13th National Public Sector Fraud and Corruption Congress – Draft Agenda

13-14 September 2023, Melbourne

 

Producing an organisational culture with a strong counter fraud emphasis

• Evaluating if your counter-fraud approach is sufficiently mature for lasting culture change
• Making your code of conduct easily accessible for employees, leaders, and contractors
• Developing relationships with each business function as a counter-fraud professional
• Nominating fraud control representatives on multiple levels of leadership and seniority
• Prompting reliable feedback from staff on the health of your organisational culture

 

Communicating the significance of fraud and corruption risks to your organisation

• Utilising evidence-based communications techniques in agency-wide awareness campaigns
• Enabling open dialogue about organisational ethics and employee-employer relationships
• Targeting active and enthusiastic fraud awareness and diligence in your organisation
• Discouraging potential fraudsters from ultimately engaging in misconduct
• Distributing information about active fraud investigations and safe reporting platforms

 

Panel Discussion:
Constructing an effective fraud reporting culture in times of uncertainty

• Building mutual trust within your organisation as a fraud professional
• Developing reliable fraud reporting systems with increased uptake
• Navigating concerns around organisational privacy and retaliation
• Distinguishing your approach to whistleblowing from other organisations

 

Designing fraud and corruption training programs that stick

• Avoiding common mistakes in counter-fraud training initiatives
• Tailoring your learning and development content to your participants
• Ensuring that lessons from your training programs reverberate long-term
• Achieving value for your investment in fraud control training
• Reviewing fraud knowledge levels regularly in your organisation

 

Marrying fraud and corruption controls with lasting positive outcomes

• Leveraging existing policy, resources, and processes to support new initiatives
• Developing a clear and enforceable code of conduct familiar to all employees
• Testing fraud controls rigorously along a pre-established schedule
• Establishing regularly reviewed policy frameworks and fraud risk tolerance levels
• Engaging with fraud consultants and regulators, with detailed documentation and reporting

 

Equipping your line management to control integrity and security risks

• Embedding integrity and diligence into standard practice for line managers
• Mitigating the fraud risks inherent in employee-supervisor relationships
• Developing targeted counter-fraud training programmes for direct supervisors
• Building communicative relationships between line managers and senior leadership

 

Preventing fraud and corruption from a risk management perspective

• Utilising contemporary risk management techniques and strategies within fraud control
• Conducting fraud risk assessments in accordance with industry standards and regulations
• Designing a dedicated risk management approach for each of your high-risk areas
• Adapting risk assessment outcomes to guide organisational policy response

 

Conducting effective investigations into potential fraud and misconduct

• Identifying common fraud red flags in your available data
• Accessing interagency support for complex investigations into misconduct
• Practicing appropriate interview and intelligence gathering strategies
• Determining next steps after successfully identifying misconduct in investigation

 

Designing your organisational fraud control strategy for improved detection

• Collecting and storing detailed information from all business functions
• Utilising tip-offs and protected disclosures to direct further investigation
• Strengthening your identification outcomes with automated detection testing
• Applying good sense in discerning between false positives and potential incidents

 

Conducting modern counter-fraud data analysis in practice

• Centring key principles in the sampling of organisational data
• Navigating confidentiality restrictions and other barriers to access
• Conducting a typical data analysis for fraud control outcomes
• Detailing each step of the data analysis process for a fraud control professional

 

Minimising organisational vulnerability to cybersecurity breaches

• Collaborating with IT professionals to defend against modern digital threats
• Promoting a cyber aware culture throughout the organisation
• Implementing software and policies to reduce risk of cyber attacks
• Designing a cybersecurity system with minimal disruption to business functions
• Minimising the fallout following a successful breach of your cybersecurity

 

Developing advanced cybersecurity strategies in a climate of insecurity

• Considering the lessons learnt from recent data breaches in major organisations
• Identifying the typical motivations and behaviours of digital fraudsters
• Rebuilding your organisation after a serious cybersecurity incident
• Designing your business structure around modern cybersecurity principles

 

Improving counter-fraud and anticorruption interagency collaboration

• Approaching other agencies to develop collaborative counter-fraud strategies
• Minimising siloing of intelligence and fraud control techniques in the public sector
• Contacting specialist agencies to facilitate your interagency fraud control strategy
• Intercepting fraudsters across jurisdictions, industries, and networks

 

Determining appropriate disciplinary consequences for internal fraudsters

• Establishing a ‘zero tolerance’ expectation for fraudulent conduct in your organisation
• Designing organisational policy and employee contracts for compliant disciplinary responses
• Balancing the severity of punishment with mitigating factors and offender wellbeing
• Managing broader workforce reactions to post-fraud disciplinary measures

 

Determining the significance of Artificial Intelligence in the modern counter-fraud landscape

• Comparing the threats and advantages of AI technology for fraud professionals
• Identifying the limitations of current AI technology for professionals and belligerents
• Utilising artificial intelligence in systematic analysis of large datasets
• Navigating the ethical risks of AI technologies with regular process reviews
• Forecasting the role of AI in the future of fraud and corruption

 

Confronting corruption and fraud risks throughout the procurement process

• Embedding distributed accountability processes in procurement and accounting
• Improving fraud controls around value for money and tender bidding
• Refining invoicing and record-keeping procedures to aid investigations
• Conducting regular audits of procurement controls and records
• Identifying achievable ‘first steps’ to transform procurement fraud risk management

 

Utilising modern technology in the management of public sector fraud and corruption

• Preventing fraud with sophisticated identification and security
• Leveraging data analysis and automated testing software to detect fraud risks
• Empowering your investigations with case management and fact-finding tools
• Anticipating steps to recover funds and discipline offenders with management technologies
• Defending against advanced fraudsters utilising similar technology in attacks

 

Evaluating the common characteristics of the modern fraudster

• Contrasting historic fraud with fraudulent conduct today
• Concentrating fraud risk management strategies around typical motivators of misconduct
• Embedding behavioural red flags in fraud detection strategies
• Formulating fraud investigatory actions based on standard offender responses

 

Evaluating the role of the new National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)

• Assessing the role of the new federal regulator in state jurisdictions
• Evaluating the investigative powers of the NACC by law
• Identifying the appropriate regulatory body for a given incident
• Developing organisational fraud control processes in a new regulatory environment

 

Achieving executive buy-in for adequate fraud control resourcing and support

• Presenting the business case for fraud and corruption controls
• Developing cost-efficient and evidence-based proposals for fraud programs
• Outlining the importance of fraud control efficiently to senior leaders
• Demonstrating visible investment in fraud control to deter would-be offenders