Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality (GBH) policy

This policy sets out how Yarra Valley Water’s Board of Directors and employees will respond to an offer of a gift, benefit or hospitality.

Register of Gifts, Benefits & Hospitality

GBH REGISTER - 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 (PDF, 3.6 MB)

GBH REGISTER - 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 (PDF, 2.6 MB)

1. Purpose

This policy sets out Yarra Valley Water’s (YVW) standards for responding to offers of Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality (GBH) and provision of gifts, benefits and hospitality.

This policy is intended to support individuals and YVW to avoid conflicts of interest and maintain high levels of integrity, public confidence and trust.

2. Scope

This policy applies to Board members, employees, contractors, consultants, labour hire staff, committee members, volunteers, students, trainees, apprentices and others working on behalf of YVW. Hereafter referred to as Individuals.

3. Key principles and accountabilities

The Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) issues minimum accountabilities for the management of gifts, benefits and hospitality. These are binding on our organisation. This policy has been developed based on the minimum accountabilities.

4. Policy Statements

You must not solicit GBH for yourself or anyone else through your role at YVW.

4.1. Management of offers of GBH

Responding to GBH offers

The default position of Yarra Valley Water is to politely decline all offers: “thanks is enough”.

1. You must decline all offers of GBH that:

are money, items used in a similar way to money or item easily converted to money;
give rise to a conflict of interest (actual, potential or perceived). Repeat offers from the same source could create a conflict of interest;
could influence, or reasonably be seen to influence, how you perform your duties as an employee of YVW;
could compromise the public’s trust that you will perform your duties in an impartial manner or the public’s trust in the impartiality of YVW or the public sector;
are not consistent with community expectations;
could be reasonably seen as a bribe or other inducement and report the offer to the Public Interest Disclosure Co-ordinator; or
have no legitimate business reason.
are made by an organisation or individual that you are currently, or are likely to, make a business decision about (for example suppliers, applicants, regulated entities or grant recipients);
are issued by lobbyists;
extend to your relatives or friends;
involve offers of travel, accommodation or other significant benefits, unless explicitly approved for a legitimate business purpose (for example presenting at a conference);
could otherwise bring your integrity, or that of YVW, into disrepute; or
would result in a breach of the YVW Employee Code of Conduct.

2. You must only accept an offer of gifts, benefits or hospitality where all the following conditions are met:

there is a legitimate business reason for accepting the offer;
the offer does not give rise to an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest;
the offer could not reasonably be perceived as influencing, or seeking to influence, the performance of your duties;
acceptance of the offer would be consistent with community expectations and would not compromise public trust.

Where these conditions cannot be clearly satisfied, the offer must be declined.

3. Offers that could be considered for acceptance:

token gift offers (anything valued at $50 or above is not a token offer) that meet all the requirements at 2 above;
Official gifts and items offered as part of a culture and practice of communities such as an overseas delegation (for example, a culturally significant gift from an official delegation);
non-token offers made or sponsored by a Victorian government department that meet the requirements at 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 above can be accepted and do not need to be declared;
non-token offers from a Victorian public entity or Victorian public sector organisation that meet the requirements at 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 above can be accepted but do need to be declared;
hospitality provided by Water Industry Associations of which YVW is a corporate member;
reasonable “thank-you” gifts (e.g. for speaking at a conference or seminar);
invitations to attend official business events, forums or stakeholder engagements;
attendance at conferences, training or professional events where there is a clear business benefit and appropriate approval is obtained;
internal programs approved by YVW, including health, wellbeing, reward or recognition initiatives.

Unsolicited Offers or Sponsorships

4. Unsolicited general offers that are made to YVW, a YVW group or to a general cohort rather than to an individual must be assessed carefully. If accepted, these offers must be declared by a General Manager.

5. Offers that require something in return from YVW (for example branding, promotion or preferential treatment) may constitute a sponsorship arrangement and must be managed under the relevant Sponsorship procedure (YVWCD-2-8944 Evaluating Marketing Partnerships & Sponsorships) rather than this policy.

Declaring GBH

6. All offers of gifts, benefits or hospitality valued at $50 or more must be declared, even if they are declined using the YVW GBH Declaration Form.

7. An offer does not need to be declared where it is not specifically directed at an individual (for example, general invitations or broadly distributed offers) and is declined.

8. You must make reasonable attempts to determine the value of the offer if it is not clear.

9. All reportable offers of gifts, benefits or hospitality must be declared as soon as practicable and no later than 14 calendar days after the offer is received.

10. Approval must be obtained from the ‘responsible person’ before accepting an offer.

11. Where prior approval cannot reasonably be obtained, the individual must seek retrospective approval and complete the declaration within the abovementioned timeframe. For example, if it was reasonable to be unaware the gift was non-token (such as a wrapped gift).

12. A register of all reportable offers (accepted and declined) and the YVW GBH policy must be accessible to the public and published annually on the YVW website within 4 months of the end of the financial year. The public register will contain, at a minimum, the information required by the VPSC Minimum Accountabilities.

4.2 Management of the provision of gifts, benefits and hospitality

13. When making offers of gifts, benefits and hospitality you must:

ensure that any gift, benefit and hospitality is provided for a legitimate business purpose in that it furthers the conduct of official business or other legitimate organisational goals or promotes and supports government policy objectives and priorities;
ensure that any costs are proportionate to the benefits obtained for the State and would be considered reasonable in terms of community expectations;
ensure there is no conflict of interest (actual, potential or perceived) or that you’ve declared a conflict and have a management plan that explicitly allows you to provide the gift, benefit or hospitality;
ensure that when hospitality is provided, individuals demonstrate professionalism in their conduct and uphold their obligation to extend a duty of care to other participants.

4.3 Speak up

14. YVW encourages individuals to report suspected breaches of this policy and is committed to supporting and protecting those who raise concerns in good faith. Victimisation, retaliation or adverse treatment of a person who raises a concern in good faith will not be tolerated.

15. Instances of undeclared or inappropriately managed gifts, benefits and hospitality should be reported to [email protected].

16. Employees, workplace participants, contractors and consultants reporting improper conduct, bribery or attempted bribery, fraud and irregularity may be able to seek protection under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (Vic) and should refer to the Public Interest Disclosure Policy for guidance on making disclosures under that Act.

17. Employees, workplace participants, contractors and consultants can also:

a. make a report via the confidential protected disclosure hotline, Stopline; or
b. report suspected improper conduct, fraud or bribery directly to either the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) and/or the Victorian Ombudsman. If reported to the Victorian Ombudsman, the Victorian Ombudsman may decide to refer potential ‘public interest disclosures’ to the IBAC.

4.4 Contacts for further information

A conflict of interest resulting from the acceptance of a GBH is not always clear to those who have them. Individuals who are unsure about accepting a GBH, or the application of this policy, should ask their line manager, the responsible person or the Corporate Secretary for advice.

Contact details for Stopline are as follows:
By mail:
Yarra Valley Water
C/o Stopline
PO Box 403
Diamond Creek VIC 3089
Phone: 1300 30 45 50
Website: https://yvw.stoplinereport.com

Contact details for IBAC are as follows:
IBAC online complaint form,
By phone: 1300 735 135
By mail:
Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption
Commission
GPO Box 24234
Melbourne VIC 3001

5. Compliance and monitoring

Compliance with this policy is mandatory. A breach of this policy may constitute a breach of:

the Code of Conduct for Directors of Victorian Public Entities;
the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees;
YVW's Directors Code of Conduct; and/or
YVW's Employees Code of Conduct.

Depending on the circumstances, breaches of this policy may result in management action, disciplinary action , referral to an integrity body, referral to Victoria Police, or other action considered appropriate by YVW. Individuals are expected to seek advice where they are uncertain about the application of this policy.

Communication with business associates

YVW discourages the offering of gifts, benefits and hospitality to Board members, employees and other individuals covered by this policy.

YVW will communicate its expectations regarding gifts, benefits and hospitality to relevant business associates, including suppliers, contractors and other organisations with which it conducts business. YVW may take appropriate contractual, procurement or supplier-management action where a business associate knowingly or repeatedly offers GBH contrary to the policy.

Management Responsibilities

Management is responsible for implementing this policy, promoting awareness of its requirements, ensuring gifts, benefits and hospitality are appropriately declared and approved, maintaining effective records and controls, and supporting compliance with the VPSC Minimum Accountabilities. The Corporate Secretary is responsible for maintaining the GBH registers and coordinating organisational reporting and publication requirements.

Oversight by the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee

YVW’s Finance, Audit and Risk Management (FARM) Committee will receive a report at least annually on the administration and quality control of the GBH policy, processes and register, including a copy of the register, analysis of repeat offers, business associate risks, mitigation measures and proposed improvements.

6. Key Related Legislation, Regulations, Standards, Documents and References

The Water Act 1989;
The Public Administration Act 2004;
Binding codes and accountabilities issued by the Victorian Public Sector Commission, in particular:
- Code of Conduct for Directors of Victorian Public Entities and YVW’s Directors Code of Conduct and
- Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees and YVW’s Employees’ Code of Conduct;
Victorian Government Standing Directions (2018)
Any directions, guidelines and/or Statements of Obligation or expectation issued by the Minister for Water;
All other laws and obligations that bind YVW
YVW’s Conflict of Interest Policy YVWCD-2-4429
Evaluating Marketing Partnerships & Sponsorships YVWCD-2-8944
YVW Gifts, Benefits, Hospitality Procedure YVWCD-2-4427A

7. Definitions / Terminology

Benefits - Preferential treatment, favours or other advantage. For example, invitations to sporting, cultural or social events, access to discounts, or the promise of a new job.
Bribe - A ‘bribe’ is an offer of money or other inducement made with the intention to corruptly influence a director or employee in the performance of their duties. Bribery or attempted bribery of a public official is a criminal offence.
Business associate - An individual or body that the public sector organisation has, or plans to establish, some form of business relationship with, or who may seek commercial or other advantage by offering gifts, benefits or hospitality.
Conflict 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, potential or perceived. If a conflict of interest exists, the YVW conflict of interest policy will also apply.
Fundraising - Raising money in a way that does not breach the minimum accountabilities because it occurs under a fundraising policy that is consistent with relevant law, government policy and codes of conduct issued by the VPSC.
Gifts - Items or services that are free, discounted, or would generally be seen by the public as a gift e.g. vouchers, gift cards, artwork, chocolates or flowers; services such as car repair. The monetary value of a gift is the estimated monetary value of the item if it were not being provided either free or discounted. Remember that gift cards and vouchers must be treated the same as money under the minimum accountabilities.
Hospitality - The friendly reception and entertainment of guests. Ranges from light refreshment at a business meeting to expensive restaurant meals and sponsored travel and accommodation.
Legitimate business reason - Furthers the conduct of official business or other legitimate goals of our organisation, the public sector or the State.
Non-token offer - The offer is worth $50 or more.
Official gifts and items - Official gifts and items include official gifts, official items (items with cultural, ceremonial, religious, historic, or other significance). Sometimes accepted or given on behalf of our organisation as part of business with official delegates or representatives of a community group, organisation, or government.
Public register - The official record of information made public from our organisation’s internal register.
Responsible person - The ‘responsible person’ is the person whom the individual notifies of any GBH offers they receive; and seeks advice from about this policy and how to comply.

Individual	Responsible person
Employee & others working on behalf of YVW	General Manager
General Manager	Managing Director
Director or Managing Director	Board Chair
Board Chair	Deputy Board Chair

Where appropriate, the Chair or Deputy Chair may seek advice from the Minister for Water or the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).
Token offer - The offer is worth less than $50.

8. Review and revision

The Board or delegated Committee, along with the Executive team, will monitor the effectiveness of this policy, relevant strategies, and action plans. They will review them every two years, or sooner if needed, to be consistent with the most recent version of the DEECA model policy, and to adapt to changing business circumstances or regulations.

Changes to the policy are to be approved by the Board.

9. Approval and Change History

Ver.	Description of changes	Approved By:	Approved Date
14.0	Changes to align to DELWP model policy following the Victorian Ombudsmen’s recommendation in the 2018 investigation onto allegations of improper conduct by former officers at Goulburn Murray Water.	YVW Board	21/8/2019
15.0	Document reviewed and assessed as no changes required.	YVW Board	27/8/2021
16.0	minor changes proposed to reflect model policy published by Victorian Public Service Commission	YVW Board	27/8/2024
16.0	Document reviewed and assessed as no changes required.	YVW Board	9/6/2025
17.0	Split of previous policy into a policy and a procedure – based on VPSC model policy. Amendments to address VPSC minimum accountabilities. Included updated principles aligned with DEECA GBH policy to simplify terminology.	YVW Board	31/8/26