Codes of conduct guide behaviour within an organisation. They are a public statement of how an organisation and its employees interact with the Government, community and each other.

The Public Sector Standards Commissioner (PSSC) has issued three binding codes of conduct for the Victorian public sector. They promote adherence to the public sector values:

• Directors' Code of Conduct & Guidance Notes (PDF 227KB)
• Code of Conduct for Victorian public sector employees (PDF 418KB)
• Code of Conduct for Victorian public sector employees of special bodies (PDF 418KB).

directors' code

Directors are members of public entity boards. They have a special role and duties that are further explained in the Good practice guide on governance for Victorian public sector entities (the Guide). The Directors' Code forms part of the Guide.

public sector code

Public sector employers will have policies and guidelines that build on the matters discussed in the Code of Conduct for Victorian public sector employees. Other information includes:

• Q&A (PDF 97KB)
• induction presentation (PowerPoint 1432KB)
• sample gift register (PDF 71KB)
• sample public comment policy (PDF 46KB)
• information for managers, supervisors and team leaders (PDF 27KB)
• policy development checklist (PDF 56KB).

special bodies code

Special bodies are defined in s. 6 of the Public Administration Act 2004 (PDF 569KB). They include bodies such as the Office of Police Integrity. Employees of special bodies may be:

• employed by the special body or
• employed by a government department or administrative office and work in the special body.

Employees of special bodies are bound by the same obligations as other public sector employees except that they are not required to:

• provide advice to government
• implement government policies and programs.

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