Critical decision recording 110-11010040

Critical decisions are those decisions made during the course of a fraud investigation that:

• involve a significant change in the direction of the investigation
• involve a significant change in resources involved in the investigation
• involve a significant risk or sensitivity
• involve a significant impact on the investigation achieving the stated outcomes, or
• are designated as a decision point that requires managerial approval

Critical decisions require management approval before the proposed action is implemented.

Approval sits with either the Senior Investigator/ Approver of Investigations or the Regional Investigations Operations Meetings (RIOM). If RIOM approval is required, it must first be submitted to, and supported by, the Senior Investigator/ Approver of Investigations.

Critical decision points and responsibility for approval.

• Recognise when a critical decision is required, see Item 1
• Not undertake the proposed action until approval has been provided by the Approver and/or the RIOM, including EL2 acknowledgement
• Complete Critical Decision Record (CDR) template, see Item 5
• Record submission of CDR - in the case management system
• Detail the action being proposed and the justification for this action
• Provide supporting material that has been obtained during the investigation
• If appropriate, amend the investigation plan to reflect the critical decision

• Determine if the proposed course of action is necessary and appropriate
• Ensure CDR is of a suitable quality
• Record the decision on the CDR:
• If approved, the Senior Investigator/Approver is accepting responsibility for the decision.
• If supported pending RIOM approval, ensure that the proposed action is not undertaken until the RIOM approval and EL2 acknowledgement is provided. Relay the decision of the OMC to the investigator
• If not approved, state the reasons. Discuss with the investigator any decision that is not approved
• Record activity/case note and decision in the case management system

• Determine if the proposed course of action is necessary and appropriate
• Record the decision in the minutes of the RIOM meeting and submit the minutes, accompanied by the CDR, for acknowledgement from the National Manager
• Record activity/case note and decision in the case management system for decisions made by the committee

In providing approval for a critical decision, the RIOM is accepting responsibility for the decision.

Select the CDR template from within the Investigation Toolkit or embedded within the case management system.

Complete the template sections:

Proposed action

Select the critical decision point that has been reached and the action that needs to be approved, see Item 1. If 'Other' is selected, provide additional details.

Background

The investigation start date is the date as recorded in the case management system.

Record details of any raised debts linked to the case. If debts have not been raised, record the estimated debt and clearly identify it as an 'estimate'.

The allegation should have been stated in the investigation plan, but may have changed. For help, see Creating or reviewing the investigation plan.

List the inquiries conducted.

Findings

Detail the information/evidence gathered from the investigative inquiries. This includes relevant information that goes to proving or disproving the allegation. Findings should clearly state what the inquiries were able to confirm.

Present findings in a logical way, for example, for a member of couple investigation findings could be broken down into the 5 criteria used to assess a member of couple relationship. In other cases it may be more appropriate to present findings in chronological order, or in components if the allegation is multifaceted.

Other considerations

Include any that are relevant to the proposed action and approval of this decision, for example:

• media or ministerial interest
• customer sensitivities or vulnerabilities
• risks associated with the proposed action or
• relevant policy or legal advice that has been received in respect of the case

Conclusion and recommendation

The conclusion should summarise the key findings, the analysis of these findings, and the conclusions that can be drawn from this analysis. It should justify the proposed action.

The recommendation will restate the proposed action. If necessary, provide further explanation to clarify how this action will be undertaken.

• The CDR should be selected from within the appropriate activity or Investigation Toolkit
• Complete components of the CDR
• Upload the CDR to the case management system. This will save the document if using the embedded version
• To submit CDR for approval, change status to 'Waiting Approval by TL'
• The CDR will then appear as a 'Workflow Task' for the Approver and can be approved through this workflow. The type of CDR activity will determine if RIOM approval is required. Activities requiring RIOM approval will appear in the 'Workflow Task' for the RIOM and can be approved through this workflow
• For CDRs approved in the case management system there is no need for a hard copy to be placed on the investigation file