Fraud and Corruption
Prevention
The major risk factor for fraud and corruption is the
normal and ongoing business activity of any
organisation. Finances need to be managed, people need
to be employed, assets need to be purchased and
safeguarded…..all of these activities create
opportunities for fraud and corruption. Organisations
and businesses need to manage fraud and corruption
risks, along with other risk management such as
Occupational Health and Safety risks and business
continuity planning.
An active approach, which means building corruption
resistance into the way it does business will enable
organisations and businesses to minimise the risk of
actual fraud and corruption events. It will also reduce
the time, effort and resources that are otherwise spent
on dealing with individual problems as they arise.
According to the Independent Commission Against
Corruption (ICAC):
| The incidence of corruption is
influenced by four key factors: |
- the availability of opportunities
- the quality of accountability
measures
- the level of ethical awareness of an
individual exposed to such opportunities
- and the ethics of the organisation,
especially of those who are in
leadership roles.
|
While this comment appears in an ICAC Investigation
Report published in September 1998, it remains valid in
today's world of business.
| There are four key ways in which
organisations can minimise fraud and
corruption: |
-
Developing a Code of Conduct which
provides standards of behaviour and
conduct for all employees
-
Conducting fraud and corruption risk
assessments and acting on the findings
-
Developing Fraud and Corruption Control
Plans which outline how the organisation
prevents, detects, investigates and
deals with fraud and corruption, and
-
Staff training in minimising fraud and
corruption.
|
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