ETHICS, COMPLIANCE, AND RISK MANAGEMENT Ethics Ethics provide the overarching principles and rules that govern the behaviour of WorkCover Queensland’s people. Code of conduct WorkCover‘s code of conduct supports our values and provides a framework for high ethical standards. Our code of conduct has been written to align with the requirements of the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 (PSEA). The code is communicated to our people through the corporate induction program and is available on the WorkCover intranet and website. Annually our staff receive refresher training on this document and the PSEA in general. All relevant internal policies and practices align with the code and the PSEA, including the ethics principles and values detailed in this Act. All WorkCover staff are required to comply with the code of conduct. Any non-compliance may result in disciplinary action, which could include termination of employment. The WorkCover Board is bound by ethical standards outlined in the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (the Act), which requires directors to act honestly, disclose interests, exercise due diligence and not use information or their position inappropriately. Directors are bound by the PSEA and as such, WorkCover’s code of conduct. Additionally, the Board follows the guidelines set out in Welcome Aboard: A Guide for Members of Government Boards, Committees and Statutory Authorities. Integrity and accountability are integrated into WorkCover’s strategies, objectives and actions. Compliance We maintain a number of policies and procedures detailing our compliance obligations in relation to relevant legislation, regulations, and codes of practice. We continually monitor our systems and processes to ensure these obligations are met. Internal audit Internal audit is responsible for assisting the WorkCover Audit Committee in meeting its charter and provide independent, impartial advice to executive management and the Board. This is achieved through the systematic and disciplined evaluation of the effectiveness of WorkCover’s risk management controls and corporate governance processes. WorkCover’s independent internal audit function is currently outsourced to a specialised accounting firm. As part of the agreed contract terms with this firm this function is to be performed in an economical manner. The internal audit charter outlines the objectives, duties, authority and responsibilities of the internal audit function and is consistent with all relevant audit and ethical standards. Both the strategic and annual audit plans prepared by the Internal Auditors are approved by the Audit Committee. This Committee operates with due regard for Treasury’s Audit Committee Guidelines, including the monitoring of the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of the Internal Audit function. Significant financial and operational risks identified by the Internal Auditors are reported through to the Audit Committee, as per the Internal Audit Charter. The 2012–2013 audit program is on track to be completed in line with budgeted time-frames and costs. Quality assurance reviews Our quality assurance reviews are designed to confirm that the controls in place to manage risks are effective and identify potential areas for improvement to our processes, policies, and procedures. Training All staff complete regular training to remain up-to-date with compliance requirements in a number of key areas including code of conduct, privacy, acceptable use of IT, equal employment opportunity, people policies and workplace health and safety. Customer compliance To be able to provide a fair and balanced workers’ compensation scheme, compliance with workers’ compensation legislation by all customers is extremely important. To assist with this compliance, WorkCover has set up a dedicated compliance and prosecutions team. Their tasks include educating stakeholders, conducting audits, investigating, recovering, and prosecuting individuals and entities who contravene their legislative requirements, including failing to insure, defrauding the scheme and providing false and misleading statements. During the year we investigated 33 cases of potential fraud, mainly relating to statutory claims. A total of 8 prosecutions were successfully completed, 8 matters remain before the Courts for determination, and 12 matters are being prepared to go before the Courts. There is also a comprehensive audit program to ensure employers are insuring their workers and declaring the correct amount of wages. During 2012–2013, we conducted 3 675 random site visits through which we found 661 non-compliant employers representing 18% of employers being non-compliant. We also carried out targeted data mining and as a result conducted 1 827 targeted audits during the year and identified 911 employers to be non-compliant with the Act, representing 50% non-compliance. Recordkeeping WorkCover has made improvement during the financial year with further digitisation of files. The recordkeeping policy was reviewed and updated in line with the organisation moving to digitised corporate records. As all staff at WorkCover are responsible for keeping and maintaining records, yearly compliance training is completed to ensure that all staff are aware of their obligations under the Public Records Act 2002. This is essential training given that all of our claims and policy records have been digitised since 2008 and corporate records are currently being digitised. The WorkCover Queensland Retention and Disposal Schedule QDAN 484 v. 4 was reviewed during the financial year with the Queensland State Archives. The schedule continues to be relevant to the organisation and any records that were destroyed were done so in accordance with this schedule or the General Retention and Disposal Schedule for Administrative Records. WorkCover is currently reviewing all retained records to consider appropriate disposal. There have been no breaches in WorkCover’s information security report as the security of our information is a high priority for the organisation and no records have been reported as being lost during 2012–2013. Risk management WorkCover follows a risk management policy based on AS/NZS ISO 31000:30009 Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines, which involves the establishment of an appropriate infrastructure and culture designed to systematically identify, analyse, treat, monitor and communicate key risks associated with its activities. Our risk management policy is available on our website. Workplace health and safety WorkCover has maintained a strong culture of employee awareness of health and safety. WorkCover has improved reporting of incidents and early intervention resulting in almost 80% of workers’ compensation claimants staying at work to recover. Our workplace health and safety framework was audited for compliance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 introduced in January 2012. In addition to updating our policies and procedures, training was provided for our people to educate them on the changes to the new legislation and their responsibilities. We also introduced a new Qudos system for recording workplace incidents. Reports from this system are used to provide information to our Workplace Health and Safety Committee for review and setting of strategies to mitigate the risk of injuries. These reports are also presented to the Board to assist in meeting their obligations of due diligence to our people and maintaining a safe work environment. Workplace Health and Safety training is delivered on a monthly basis to all staff via toolbox talks. The presentations are on topical issues such as manual handling, flu prevention and repetitive injuries. Business continuity management Our business continuity and disaster recovery plan have been developed to ensure minimal disruption to our operations and our customers in the event of a major incident. These plans are reviewed and tested on a regular basis. During the year, there was one flood event which occurred in Brisbane and North Queensland. The event did not require a full implementation of the Business Continuity Plan, however WorkCover was prepared for the situation impacting on critical services. ..==================================================== annualreport.net.au/WCQ2013/index.cfm?contentID=68 .
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 01:01:27 +0000
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