COO consultation on the APS Gifts and Benefits Guidance Review

Written by Claude Haiku 5.5 from the extracted text on 20 Oct 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

This FOI release comprises a COO Committee meeting paper dated 6 May 2026 and an April 2026 APSC consultation feedback summary, both on the review of the APS Gifts and Benefits Guidance. The paper, co-led by the Department of Education and the APSC, asks the Committee to note the review and endorse draft Guidance in principle, with redline comments due 20 May 2025 (a date inconsistent with the 2026 paper). The Guidance extends to all APS employees, agency heads and statutory office holders, includes a non-mandatory Model Policy and public register template, and is to be published alongside Finance's new Commonwealth Travel Policy. Agencies get a six-month implementation period from January 2027, with registers reported from April 2027. The consultation summary records broad support and no fundamental objections, but flags concerns about the "reasonable business purposes" term, declaration thresholds, and unclear external compliance monitoring. No dollar costs are disclosed.