Glossary of terms
Administrative action
An act or omission of an administrative character done, or made by, in, or for a public sector entity. It includes, for example, a decision or failure to decide, and a formulation of a proposal or intention.
Agent
A person who has actual, implied or ostensible authority to act on behalf of the department, including members of boards and committees, delegates and decision makers.
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Benefit
Includes gifts, hospitality, travel, gratuity, remuneration (other than salary), allowances, fees, subsidies, consideration, free service, privilege and entertainment or any gift of valuable property, whether of a personal nature or otherwise including money, display items, furniture, jewellery, and personal items containing precious metals and stones.
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Confidential information
Information of a sensitive, personal, medical, commercial or political nature made available to you in connection with your role as a public official that could cause harm to individuals or the State if disclosed other than in accordance with its intended purpose or target audience.
Conflict of interest
Refers to a conflict between a private interest and official duty. For example, being in a position to use public office, knowledge, access to resources or influence for improper purposes or private interests.
- A real (or actual) conflict of interest exists when a reasonable person, in possession of the relevant facts, would conclude that the official's private interests interfere, or are likely to interfere, with the proper performance of his or her official duties. Some examples may be:
- you are in a position to authorise contracts for services when you have a direct or indirect interest in the contracted company;
- providing private sector consultancy services in a field of work which is the same or in direct competition with your public sector role;
- allowing your personal beliefs to interfere with the impartial implementation of government policy.
- An apparent conflict of interest exists when there is an appearance that an official's private interests may interfere with the proper performance of his or her official duties although, in reality, this may not be the case. The old saying 'justice must not only be done, but it must also be seen to be done' applies here. One example may be where you are on a selection panel to impartially consider the merits of job applicants, one of whom is a very close friend of yours. Even if you are confident of not being affected by personal bias, there may be a strong perception by other applicants that you will give your friend preferential treatment.
Corruption
Criminal behaviour that may involve fraud, theft, the misuse of position or authority or other acts that are unacceptable to an organisation and which may cause loss to the organisation, its clients or the general community. It may also include other elements such as breaches of trust and confidentiality. For more information you may refer to 'Facing the facts 
- A CMC guide for dealing with suspected official misconduct in Queensland public sector agencies'.
Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC)
Under the terms of the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 (new window) 
, the CMC has the duty to combat and reduce the incidence of major crime, to improve the integrity of the public sector and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in the public sector.
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Delegate
A person who has been delegated the authority to make decisions affecting staff and financial resources.
Department
Refers to the Department of Education and Training
Diligence
To work industriously or with persistence and attentiveness.
Directive
A ruling issued by the Public Service Commissioner or the Industrial Relations Minister. A directive is issued by gazette notice and is binding on the employees to whom the directive applies.
Disciplinary action
Action taken as a result of the disciplinary process and is always the outcome of a substantiated allegation or assessment which involves a penalty.
Discrimination
When a person is treated more or less favourably than another person would be in substantially the same circumstances. Discrimination is unlawful when it is on the basis of an attribute described in the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (new window) (i.e. sex, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, breastfeeding, age, race, impairment, religion, political belief or activity, trade union activity, lawful sexual activity; or association with, or relation to, a person identified on the basis of any of the above attributes).
Due care
The degree of care that a reasonable person can be expected to exercise to avoid harm in the circumstances, or alternatively, the absence of negligence.
Duty of Care
A duty to do everything reasonably practicable to protect others from harm.
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Employee
In this code means permanent, temporary, casual or contract employees of the department.
Equal employment opportunity (EEO)
The creation of conditions that all persons have an equal chance to seek and obtain employment and promotion. EEO requires that people are selected, promoted and treated on the basis of their individual talents and capabilities. Refer to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (new window) for details.
Equity
A broad concept that encompasses principles of fairness, consistency, and non-discrimination. In practice, it denotes impartiality and consideration of the individual circumstances of each case.
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Fraud
The intentional use of false representations or deception to avoid an obligation, gain unjust advantage or, in the context of public administration, commonly referred to as 'rorting the system'.
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Indictable Offence
Offences are of two kinds; criminal and regulatory offences. Criminal offences comprise crimes, misdemeanours and simple offences. Crimes and misdemeanours are indictable offences; that is, the offender cannot, unless otherwise expressly stated, be prosecuted or convicted except under indictment. Indictable offences must be tried in the Supreme or District Court (rather than the Magistrates Court) unless a statute expressly provides for summary trial.
Impartiality
In the context of public administration, impartiality means implementing the law and government policies and serving the community without bias or favour, regardless of which political party forms the government.
Integrity
In the context of public administration, integrity means public officials are to act honestly and be seen to be acting honestly.
Intellectual property
An invention, original work, the results of scientific research or a product development, which can be protected under legislation and common law depending on the type of intellectual property involved. Examples include: computer software, illustrations, written documentation.
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Gift
Includes entertainment, hospitality, travel or other benefit or an item of property, whether of a personal nature or otherwise, including, for example, ornate and precision display items, clocks, furniture, figurines, works of art, jewellery, personal items containing precious metals or stones and fine art work.
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Harm to a Student
Any detrimental effect of a significant nature on the student's physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing by any cause, other than confirmed accidental harm not involving negligence or misconduct. Harm to a student includes minor harm that is cumulative in nature that would result in a detrimental effect of a significant nature to the student if allowed to continue. Harm can be caused by amongst other things:
- physical, psychological or emotional abuse or neglect
- sexual abuse or exploitation
- domestic or family violence
- student bullying
- self-harm
- female genital mutilation.
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Intellectual Property
Includes documents, publications, manuscripts, audio-visual presentations, inventions, original research, products, and any other materials recorded in any form that are developed for departmental or government use in the course of your work duties.
Interchange Arrangement
Refer to section 184 of the Public Service Act 2008.
Interest
Used in relation to declaring personal interests or conflicts of interest, the term 'interest' means direct or indirect personal interests of the public official. Interests may be pecuniary (i.e. financial or economic forms of advantage) or non-pecuniary (i.e. non-financial forms of advantage).
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Lawful
Warranted or authorised by the law, or alternatively, neither contrary to nor forbidden by the law.
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Maladministration
An administrative action that is unlawful, arbitrary, unjust, oppressive, improperly discriminatory, or taken for an improper purpose.
Manager
A general term meaning a person with supervisory or resource management responsibilities at whatever level.
Misconduct
Disgraceful or improper conduct in an official capacity; or disgraceful or improper conduct in a private capacity that reflects seriously and adversely on the public service.
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Official Information
Information contained within departmental records, or imparted in an official capacity.
Official Misconduct
Official misconduct means conduct that could, if proved, be a criminal offence, or a disciplinary breach providing reasonable grounds for terminating the person's services, if the person is or were the holder of an appointment.
Conduct may still be official misconduct irrespective of where or when it occurred or whether the person is still employed in the public sector.
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Personal ethics
An individual's personal standards of conduct which may or may not be consistent with public sector ethics
Pornography
The explicit description or exhibition of obscene literature, art or photography, generally intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.
Prize
Something that is won in a raffle or the like.
Procedural fairness (natural justice)
A process that ensures that a fair decision is reached by an objective decision-maker. Decisions affecting the rights of individuals are to be reached only after the individuals have been made aware of the specific allegation/s made against them, or of decisions which are adverse to their interests, and they have had the opportunity to present their claims in relation to the allegation/s and the decisions proposed to be taken affecting them.
The decision-maker must not have a personal interest in the matter that would render him or her not impartial. Care should be exercised to exclude real or perceived bias from the process.
In cases of suspected or actual official misconduct or maladministration, it is the investigating authority (e.g. Crime and Misconduct Commission, Ombudsman) that will decide when it is appropriate to make allegations known to individuals.
Professional ethics
Standards of conduct established by organisations representing professions that apply to individuals in their professional capacity.
Professional relationship
A fiduciary relationship in which trust and confidence are necessarily reposed by one party, investing in the other party a corresponding amount of power. A fiduciary relationship exists where, as a result of one person's relationship to another, the former is bound to exercise rights and powers in good faith and for the benefit of the latter.
Proprietary Knowledge
Information held by the department, that is not publicly available, not official information, and not intellectual property.
Public interest
For a public official, acting in the public interest means acting lawfully and/or in accordance with government policy under the direction of the Minister. In the absence of legal or policy frameworks, it means acting for the common good of the community.
Public sector ethics
Those principles and standards governing correct conduct by government officials. They provide guidance in situations where there are no specific rules or where matters are unclear but where the ultimate objective is to serve the public interest.
The relevant public sector ethics principles are described in the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 (new window) and the department's Code.
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Responsive
To respond readily and comprehensively, appropriate to the circumstances.
Reprisal
Occurs when a person causes, attempts or conspires to cause, detriment to another person because of a belief that anybody has made, or may make, a public interest disclosure. Every person, even if the person did not make the public interest disclosure, is protected from reprisal. Reprisal is unlawful under both civil and criminal law.
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Sexual Harassment
Happens if a person:
- subjects another person to an unsolicited act of physical intimacy; or
- makes an unsolicited demand or request (whether directly or by implication) for sexual favours from the other person; or
- makes a remark with sexual connotations relating to the other person; or
- engages in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to the other person;
and the person engaging in the conduct described in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) does so -
- with the intention of offending, humiliating or intimidating the other person; or
- in circumstances where a reasonable person would have anticipated the possibility that the other person would be offended, humiliated or intimidated by the conduct.
Sexual Misconduct
Includes the following conduct:
- conduct towards any person that would constitute a criminal offence of a sexual nature; or
- conduct that is sexual harassment as defined in section 119 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (new window) ;
- any other sexual conduct by a school-based employee directed towards or involving:
- any student under the age of 18 years where a professional relationship exists; or
- any student attending the school/s or site where the employee works; or
- in the case of employees employed under the Teachers' Award - State, any student under the age of 18 years attending any Queensland state school or Queensland state secondary college; or
- a student aged 18 years or older which could reasonably be regarded as creating an apparent or actual conflict of interest between the employee's private interests and her/his professional duties
Sexual conduct is any behaviour that might reasonably be interpreted as being designed or intended to arouse or gratify sexual desires.
Student
For the purposes of this Code a student is a person who is (1) enrolled at either a school or a TAFE Institute , and who is (2) undertaking educational and /or training programs provided by either or both of these facilities.
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The Act
Refers to the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 (new window) .
The Code
Refers to the Code of Conduct for the Department of Education and Training
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Vexatious Complaint
A written or verbal report of alleged improper conduct made to an authority intending the report to be acted upon, where there is a demonstrable absence of reasonable grounds for suspecting the improper conduct, and the report is made to cause distress.
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Work Performance Arrangement
Refer to the definition in section 183 of the Public Service Act 2008.
Workplace Harassment
Is repeated behaviour by an employee, other than behaviour that is sexual harassment, that:
- is directed at an individual worker or group of workers; and
- is offensive, intimidating, humiliating or threatening; and
- is unwelcome and unsolicited; and
- a reasonable person would consider to be offensive, intimidating, humiliating or threatening for the individual worker or group of workers in all the circumstances.
Workplace health and safety obligations
These obligations refer to your workplace health and safety responsibilities, which are prescribed in the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (new window) .
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