Legal & ethical responsibilities

Oxfam Australia is governed by our Constitution and operates within the laws and legislation governing not-for-profit organisations in Australia. We also have several field offices in overseas countries and we are required to comply with the laws of these countries, as applicable.

We are registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as an Australian public company, limited by guarantee — ACN 055 208 636 holding ABN 18 055 208 636 and with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission as a registered charity. Our registered office is located in West Melbourne, Victoria.

We maintain compliance registers as part of our risk and assurance function and these are used to summarise the legislative and regulatory requirements internationally, and in Australia, through regular review and assurance processes against those registers.

Charitable status, tax concessions and fundraising

Oxfam Australia is a Public Benevolent Institution. It is endorsed as an Income Tax Exempt Charity and receives certain other tax concessions and exemptions consistent with its status as a Public Benevolent Institution which relate to Goods and Services Tax and Fringe Benefits Tax.

Oxfam Australia has been endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient to operate an Overseas Aid Deductible Gift Recipient gift fund.

Oxfam Australia is registered under applicable fundraising legislation as required in each state where it raises funds as follows:

• New South Wales — Registration number: CFN12714
• Queensland — Registration number: CH1425
• South Australia — Licence number: 518
• Tasmania — Registration number: FIA-16
• Victoria — Registration number: 7304
• Western Australia — Licence number: 20159

Accountability and accreditation

Oxfam Australia is fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Australian Government Department responsible for the Australian Aid Program and is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). Oxfam Australia adheres to a number of codes of practice and standards that guide our work.

Ethical standards

All Oxfam Australia Board members, directors, managers, employees and volunteers are expected to act with integrity and objectivity, striving at all times to enhance our organisation’s reputation and performance. They are also expected to comply with relevant laws and codes of conduct of relevant professional bodies and with ethical standards set by our Board and management team.

Risk management

Our risk management policy has established a process for identifying and ranking significant operational risks and managing, reporting, mitigating and monitoring these risks.

Potential risks are recorded on a register and have been evaluated by likelihood and impact. Appropriate systems and procedures are in place to manage them and provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against their occurrence.

Read an overview of our financial risk management.

Whistleblowers

Our whistleblowers policy protects employees and volunteers who lodge a complaint or grievance. The policy provides for protection from identification, intimidation, threat or humiliation and for access to the Board Chair for advice and assistance in certain circumstances.

Employees at Oxfam Australia are encouraged to raise matters they are concerned about relating to the workplace via internal confidential reporting procedures available to all employees on the Intranet.

If you need to report a matter impacting Oxfam Australia senior management, you can do so by referring it to the Oxfam Board.  You can contact either the Oxfam Australia Chairman at boardchair@oxfam.org.au, or Chair of the Oxfam Governance Committee at govchair@oxfam.org.au

Read our Whistleblower Policy.

Fraud

Our fraud policy, procedure and process provide a comprehensive prevention, identification and management approach to fraud events. Clear reporting and investigation processes are specified to ensure that potential fraud activities are dealt with promptly. Any fraud incidents are reported to the Board’s Finance Risk and Audit Committee as part of the quarterly risk and assurance report.

Ethical standards

Ethical fundraising

Our Private Sector Engagement Policy requires us to screen corporate donors and trusts to assess if their activities and operations are compatible with our vision and values.

It is our policy not to accept donations from organisations that have a bad record on social, financial and environmental conduct or whose operations impact negatively on development in poor countries*.

In declining to accept funds, sponsorships or other in-kind support from these organisations, we are able to uphold our professional image and reputation and speak out with authority on social justice issues.

Ethical purchasing

Under our Ethical Procurement and Purchasing Policy, we strive to buy goods and services that are produced and delivered under conditions that:

• do not involve the abuse or exploitation of people
• have the least negative impact on the environment
• come from suppliers whose conduct is in keeping with our policy

Our office kitchens and our Oxfam Trailwalker events only stock Fairtrade tea and coffee and the clothing for our Oxfam Trailwalker events, public campaigns and youth activities are sweatshop-free and produced according to Ethical Clothing Australia standards.

Oxfam Shop is an accredited Fair Trader of Australia under the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand’s accreditation system.

Ethical investments

Our investments in equities are assessed against our private sector engagement guidelines and a positive screen is applied, under the guidance of the Director Public Policy and Outreach.

Under the guidelines and screening, investments in private sector organisations operating within specified industry categories are evaluated to determine whether they present an ethical risk to our advocacy and program work.

Ethical content gathering

Our Ethical Guidelines for Content Gathering are designed to ensure that we conduct interviews and gather photos and video related to our work in a respectful and ethical way.

This means we must gather content in a way that puts people, their rights and their concerns at the heart of our efforts and present their stories in ways that challenge traditional ideas about poverty and development.

Our aim is to:

• prevent people experiencing harm, persecution, or other losses as a result of being featured in our materials
• respect and empower individual participants and recognise they each have their own values, beliefs and customs and the capacity to determine the direction of their lives
• ensure that content gathering has a potential benefit to the participants involved and that the likely benefit justifies any risks of harm or discomfort

Oxfam’s primary accountability is to the people at the centre of our work. In communications that means we must uphold voluntary participation, informed consent, participants’ safety and their right to confidentiality.

Child protection

We are committed to the safety and protection of children in the communities where we work.

Our Child Protection Policy protects children from all forms of exploitation and abuse in the delivery of our programs. Our Child Protection Code of Conduct ensures that all representatives of Oxfam Australia are given clear guidance about the standards of behaviour and practice required of them at all times when they are in contact with children.

Child protection awareness sessions are mandatory for all staff and all programs are required to conduct a child protection risk assessment.