Leaving the APS—post-separation conflict of interest

Published

Conflicts of interest can arise when APS employees choose to leave the APS and accept employment or establish a business in a non-government sector. Employees and agencies each have a role in ensuring such conflicts are declared and appropriately managed prior to separation.

There are three key integrity risks that arise (or have the potential to arise) when an employee accepts employment in a role or sector that is aligned to their specific APS role or duties or the functions of their agency:

  1. the employee, while still employed in the APS, could use their position to influence decisions and advice in favour of their prospective new employer
  2. after separation from the APS, the former employee could reveal confidential Commonwealth information to their new employer, or provide other information that would give the new employer an improper advantage in its business dealings, and
  3. the former employee could exploit their knowledge of the APS and other areas of the Commonwealth public sector and the Government to lobby, or otherwise seek advantage, for their new employer in dealing with the Commonwealth.

APS employees should disclose offers of employment that could give rise to a real or apparent conflict of interest. Even where an employee receives an offer of employment that they are not inclined to accept, a conflict of interest may still arise—for example, where an employee involved in a tender process is offered employment by a tenderer, or if the employee continues to have regular social or professional contact with individuals from the entity—and such conflicts should also be declared and managed appropriately.

When a conflict arising from post-separation employment is declared, consideration should be given to strategies for managing the conflict during the employee’s remaining time in the APS agency. Appropriate management steps can include:

  • re-allocating the employee’s duties to others
  • temporarily moving the employee to a different role or team
  • restricting or removing the employee’s access to confidential information and systems
  • monitoring ICT systems use until separation
  • granting the employee leave until separation.

Agencies should have a range of employee management strategies and policies available or in place to deal with real or perceived conflicts of interest arising from a notification of post-separation employment.

These strategies should have regard to information confidentiality obligations which may be relevant to some or all of their employees after separation, such as:

  • the Criminal Code Act 1995
  • confidentiality or secrecy provisions in other legislation
  • the Lobbying Code of Conduct
  • the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme
  • the Public Interest Disclosure Scheme.

Agencies should consider reasonable and consistent management of employee exit processes, as well as management of remaining staff in relation to their engagement with former employees who may have real or apparent conflicts following their departure.

SES employees exiting the APS should be provided with an exit letter detailing their integrity and confidentiality obligations in the lead-up to, and after, their separation from the APS, and should provide an acknowledgment that they have read and understood their obligations. Relevant documents should be stored in agency records.

Agencies may also consider issuing internal correspondence to all SES staff, or all staff if appropriate, on the occasion of the departure of an SES officer to a high-conflict risk sector or supplier, explaining the continuing integrity obligations of current employees, including how to engage with the departing employee in both a professional and a personal capacity after their separation.

For further information regarding post-separation conflict of interest please refer to 
APS Values and Code of Conduct in Practice Section 5: Conflict of Interest | Australian Public Service Commission.

For further information about the provisions under law that protect the disclosure and use of official information after an employee has left the APS please refer to APS Values and Code of Conduct in Practice Section 4: Managing information | Australian Public Service Commission

Lobbying Code of Conduct

Lobbying Code of Conduct | Attorney-General’s Department

Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme

Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme | Attorney-General's Department

See also

NACC’s Corrupt conduct and conflicts of interest – A guide for public officials

Department of Finance RMG 208 – Managing conflicts of interest and confidentiality

APS Conflict of Interest Management Framework - Better Practice Model

Was this page helpful?

Acknowledgement of Country

The APSC acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.