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Table
of Contents
Preamble
This Code of Conduct is designed to convey the obligations
and standards of behaviour expected of staff of the
University and to help staff resolve any ethical issues
that may arise during the course of their duties.
Introduction
The University follows several "guiding principles"
in pursuit of its objectives, most importantly consideration
and support for the professional development, intellectual
and cultural needs of the staff and the student body.
The University is accountable to its staff, students,
the public and governments. It is in the interests of
all members of the University to maintain the highest
possible ethical standards including accuracy, honesty,
cooperation, tolerance and acceptance of obligations
as well as rights.
The University is committed to the principles of equal
opportunity and encourages staff to pursue equity in
all aspects of their activities.
The University acknowledges that it cannot formulate
policies to address all possible issues which may be
faced by members of the University community. The development
of an ethical environment relies on each person taking
responsibility for his or her own behaviour after considering
state and federal law, the University's stated values,
the provisions of its codes and policies and the advice
of senior staff.
The University's policies and guidelines provide the
structural framework for the Code (see headings below)
and are referred to throughout. Acts of New South Wales
and Federal Parliaments relevant to this code are listed
in the Appendix.
Conflicts
of Interest
The potential for a conflict of interest arises when
an employee is placed in a situation where private interests
could influence or appear to influence judgments made
during the course of his/her professional duty to the
University.
Close
Personal Relationships
A potential conflict of interest may arise when an
employee of the University is in a personal relationship
and in a position to:
- advance or hinder the interests of a member or potential
member of the University on the basis of their personal
relationship; and/or
- act to the detriment of the University's interests
because of their personal relationship.
Examples of the types of personal relationships include
family relationships, close friendships, sexual relationships
or relationships where there have been previous instances
of serious conflict between the parties.
Examples of situations where a conflict of interest
may arise include:
(i) Relationships between staff members. For example,
- recruitment, selection, appointment, conditions
of service, continuing appointment of staff, promotion,
reclassification,termination;
- provision of opportunities and resource allocation
for research, conferences and staff training and development;
and
- referee reports, performance appraisals or annual
development reviews.
(ii) Relationships between staff members and students;
and
- assessment or supervision of students;
- selection of students for admission;
- award of medals, scholarships; and
- providing referee reports.
Financial
Interest
A potential conflict of interest may arise when a staff
member has a financial interest in a company and is
in a position to influence contracts for business between
that company and the University.
In many cases, only the individual staff member will
be aware of the potential for conflict of interest.
Therefore the onus is on that person to notify the appropriate
senior member of staff, such as the Head of the Department/Unit
or Dean of a Faculty, if a potential or actual conflict
of interest arises.
Any person who is directly affected by the potential
or actual conflict of interest may refer the matter
to the appropriate senior member of staff.
Failure to disclose by employees of the University,
the potential or actual conflict of interest can render
decisions null and void, and can lead to disciplinary
procedures under the relevant award.
For further information, refer to the University's
Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest and Close Personal
Relationships.
Acceptance
of gifts or benefits
The University acknowledges that relationships can
develop between service providers and staff and students
and staff and does not seek to unduly interfere with
such relationships.
However, staff should not solicit or encourage gift
giving or benefits in relation to their professional
duties. Receipts of gifts may be perceived as an inducement
by others, thus creating a potential conflict of interest.
University Guidelines on Conflict of Interest and Close
Personal Relationships covers financial as well as other
types of assets. It requires staff to avoid actual as
well as potential conflicts of interest.
Issues of cultural sensitivity are important in our
environment, as many of our students are from different
backgrounds where certain practices may be acceptable.
However, staff are required to comply with contemporary
Australian standards, the NSW Independent Commission
Against Corruption Act and Protected Disclosures Act
and University Guidelines.
Gifts of a nominal value need not be disclosed. All
gifts of substantial value must be declared in writing
to the Vice-Principal (Administration) who will decide
whether the gift can be kept or should be given to the
University.
Discrimination
and harassment
Employees of the University must not discriminate against
or harass colleagues, students or members of the public
on any grounds including sex, marital status, pregnancy,
age, race, ethnic or national origin, physical or intellectual
impairment, homosexuality, transsexuality and HIV/AIDS.
Such harassment or discrimination could constitute an
offence under the Anti Discrimination Act 1977 or various
federal laws. In addition, employees must not harass
or discriminate on the grounds of political or religious
conviction.
Direct discrimination occurs when actions, practices
or rules exclude persons or a group of people from opportunities
because a personal characteristic irrelevant to the
situation is applied (whether consciously or unconsciously)
as a barrier. For instance, direct discrimination occurs
when a person is treated less favourably because of
that person's race or sex or because of stereotyped
ideas, practices or rules based on that person' race
or sex.
Indirect (or systemic) discrimination is defined as
rules, practices and decisions which are applied equally,
but are not equally fair in their effects. These policies
and procedures appear neutral because they are applied
equally to everyone but have a different impact on certain
segments of the population. For example, many regulations
and work practices have been based on assumptions that
all people have male or anglo-celtic lifestyles. This
means that work patterns and career structures may not
in the past have accommodated family responsibilities
or diverse values of workers.
It is the responsibility of Managers and Heads of Units
to understand and apply the principles of equal employment
opportunity and ensure that the employees whom they
supervise understand and adhere to these principles.
For further information, refer to the University's
Policies on EEO/Affirmative Action and Use of Non-Discriminatory
Language.
Occupational
Health and Safety
The University is committed to the provision of a safe
and healthy working environment for staff, students
and visitors. As a consequence of this the University
encourages all members of the University community to
regard accident prevention and working safely as a collective
and individual responsibility.
The University recognises its corporate responsibility
under the NSW OH&S Act (1983) and associated legislation.
Managers have a responsibility to ensure the health
and safety of all on campus and a. duty to provide and
maintain so far as practicable a working environment
that is safe and without risks to health.
Staff teaching, researching or assisting in laboratories
must dispose of hazardous and dangerous material in
an appropriate fashion.
For further information, refer to the University's
Occupational Health and Safety Policy.
Public
comment
Members of the University are encouraged to participate
in public debate on issues of professional and public
concern. In doing so however, staff should make it clear
that their individually held opinions are not necessarily
those of the University.
Individual members of the University wishing to participate
in matters of professional or public debate on behalf
of a group of colleagues need formal delegated authority
to do so. When these views are presented by a member
of the University, care should be taken to attribute
them to the particular group that member represents.
Views which are attributed to the University as a corporate
body can only be made public by officers of the University
duly designated by Council to act on behalf of the University
or by staff members designated by Council, or their
delegate, to represent the University's position on
specific issues.
Where doubt exists about the appropriateness of using
the University's title or name, the staff member should,
in the first instance, discuss the matter with the Dean
of Faculty.
For further information, refer to the University's
policy on Conditions for Use of the University's Name.
Protecting
confidential information
All employees of the University must adhere to the
principles of confidentiality outlined in the University's
Privacy Policy and have a duty to maintain the confidentiality
and security of any personal information for which they
are responsible, including computerised data.
Within the University, no staff member shall have access
to information about any individual, without that individual's
consent unless a responsible officer of the University
(as designated in the Privacy Policy ) is satisfied
that the staff member is acting in the course of his
or her duties and that the information is relevant to
the purpose for which it is sought.
No computerised data about any individual should be
accessed for other than institution purposes without
the full, written authority of that person. Access of
personal student or staff records without a specific,
job-related purpose constitutes a breach of the Privacy
Policy.
Personal information about staff or students will generally
not be released to a third party unless the subject
is informed of the reason for its collection and provides
full written approval other than in special circumstances
where the disclosure may prevent a serious and imminent
threat to the life or health of the individual concerned
or of another person. However, the University is legally
obliged to respond to any request for information in
the form of a police warrant, subpoena, summons or other
court order.
For further information refer to the University's Privacy
Policy.
Electronic
communication and information
The following guidelines have been developed by Information
Technology Services to assist staff in their use of
electronic communication services, including email and
newsgroups and electronic information services including
Campus Wide Information Services (CWIS), the World Wide
Web (WWW) and other services available via the Internet.
Electronic communication
General messages, known as "broadcasts" should be posted
only to UoW Newsgroups.
The "All Academic Staff", "All General Staff" and "Urgent
Notices" e-mail groups are available only for the transmission
of important and urgent notices through the e-mail environment.
Messages to these groups should fall into one of the
following categories:
- life threatening;
- an issue that involves the majority of staff;
- changes to pre-announced schedule or notification
of an important event to occur within the following
24 hours;
- security issues;
- problems with communication services or utilities
such as gas, water and electricity.
All staff should ensure they they have an email password
to prevent the fraudulent misuse of personal mailboxes
and newsgroups.
Staff should not:
- leave workstations unattended while logged into
e-mail as this can lead to the fraudulent use of individual
accounts, which staff may ultimately be held responsible
for;
- use another person's account without their permission
to read their e-mail, send an e-mail message or to
post articles to newsgroups;
- send e-mail or post articles to newsgroups, which
could prove to be defamatory or bring the University's
standing into disrepute;
- use computing facilities to harass others by sending
abusive, threatening or defamatory messages.
Postings should not be made to either email or the
newsgroups for external business or commercial reasons.
This does not include posting involving personal items,
from members of the University community, that are in
the general interests of the community, eg sale of personal
property. It should be noted that such postings should
only be made to the Classifieds newsgroup.
Electronic Information
The University's Campus Wide Information Service (CWIS)
caters for all information services and accesses a number
of information providers through the World Wide Web.
It should be noted that the University does not control
any of the information that is available on the network
other than that which exists on its own internal services.
Staff should be careful to acknowledge and address
copyright issues involved with material they obtain
and use from the network.
Staff should not use the University's computing facilities
to access, download, transmit or display material which
might be offensive to members of the University community
and the public and is not relevant to their work, study
or research.
A computer user may not use computer facilities for
or on behalf of any party for the purpose of profit-making
or commercial activity, unless written permission has
been obtained from the Director of Information Technology
Services or a nominee.
For further information, please refer to the Information
Technology Service's Electronic Information Guidelines
and Rules Governing Computing Facilities.
Use
of official facilities and equipment
Staff of the University are responsible for the effective
and economical use of university resources, and have
a duty to safeguard the University's assets. Unless
express permission has been granted, University resources
are not to be used for private purposes.
Secondary
employment
Members of the academic staff of the University are
encouraged to undertake contract research, consultancy
and other similar external work, provided that this
is not done in a way which conflicts with the interests
of the University and should be of a standard which
enhances the prestige of the University and the professional
reputations of the staff involved.
Academic staff may undertake private consultancies
providing this does not interfere with the time commitment
of duties and responsibilities associated with the staff
member's employment with the University. It must be
clearly understood that the University accepts no responsibility
for the consultancy work of staff members when they
are acting in a private capacity.
For academic staff, participation in consultancy work
(University or private) or contract research, whether
University based or private, requires the approval of
the Dean on the advice or recommendation of the Head
of Unit.
For further information, refer to the University's
Consultancies and Contract Research Policy.
Intellectual
Property
Intellectual Property generated by University staff
and students is managed by the University's Intellectual
Property Policy.
Copyright
Staff members should ensure that any work for which
they claim authorship is original and where it includes
the works of another party the work is appropriately
acknowledged.
Reporting
corrupt conduct, maladministration and serious and substantial
waste of public resources
Employees are urged to report suspicions of corrupt
conduct, maladministration and serious and substantial
waste of University resources.
When an employee of the University suspects corrupt
conduct, the employee may report the allegation in confidence
to the Vice-Principal (Administration) who is the University's
disclosure coordinator. The employee may also discuss
the allegation with his/her supervisor. Any such allegations
will be treated in strict confidence and investigated
as considered appropriate.
If an employee does not consider it appropriate to
disclose an allegation of suspected corrupt conduct
to his/her supervisor, disclosure should be made directly
to the disclosure coordinator or the Vice-Chancellor.
The Protected Disclosures Act 1994 offers protection
for University officials who make disclosure concerning
corrupt conduct, maladministration or serious or substantial
waste of public money.
For further information please refer to the University's
Fraud and Corruption Best Practice Guide
The
University's Approach to Complaints
The University treats all complaints seriously and
makes every effort to investigate complaints expeditiously.
People should make every effort to direct complaints
through the proper channels.
The University applies the principles of natural justice
in investigating complaints. The University acknowledges
that there are multiple pathways to deal with complaints.
It is useful, prior to making a complaint, to consult
with appropriate persons to identify the best way to
proceed. These could include the Unions on campus, the
Equal Employment Opportunity Unit and the Dean of Students.
Employees are encouraged to consider all potential
complaints carefully and should not make frivolous,
malicious or vexatious complaints.
Relevant
legislation
Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for
Women) Act 1986
Anti-Discrimination Act (NSW) 1977
Freedom of Information Act (NSW) 1989 (amended 1992)
Independent Commission Against Corruption Act (NSW)
1988
Industrial Relations Act 1996
Ombudsman Act (NSW) 1974
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act (NSW)
1998
Protected Disclosures Act (NSW) 1994
Public Finance and Audit Act (NSW) 1983
Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Sex Discrimination Act 1984
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Copyright Act 1968
Occupational Health and Safety Act (NSW) 1983
Last revised:
June 11, 2008
Comments & Questions to Secretariat
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