Additional Governance Disclosures

Delegation of Authority

Our Delegation of Authority Manual outlines administrative responsibilities for officers and their authority to carry out day-to-day tasks. The Delegation of Authority is in accordance with the Main Roads Act 1930 (WA), as amended, and the principle of public administration set out in section 7(d) of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 (WA). Employees are aware that delegation limits are specified in the Delegation of Authority Manual and that they must not be exceeded.

Ministerial Directives

There were no directives issued by the Minister for Transport under section 19B of the Main Roads Act 1930 (WA), as amended, during the year.

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 1992 (WA) gives the public a general right to apply for access to documents held by government agencies. An information statement has been produced in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and is available on our website. This statement provides a guide on how to apply for access to documents, as well as information about documents that may be available outside of freedom of information (FOI) processes. During the year, we received 50 FOI applications. Any FOI enquiries can be emailed to: foi@mainroads.wa.gov.au

Corruption Prevention

To prevent misappropriation of funds and inappropriate use of public property, we have strategies in place that include a comprehensive Annual Audit Plan for a balanced mix of financial, operational and information technology audits. In addition, Risk Management is considered an integral part of annual business planning, project planning and the overall management of safety and environment. Risks are managed and monitored at all levels.

Our Fraud and Corruption Control Plan clearly sets out relevant policies and obligations for all employees with respect to preventing, mitigating and reporting instances of fraud and corruption. These documents are available to all employees via the iRoads intranet site.

Public Interest Disclosures

We are committed to the aims and objectives of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 (WA). We recognise the value and importance of contributions by staff to enhance administrative and management practices and strongly support disclosures being made by staff regarding improper conduct. The Public Interest Disclosure Guidelines are available online for all staff.

Conduct and Ethics

All employees are expected to abide by the Public Sector Code of Ethics, Main Roads Code of Conduct, Main Roads Values and Corruption and Crime Procedures and Guidelines. When a complaint or a report of alleged inappropriate behaviour or misconduct is received, management is required to undertake an initial review of the information or complaint. The outcome of this review determines the most appropriate action which may include:

  • Discipline
  • Grievance resolution
  • Performance management
  • Corruption and Crime Commission procedures
  • Improvement actions.

As part of the overall Risk Management Framework, Main Roads is currently developing a comprehensive Integrity Framework that specifically addresses misconduct, fraud and corruption risks. The Integrity Framework will recognise the diverse activities necessary for effective fraud and corruption control across the organisation. The Framework adopts a systems based approach that will identify the interdependence of both internal and external factors affecting Main Roads and will enable ownership, evaluation and management of all fraud and corruption issues impacting the business.

Conflict of Interest, Gifts and Benefits

Our Code of Conduct requires all employees to ensure our personal, financial and political interests do not conflict with our performance or ability to perform in an impartial manner. Where a conflict of interest occurs, it should always be resolved in favour of the public interest rather than personal interest.

We have a Conflict of Interest and Gifts and Benefits Policy and a Register, maintained by the Manager Legal and Insurance Services.

We consider conflict of interest to include:

  • Decisions that are biased, as a result of outside activities or private employment
  • Outside activities that result in less than satisfactory work performance or cause breaches of standards such as those relating to occupational safety and health
  • Information gained from official employment that is used for private gain
  • Government resources that are used for private gain
  • Government time that is used to pursue private interests
  • Acceptance of gifts or benefits
  • Disclosure of confidential information obtained during the course of duty
  • Breach of ethics
  • The granting or receiving of favours for political, status, relationship, personal or business advantage
  • Actions jeopardising government and Main Roads policies and procedures
  • Actions which place Main Roads at risk.

Each Corporate Executive member signs a representation memorandum addressed to the Managing Director including a section on personal interests in contracts. The Chief Finance Officer, Managing Director and Accountable Authority then sign a Management Representation letter to the Auditor General addressing categories including Internal Controls and Risk Management.

Other than usual contracts of employment of service, no senior officers, firms of which senior officers are members or entities in which senior officers have substantial interests, had any interests in existing or proposed contracts with us during the financial year.

Our Conflict of Interest and Gifts and Benefits Policy states that Main Roads employees and contract personnel engaged by Main Roads must not:

  • Be influenced, or perceived to be influenced, by the offer or receipt of gifts or benefits
  • Engage in actions where a conflict of interest, or perceived conflict, arises in the course of their duty or contract obligations.

Where a conflict of interest, whether actual, potential or perceived, has been identified strict procedures including declaration to the Manager Legal and Insurance Services must be followed.

Business Continuity Management

The Public Sector Commissioner’s Circular 2015–03 and Treasurer’s Instruction 825 (Risk Management and Security) require agencies to ensure Business Continuity Plans are in place enabling the agency to respond to and recover from any business disruption. To ensure compliance, we have developed Business Continuity Action Plans. Business Continuity Management supports the values, principles and corporate focus of the agency’s Risk Management Policy.

Benefits Inlcude:

  • Increasing ability to minimise the consequences of any outage
  • Ensuring timely resumption of vital services
  • Fostering greater protection of agency reputation and public image
  • Allocating effective and efficient use of assets, finances and resources
  • Ensuring good corporate governance.

Some 40 branch Business Continuity Action Plans are now in place and an overarching Business Continuity Management Procedure completed.

Risk Management

Along with the Public Transport Authority and Department of Transport, Main Roads has implemented a portfolio-wide risk reference table. A single approach allows for consistency and tracking of high-level risk assessment and prioritisation across the three agencies.

Having aligned business risk to business planning Main Roads has reduced administration in this area allowing for resources to be spent on risk management as opposed to risk administration. This includes implementing current and one-year-out risk assessments as part of business risk workshops.

Integrated Management System

The Main Roads integrated management system (IMS) has been certified to the Quality, Safety and Environment standards for approximately 16 years. The IMS covers key business processes, project, contract and supply processes and safety and environment standards. In April 2017 we successfully achieved re-certification to Safety and Environment standards and have been certified to the new Quality standard ISO9001:2015.

Current Certification
Standards Processes
Quality Management System
IS09001:2015		 Project Management
Contract Management
Supply
Corporate
Safety Management System
AS4801:2001		 Safety, Health and Wellbeing
Environment
SO14001:2015		 Environmental

To help achieve this result senior management approved IMS awareness training for the organisation to ensure that both management and employees were aware of their obligations as they relate to the IMS. This training has been welcomed by all attendees at various levels across the organisation and we will continue to deliver this training in the future.

During 2017 our focus has been to ensure continuous improvement in the IMS. Our activities have included:

  • Clear governance for IMS matters that are required to be escalated to the Corporate Executive
  • Executive sponsorship of the IMS and representation at Corporate Executive
  • Regular ongoing feedback on IMS matters is sought from all directorates and regions
  • IMS is now included in the online Corporate Induction. This introduces the scope of the IMS, terminology and the expectation for our new employees to be aware of our three management systems
  • Process Owners Reference group discusses continuous improvement of our business processes and improved integration of the three management systems
  • IMS Working Group – meet regularly to ensure audit findings are being addressed by the appropriate people
  • IMS documents required by our external customers are available on our external website
  • Quarterly IMS updates are provided to the organisation via the Program Management Office newsletter
  • We have dedicated IMS custodians who champion the importance of meeting ISO standards in regions and directorates

Looking ahead we will continue to improve our business outcomes using the IMS processes. Our asset management and road safety teams are also continuing to work on ensuring their processes comply with the relevant standards although at this stage we do not intend to see external accreditation to these standards.