Effective from December 2020

Approved by: Chief Executive Officer

At a Glance

This policy outlines the expectations of Five Good Friends and its workers in the management of any actual, potential or perceived conflict that may impact the delivery of high quality and safe care and support services to our Members, activities or decisions of the organisation.

This policy also provides focus to the management of conflict of interest in the provision of Support Coordination services to NDIS funded Members.

Scope

This policy relates to all Five Good Friends workers (employees, Helpers, contractors) and Board Directors.

Objective

The objective of this policy is to ensure that actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest are identified and managed effectively.

Definitions

• Conflict of interest – occurs when a person’s personal interests conflict with their responsibility to act in the best interest of Five Good Friends or its Members. Personal interests include direct interests, as well as those of family, friends or other organisations a person may be involved with or have an interest in. Conflict of interest can also occur when the organisation has impaired objectivity due to conflicts between business and Members or contractual interests.
• Support Coordination – a specialist service provided to NDIS funded Members necessitated by specific high-level risks in the Member’s situation. Support is time limited and focusses on addressing barriers and reducing complexity in the support environment, while assessing the Member to connect with supports and build capacity and resilience. It may also involve the development of an intervention plan which will be put in place by disability support workers.

Policy Statement

• It is the policy of Five Good Friends, as well as the responsibility of its Board of Directors, that ethical, legal, financial or other conflicts of interest be avoided and that any such conflicts (where they do arise) do not conflict with the obligations to Five Good Friends and its Members.
• Five Good Friends is committed to ensuring that conflicts of interest are identified and managed so that they do not affect the services, activities or decisions of the organisation.
• To achieve this we will:
  • Identify and declare all conflicts of interest;
  • Develop, implement and monitor action(s) to appropriately manage the conflict;
  • Report all identified conflicts; and
  • Deal firmly with breaches of this Policy.
• We will act in the best interests of Members, ensuring that Members are informed, empowered and able to maximise choice and control.
• We will proactively manage perceived and actual conflicts of interest in service delivery by managing, documenting and reporting on individual conflicts as they arise.