Policy And Spending On Christmas Or End-Of-Year Celebrations For Staff

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 27 Feb 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

The Department of Social Services released its Official Hospitality and Business Catering Policy, a corporate finance document approved by the Chief Finance Officer and applicable to all departmental staff, contractors, and consultants. The policy provides guidance on appropriate spending for official hospitality and business catering while ensuring compliance with the APS Code of Conduct and relevant legislation. A key provision explicitly excludes social or non-business-related events—including Christmas parties and personal celebrations—from departmental funding. The policy further specifies that departmental funds cannot be used to purchase routine refreshments such as tea, coffee, milk, or biscuits for staff use, or to provide refreshments at social occasions like Christmas parties. The policy was originally issued in March 2009 and has undergone periodic reviews, with the most recent update in March 2025 due to amended delegations. The Financial Policy and Compliance Section within the Financial Services Branch manages the policy, with a scheduled review date