The Ombudsman states that -
Each year an estimated 3,000 organisations receive almost $2 billion in funds and subsidies to deliver a range of community-based services on behalf of the NSW government. The government's reliance on non-government organisations to deliver services on its behalf will undoubtedly continue to increase in the future. With increases in funding and responsibilities comes the need for greater accountability. Non-government organisations must be transparent and accountable not only for the public funds that they receive but for the services that they provide to many of the most vulnerable in our community. The community reasonably expects that organisations which receive public funds will have adequate safeguards in place in relation to their screening of prospective employees, management committee members and other volunteers.The report continues -
This report considers the adequacy of probity checking standards that government agencies have put in place for non-government organisations that they fund in the health and human services sectors. In particular, the report focuses on the inconsistency of requirements relating to probity checking of prospective employees, board members and others involved in the planning or delivery of funded services to vulnerable people. Our work in reviewing the delivery of community services and oversighting employment related child abuse allegations has revealed cases where funded agencies have failed to undertake basic checks of prospective employees who have histories of violence, fraud and substance abuse. Failing to identify and properly address serious probity issues has the potential to not only damage the credibility of organisations but also lead to unidentified and unmanaged risks for agencies and the vulnerable individuals they care for and assist. It is essential that effective and consistent probity checking be introduced in these agencies.
Our review has identified that there are significant inconsistencies in the probity checking requirements imposed by funding agencies across the health and human services sectors. Our findings have been informed by our review of specific cases and extensive discussions with government and non-government agencies in this area. It is clear that there is strong support for a more consistent, efficient and rigorous probity checking system to be adopted. This report makes a range of recommendations designed to assist in meeting this challenge.
we asked participating agencies to provide advice on the systems that health and human sector agencies currently use to assess the probity of prospective employees, board members and other volunteers involved in the planning and delivery of government-funded services in NSW. Their responses highlighted significant variations in the measures currently used to identify and address potential probity problems. A critical factor is the differing standards that each government agency appears to expect of the services that they fund. This is reflected in the guidance that they provide which can vary greatly from one government agency to the next. Even within an individual agency, the approach used by differing programs can vary. Occasionally the differences reflect differing levels of risk. However, in many cases, there is no clear rationale for the disparities and inconsistencies.
One of the few forms of probity checking applied with any degree of consistency are the checks imposed by legislative schemes, such as the working with children check for individuals seeking certain forms of child-related employment and the criminal record checks carried out by the Registrar of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 with respect to individuals seeking positions as a board members, chief executive officers or employees of Local Aboriginal Land Councils. Although these checks are consistently carried out, their effectiveness could be improved. As noted below, NSW’s working with children check is currently the subject of a statutory review.
Some legislative probity checking requirements are also linked to funding conditions, such as the criminal record checks required by certain programs funded by the Federal Government. For example, screening is required by the Commonwealth’s Aged Care Act 1997. Similarly, NGOs in the health sector, which receive Commonwealth funding support, generally require pre-employment criminal record checks. The NSW Ageing, Disability & Home Care agency requires non-government aged care providers to conduct criminal record checks of their employees and some volunteers.
The participants at our roundtable forum and other stakeholders agreed that probity checking is, or at least should be, incorporated into funded organisations’ selection and recruiting practices. This involves processes to identify the best person for a particular job, or the suitability of a volunteer for a particular role in certain circumstances. In addition to those circumstances requiring working with children checks and criminal record checks, the process can also include previous employment checks (including checks for information about any formal employment proceedings or disciplinary issues), and other types of probity or reference checks.
