CEI 1.4 Official Hospitality

1. Scope of this instruction

This Chief Executive's Instruction (CEI) outlines the department's policy on officials accepting and providing official hospitality.

It does not apply to business catering, which is subject to the standard departmental approval processes for procurement and expenditure of public money.

2. Policy principle

• The provision or acceptance of all forms of official hospitality must be defensible and able to withstand public scrutiny on the grounds that:
• • the primary purpose of the event is work-related
  • the expenditure promotes or supports a government policy objective, or outcome
  • the event facilitates the conduct of business with citizens and
  • the costs incurred are reasonable and appropriate (that is, the standard of official
  • hospitality and the costs involved are not extravagant and suit the particular situation).
• Officials must not solicit official hospitality or use official hospitality to obtain private benefits
• Officials must not accept official hospitality that is intended to influence, or could be perceived to influence, their decisions or actions in any matter
• Liquor cabinets will not be funded from the department's appropriations
• Officials are required to declare all official hospitality (provided or received)
• Officials must comply with departmental requirements relating to expenditure of public money, procurement and corporate credit cards.

3. Target audience

This CEI is applicable to all officials (as defined in the 'Definitions' section) in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department).

4. Breaches

Officers are bound by the Public Service Act 1999 (the Australian Public Service (APS) Act Code of Conduct) and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) to ensure the proper use of Commonwealth resources. Officials who do not comply with this CEI may be found to be in breach of these provisions and sanctions may apply. Failure to obtain approval before providing official hospitality is a breach of the FMA Regulation 9.

5. Departmental instructions

5.1 Responsibilities

Officials

• before accepting official hospitality from outside the department, must first obtain approval from an endorsing employee. Where it is not possible to obtain prior approval, retrospective approval is to be sought as soon as possible. Retrospective approval is to be an exception rather than standard practice
• before providing official hospitality, non-SES officers must first obtain approval from a SES officer to confirm that the event and the proposed expenditure are appropriate, and before seeking the endorsing employee's approval
• must submit requests to accept or provide official hospitality on the official hospitality approval form and ensure the original approved form is kept on the file.

Endorsing employees

• must ensure that the proposed official hospitality event and costs are appropriate, reasonable and defensible
• must record their approval on the official hospitality approval form
• must not endorse any event where they are to be the recipient of official hospitality. In such cases, endorsement must be sought from an official of the next level above the recipient or, in cases where this is not possible, from the Chief Operating Officer (COO). In circumstances where the COO will also be a recipient of the official hospitality, endorsement must be sought from the General Manager – Governance, Contracts and Services.

5.2 Reporting

• Each division must maintain accurate and up to date records of expenditure on official hospitality to ensure expenditure is transparent and able to be reported on easily
• A copy of the signed official hospitality approval form must be filed with the invoices and claims for payment related to each event
• Failure to obtain FMA Regulation 9 approval before procuring goods and/or services for use at an official hospitality event is a breach of that regulation and must be reported as part of the Certificate of Compliance process.

6. References

6.1 Legislation

• Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997
• Financial Management and Accountability Regulations
• Public Service Act 1999
• Criminal Code Act 1995 (s.141.1)

6.2 Internal guidance/instruction

• All about official hospitality
• Official hospitality approval form
• Divisional official hospitality register

6.3 External guidance/instruction

• Australian Public Service Commission: APS Values and Code of Conduct
• Finance Circular 2011/05 – Chief Executive's Instructions

6.4 Related CEIs

• CEI on expenditure of public money
• CEI on procurement
• CEI on credit cards
• CEI on record keeping
• CEI on gifts
• CEI on delegations and authorisations

7. Definitions

Change History