17. The culture at my organisation is such that I would be willing to raise any concerns that I may have regarding fraud or corruption and I know that my concerns will be taken seriously and I would not suffer any retaliation.

Public Sector Fraud Awareness Survey - Findings: Fraud detection.

Observation:

Pie chart of Question 17: The culture at my organisation is such that I would be willing to raise any concerns that I may have regarding fraud or corruption and I know that my concerns will be taken seriously and I would not suffer any retaliation.

95% indicated that they worked in a sufficiently safe environment in which to raise concerns.

Like the previous question, confidence was high across all positions and sectors that organisations did encourage staff to come forward and report their concerns for fraud.

What some respondents have said:

“I'm not aware of all of the options for reporting fraud, but it's not something I've ever seen here and so I'm not overly concerned about it. If I was concerned about something I think that I would feel comfortable expressing my concerns.”

“I believe we have a good culture in relation to preventing and reporting of potential or actual fraud.”

PwC comment:
Combating fraud is everyone’s responsibility. However, managers have an additional obligation to ensure strategies are in place that allow staff to report their concerns, in a manner that ensures that all good faith reports will be treated seriously and investigated thoroughly. The conduits can be internal, external or both.

“It is poor and there have been a number of things that senior management are aware off but have not followed through with an investigation. They don't take it seriously or see the flow on effects.”

“As personal circumstances are challenged staff may resort to fraudulent acts. A staff member has come forward to self report a time when she felt that she was tempted to try and use her fuel card for her own use because of her personal circumstances. This was checked but we found that no fraud had been committed.”

  Yes No Don’t know Total Count
Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director/Principal 379 99% 0 0% 4 1% 383
Member of the senior executive/leadership team or equivalent 470 96% 8 2% 12 2% 490
Line manager (if not one of the above) 205 94% 6 3% 8 4% 219
Administration/Support Services 185 93% 3 2% 12 6% 200
Operational staff (e.g. Teacher, Analyst, Advisor, Technician, Officer, Engineer, Accountant) 118 87% 4 3% 14 10% 136
Total 1,357 95% 21 1% 50 4% 1,428
  Yes No Don’t know Total Count
Central Government              
Autonomous Crown Entities 53 98% 1 2% 0 0% 54
Central Government - Other 45 100% 0 0% 0 0% 45
Crown Agents or Companies 85 98% 0 0% 2 2% 87
Crown Research Institutes 37 97% 0 0% 1 3% 38
District Health Boards 62 89% 3 4% 5 7% 70
Government Departments 138 95% 3 2% 5 3% 146
Independent Crown Entities 36 97% 0 0% 1 3% 37
Māori Trust Boards 11 100% 0 0% 0 0% 11
Rural Education Activities Programmes 11 100% 0 0% 0 0% 11
State-Owned Enterprises 44 94% 1 2% 2 4% 47
Tertiary Education Institutions 82 90% 4 4% 5 5% 91
Sub-Total 604 95% 12 2% 21 3% 637
  Yes No Don’t know Total Count
Local Government              
Airports 16 84% 0 0% 3 16% 19
Council Controlled Organisations or Council Controlled Trading Organisations 74 99% 0 0% 1 1% 75
Energy Companies 26 93% 0 0% 2 7% 28
Fish and Game Councils 8 100% 0 0% 0 0% 8
Licensing and Community Trusts 9 100% 0 0% 0 0% 9
Local Authorities 154 91% 5 3% 10 6% 169
Local Government - Other 11 100% 0 0% 0 0% 11
Port Companies 2 100% 0 0% 0 0% 2
Sub-Total 300 93% 5 2% 16 5% 321
               
Schools 453 96% 4 1% 13 3% 470
Total 1,357 95% 21 1% 50 4% 1,428
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