their actions or decisions could give rise to a real or apparen — t conflict of interest, and if so, to take action to manage the conflict.

There does not need to be an actual conflict of interest for responsibilities and obligations to arise.  A situation which appears to give rise to a conflict of interest may be enou — gh to undermine public confidence, even if in fact there is no conflict or it has already been resolved.

This policy is intended to help Rehabilitation and Compensation staff in determining claims in these 'special' circumstances.  It is important that any issues around perceived or actual conflicts of interest are raised immediately with a team leader or Assistant Director.

All staff are reminded that they are obliged to uphold the APS values and code of conduct.