Management Committee Conflict of Interest Policy

Introduction

Actions and decisions taken by the Management Committee need to be informed, objective and fair.

Personal or individual interests that conflict with the interests of the organisation need to be identified and managed so that they do not affect the services, activities or decisions of the organisation.

This will include situations such as:

  • Close personal friends or family members are involved, such as decisions about volunteer’s suitability (similar to employment arrangements) discipline or dismissal, service allocation or awarding of contracts
  • An individual or their close friends or family members may make a financial gain or gain some other form of advantage.
  • An individual is involved with another organisation that is in a competitive relationship with U3A noosa and therefore may have access to our plans or financial information.
  • An individual is bound by prior agreements or allegiances to other individuals or agencies that require them to act in the interests of that person or agency or to take a particular position on an issue

Purpose

This policy will apply to situations where the personal interests of an individual or group of individuals may directly conflict with the best interests of the organisation, its members or where the decisions or actions of individuals may be influenced by their personal interest rather than those of the organisation.

Scope

  • Management Committee for observance.
  • This policy also applies to any representative(s) appointed by the Committee to undertake an activity or project on their behalf. Specifically, any sub committees that may be formed from time to time.
  •  All other stakeholders (staff, volunteers, broader general community) for their information on the standards they can expect from the duly elected committee representatives.

Policy Statement

Specifically, we expect any Management Committee member:

  • With a perceived or actual conflict to disclose the conflict /potential conflict.
  • Withdraw from discussions, voting or influencing any other Management Committee member on any matter in which they are in conflict.
  • At times people may be unaware that their activities or personal interests are in conflict with the best interests of the organisation. It is therefore appropriate to simply raise awareness, encourage disclosure and discussion of anything that may even be perceived to be a conflict.

Procedures

Should a Management Committee member (or any other person undertaking a task or project on behalf of the committee) believe they have a perceived or actual conflict they should immediately inform the President or Secretary.

Upon receiving the advice, the President and Secretary will determine if the conflict is valid and if so, the Secretary will document that the committee member has declared a Conflict of Interest and document this advice in the minutes of the meeting.

The Committee member must withdraw from the meeting whilst the perceived/actual conflict is under discussion. In addition, they must take all reasonable steps to remove themselves from any subsequent involvement regarding the matter including voting, discussions, documents, meeting minutes and so on.

The meeting minutes on the conflict subject will be “sealed” and added as a Confidential Addendum to the minutes so that the Committee member with the conflict will receive the meeting minutes but NOT the addendum.

Approval

Approval and Amendment History Details
Version No 1.2
Approval Authority This Conflict of Interest Policy was adopted by the Management Committee and minuted as such, on 8 April 2019
Amendment History 1st April 2019. First Draft by Martin Ashworth 6th April 2019. Additional clause added to the procedures section after review by the President
Amendment Authority and Date This <insert policy name> Policy was amended by the Management Committee and minuted as such, on Day Month Year

Records Management

Insert document name and storage location here.

U3anoosacloud/Policy & Procedures/Conflict of Interest V0.2

Refer to Document Management Policy and Procedure for naming standards and storage protocols

The version number must be included in the document file name and the file name MUST be inserted in the footer of the document left hand side

For Example:

               U3anoosacloud\public\policies\namepolicyV1.0.docx

Related Policies

               This policy should be read in conjunction with related policies:

               List related policies here

  • Management Committee Code of Conduct
  • Privacy
  • U3A noosa Constitution
Posted in Policies.