Reporting Suspected Wrongdoing

Corruption means the misuse of office or conferred power for personal or private advantage and may include bribery, fraud, nepotism, extortion or dishonesty. Corruption includes conspiring to aid, induce or conceal these offences. Corruption can include improper action taken by personnel to further the purported interests of an organisation.The following are examples of instances of corruption:

• Improperly using an official position to gain an advantage for oneself or another person
• Facilitating dishonest behaviour by another for an incentive or "a slice of the action"
• Allowing personal relationships to improperly influence a decision
• Unauthorised use, release or destruction of data for personal advantage

Fraud

Academic integrity broadly describes our expectations about the way teaching and research activities are conducted and fostered within the University.* Expectations about integrity are reflected in laws, codes and University policies intended to ensure:

• Responsible conduct in research;
• Fair dealing with intellectual property;
• Observance of copyright obligations;
• Students are supported to adopt the core value of academic honesty;
• Authorship protocols are observed in publications
• Manage conflicts of interest.

All members of the University community are expected to act with integrity in all that they do.

The following are examples that do not meet the expectations and standards of academic integrity:

• Persistently ignoring instances of plagiarism in a student's submitted assignments
• Claiming sole authorship for a collaborative research publication
• Pursuing publication of research findings without the consent of all researchers involved
• Neglecting to protect or disclose to the University commercially viable intellectual property
• Deliberately infringing copyright of a third party by reproducing created material on the University's website

If you are concerned about an activity that does not uphold the principles of Academic Integrity you should report to your supervisor and/or consult the relevant University policy and procedures.

The Office of Research Ethics, Compliance and Integrity provides detailed information and support about research integrity to the University. If you wish to report a suspected instance of research misconduct, please refer to the section below.

*The Academic Board is responsible for monitoring and advising on issues of academic integrity.

A complaint or allegation may be a breach of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research if it involves both:

• intent, deliberation, recklessness or gross and persistent negligence; and
• serious consequences, such as false information on the public record, or adverse effects on research participants, animals or the environment.

Examples of research misconduct include:

• Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or deception in proposing, carrying out or reporting the results of research;
• Failure to declare or manage a serious conflict of interest; and
• Avoidable failure to follow research proposals as approved by a research ethics committee, particularly where this failure may result in unreasonable risk or harm to humans, animals or the environment.

Research Misconduct also includes the wilful concealment or facilitation of research misconduct by others.

If you suspect Research Misconduct you should contact a Research Integrity Advisor who can provide you with confidential advice as to what constitutes research misconduct or serious misconduct, the rights and responsibilities of a complainant and the procedures for dealing with allegations of research misconduct within the University.

If you think a law is being breached within the University you should report it. You can raise the issue with a Local Compliance Officer in your area (please see your area's Legal Compliance page) or speak to your Head of School.

If the issue is confidential, or you are unsure what action to take, contact the Manager Compliance on 8313 0482 or at legalcompliance@adelaide.edu.au.

Most incidents of non-compliance are not intentional and may only become obvious once they have happened. Reporting can ensure actions are put into place early, before a breach or potential breach becomes more serious.

The following are examples of non-compliance with the law:

• A Senior Manager finishes employment at the University and orders his notebooks to be destroyed and all of his emails to be deleted (Breach of the State Records Act)
• A school hosts its end-of-year exhibition at an off-campus location, selling alcohol without obtaining a liquor licence (Breach of the Liquor Licensing Act)
• Testing of a drone commences without proper licensing (Breach of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations)

For more information about Legal Compliance please visit the Compliance page of the Legal & Risk website.

The University's Behaviour and Conduct Policy sets standards of behaviour for all University personnel. Under the Policy, bullying and/or harassment of any kind is unacceptable. It is also prohibited by law.

Examples of bullying or harassment might include:

• Abusive, insulting or offensive language or comments
• Unjustified criticism or complaints
• Continuously and deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities
• Withholding information that is vital for effective work performance
• Setting unreasonable timelines or constantly changing deadlines
• Setting tasks that are unreasonably below or beyond a person’s skill level
• Denying access to information, supervision, consultation or resources such that it is detrimental to the worker
• Spreading misinformation or malicious rumours
• Changing work arrangements, such as rosters and leave, to deliberately inconvenience a particular worker or
  workers
• Excessive scrutiny at work

If you encounter bullying or harassment you should talk to your supervisor. If you find yourself in a position where you would feel uncomfortable reporting to your supervisor, you can contact a Fair Treatment Contact Officer.

For more information about reporting bullying or harassment please consult the Health, Safety & Wellbeing Handbook or contact the HSW Manager in your Faculty/Division.

The Complaints Resolution (Staff) Procedure allows the University to deal with complaints from staff members about the behaviour of other staff members or about issues that adversely affect their ability to work productively in a positive environment. The complaint resolution process aims to resolve conflict and improve working relations at the local level.

If you have a workplace grievance, you should first discuss with your supervisor. For more information about reporting a workplace conflict or making a complaint please visit the Human Resources website.

If you need to report a workplace health and safety problem, you should advise your area's Health and Safety Officer as soon as possible.

If you are unclear about whether the issue is a work, health and safety issue, please contact the HSW team.

Under the University's IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy University IT account holders must:

• Report any security weakness or threat to University IT facilities that they suspect or observe to the Technology Service Desk immediately on 8303 3000
• Report any known or suspected breaches of the IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy and its associated Procedures to the Technology Service Desk as soon as possible. If the breach is particularly sensitive or serious, they may choose to report the breach directly to the IT Risk Management Team by emailing infosec@adelaide.edu.au
• Report lost, stolen or damaged computers or other IT equipment to the Technology Service Desk as soon as possible. The loss or damage should also be reported to Legal and Risk on 8303 4539 as an adverse event for insurance purposes

If you have know of any incident or threat to the University's IT security, please submit a Security Incident Form.

For more information about secure computing practices, please visit the Technology Services SecureIT website.