Fraud and Theft
At St Joseph's School, the board and principal are committed to protecting the financial resources of the school, including preventing and detecting 
fraud and theft. We promote a culture of transparency, responsibility, and compliance. All members of our school community are expected to act with integrity and follow school policies and procedures. This policy is shared with staff and board members regularly.
Fraud is the deliberate practice of deception in order to receive unfair, unjustified, or unlawful gain.
- Corruption is a type of fraud – it is the lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery) or the use of a position of trust for dishonest gain.
- Bribery is a type of corruption – it is the giving or receiving, whether directly or indirectly, of something of value to influence a transaction.
See Controller and Auditor-General: Discouraging fraud 
We safeguard our school from fraud and theft by:
- having adequate internal controls to reduce the risk of fraud – see Finance and Asset Management Policy
Internal controls are systems and processes to promote financial integrity. We document and implement internal control measures to reduce the likelihood of errors and the risk of fraud and theft, and to ensure we understand who is responsible for financial procedures and information.
We consider internal control measures in the following areas to promote financial integrity:
- Governance – having documentation (e.g. policies, procedures, interest registers) in place and meeting regularly to ensure this is up to date.
- Segregation of duties – having different people perform financial duties (e.g. receipting cash, authorising expenditure, approving and recording payroll) to reduce the risk of individuals engaging in fraudulent behaviour.
- Banking – limiting access to the banking system and authorisation of payments according to recorded delegations, controlling authorisation and usage of any school bank cards, and completing regular bank reconciliations to compare planned income and expenditure with bank transactions.
- Cash handling – encouraging electronic payment rather than cash payments, limiting petty cash, and storing cash securely if it is received and banking this as soon as possible (as well as segregating these duties).
- Payroll – strengthening payroll internal controls (e.g. by following EdPay guidance).
- Journals – authorising journals being posted, segregating duties for preparing and posting journals, and keeping documentation to support manual journals.
- Passwords – maintaining secure passwords for internet banking and any accounting systems, updating passwords regularly and not sharing these with non-delegated staff.
For more information about internal controls, see the Financial information for schools handbook, internal control checklist and segregation of duties matrix in Day-to-day financial management (Ministry of Education).
- following all reporting and auditing requirements – see Financial Monitoring and Reporting
- ensuring that income and expenditure is appropriately authorised, recorded, and reconciled – see Banking and Cash Handling
- providing guidance to board members and staff about financial conflicts of interest – see Financial Conflicts of Interest
- having appropriate security measures, including computer security and cybersecurity – see Security Management and Computer Security and Cybersecurity
- protecting personal information about individuals – see Privacy Policy
- completing background and reference checks for new employees and monitoring staff conduct – see Stages of Appointment and Staff Conduct
- assessing offers of sponsorship to ensure that the school is accepting appropriate funds and there is no personal benefit – see Sponsorship.
Before working with a new supplier, we assess their reputation and potential risks, taking extra care with suppliers not well known.
Reporting
Any member of the school community who suspects that theft or fraud has occurred should report this as soon as possible. See Raising Concerns and Complaints.
- If staff or board members are concerned about reporting theft or fraud within the school, they can contact outside organisations (e.g. Office of the Auditor-General, New Zealand Police).
- If the theft or fraud constitutes serious wrongdoing, those who meet the definition of a discloser can follow our internal procedures for protected disclosure. See Protected Disclosure.
- Actual or suspected theft or fraud will also be reported to the relevant law enforcement authority or other agency.
Responding to fraud and theft
St Joseph's School investigates and responds to allegations of fraud and theft through our concerns and complaints processes. All matters related to an investigation are strictly confidential and all written information is kept securely. Matters are managed according to who is involved. See Concerns and Complaints Policy and Assessing and Responding to Concerns and Complaints.
If fraud is suspected, we seek advice immediately and report the matter to the relevant person or authority (e.g. NZSBA, insurance provider, Ministry school finance advisor, auditor, forensic accountant, solicitor, police).
Related policies
Legislation
- Education and Training Act 2020
- Crimes Act 1961
Resources
- Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga:
- Controller and Auditor-General | Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake: Discouraging fraud
Term 3 2025, Term 2 2021, Term 3 2020
The release history is a record of changes made to a SchoolDocs Core topic as the result of an internal or scheduled review. The date indicates when a change was made. If you have a customised topic, it may not have received the updates described. Release history links are kept for five years, then archived.
(see "Fraud and Internal Controls")
