Communities and Justice

Secondary employment and unpaid work

The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) acknowledges that employees (senior executives and non-senior executives) may for various reasons wish to undertake work in addition to their primary employment with DCJ. This work may take the form of a secondary role within the Stronger Communities Cluster, or private work external to DCJ which may include, but not limited to, working for another employer, self-employment and owning, operating or being a director of a private business, etc.

The Secondary Employment and Unpaid Work (SEUW) Policy and Procedure (PDF, 298.8 KB) provides information on the requirements for employees wishing to undertake SEUW. It also provides guidance for employees when applying or approving SEUW applications.

Employees must not engage in any form of paid employment outside their official duties without prior approval, which includes a formal Agreement.

The SEUW Policy and Procedure does not apply to unpaid or voluntary work undertaken by DCJ employees. However, voluntary work may pose a conflict of interest and should be addressed using the Conflicts of Interest Policy and Procedure.

You must complete a SEUW application:

  • Prior to undertaking any SEUW
  • At least annually (during November) where an existing SEUW is in place

All SEUW application will expire on 30 November each year, irrespective of when the last approval was granted.

How to submit an application

For accessibility reasons, it is highly recommended that you complete the online form using either a laptop/tablet or PC.

Please see the Secondary Employment and Unpaid Work form and answer all questions.

Business Ethics & Compliance Unit (BECU) Dashboard

Declarants will be able to access their SEUW (draft or completed) and any other relevant business ethics declarations/applications such as Conflicts of Interest via the BECU Dashboard. Declarants will receive a password when they complete (even as a draft) a declaration to allow them to access the Dashboard at any time.

Delegated officers will be able to access all business ethics declarations/applications (e.g. SEPID, Conflicts of Interest, Secondary Employment, etc.) via the BECU Dashboard. Delegated officers will receive a password when they receive a pending declaration (or when submitting their own declarations/applications) (even as a draft) to allow them to access the Dashboard. This means that all employee declarations pending review and approval are available via this single portal.

It is highly recommended that applicants and delegated officers set (and save) their own password which will then be reflected in future workflow emails for the business ethics online forms.

Security of your information

Declarations will be stored in a secure database in accordance with Information and Digital Services (IDS) policies and with the Privacy & Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Those who have access to SEUW information are listed on page 19 of the SEUW Policy and Procedure.

All personal and health information collected, managed and disclosed under the program will comply with the requirements of the NSW Privacy Laws as outlined in the Department’s Privacy Management Plan.

Associated programs

Associated codes, policies, procedures and guidelines that relate to the SEUW Program include, but not limited to:

Contact and support

Advice and support is available from the Business Ethics and Compliance Unit (BECU) via the SecondaryEmploymentUnpaidWork@dcj.nsw.gov.au mailbox.

If you have trouble accessing the documents on this page or to request an accessible version, please contact us.

Last updated:

29 Nov 2023