Under section 13AE of the TSI Act and section 29 of the PGPA Act, Commissioners must declare to the Minister any interests which are material personal interests.
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- To be a ‘personal interest’, the interest need not be an interest by which a person will receive some financial or pecuniary benefit. The interest may be with respect to a view that a person has in relation to a matter and in that sense is personal to them
- To be ‘material’ a personal interest must be of a type that can give rise to a real or perceived conflict of interest. Personal interests do not give rise to a conflict of interest unless there is a real or sensible possibility of conflict and not simply a remote or theoretical possibility of conflict. In addition, to be ‘material’, the nature and substance of the interest must have the capacity to impact on the ability of the person to honestly discharge their duties to the entity.
- Relevant Commonwealth Government guidance states: the overriding principle for a declaration of a material personal interest should be: if in doubt, declare the interest in accordance with the appropriate process.