DTA report finds govt staffers handling ICT vendor gift offers with integrity

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has issued its report into gifts and benefits offered and provided to Commonwealth officials by major ICT vendors, finding no significant divergence, systematic concern or information that would justify referring an Australian Public Service (APS)/Senior Executive Service (SES) staffer to another entity for investigation.

The report follows on from recommendations by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, which asked the Department of Finance and the DTA to understand the extent of the gift-giving and how it may have resulted in inappropriate cultivation of APS employees by tech companies.

The vendors in-scope were named as AWS, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Rimini Street and SAP, all of whom are whole-of-government providers, along with Salesforce and ServiceNow as model contract holders, and Data#3 as a major reseller and Microsoft’s dedicated distributor.

In aggregate, sellers reported 3,662 gifts and benefits offered to APS and SES employees; of these, 539 were accepted and 3,123 were declined.

Offers that were accepted were mainly professional in nature, such as conferences, industry events, training and other professional development activities.

ServiceNow accounted for 94% of the value of all offered gifts and benefits, reflecting its use of bulk distribution lists and frequent large conference-style events; however, out of its reported 3,153 offers, only 148 were accepted whereas 3,005 were declined.

Accepted offers from all vendors were mainly linked to conferences, industry events, training and other professional development activities.

The report stated it found the system is generally working well but would benefit from clearer expectations and more consistent reporting which would improve integrity, transparency and public confidence.

DTA said that the data supports consistent public reporting above $100, while confirming that entities should manage lower value offers where risk, repetition or cumulative value warrants closer control.

Across gifts and benefits valued above $100, 188 were accepted and 2,897 were declined.

It also recommended that entities should publish relevant gifts and benefits policies, maintain access to current and previous registers, and clearly state who is covered by each register, while sellers should state the value of gifts, benefits and hospitality when making offers to APS/SES employees so officials can make informed decisions before accepting or declining.

Public registers need better maintenance, the report found, because some entities did not publish within expected timeframes, did not retain previous registers publicly, or did not clearly signal nil declarations.

Sellers and buyers also need to maintain their vigilance to manage real and apparent conflicts of interest, and sellers were told they must declare and manage conflicts connected with Australian Government contracts to avoid bringing the government into disrepute.

The next steps identified by the report include enhancing BuyICT workflows with prompts reminding entities to review and update internal gifts and benefits registers, as well as publishing content for entities and sellers around the offering and acceptance of gifts and benefits.

Further recommendations include maintaining engagement with the APSC on guidance and supporting resources, delivering engagement and education through the Digital Sourcing Network and requesting sellers proactively disclose the value of gifts, benefits and hospitality when making offers to APS/SES employees.