A robotic vacuum cleaner, holidays, cash, gift cards, perfume, jewellery, $1,500 yoga classes and Air Jordan sneakers.
It's just a sample of the tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts Queensland state schoolteachers have declared they received from parents in the past 18 months.
Education Queensland managers say the gifts, which have all been approved by supervisors for acceptance, are permissible under public service policies.
But an ABC examination of the gifts handed to teachers in the past 18 months has found their receipt may breach the enforceable regulations of the Queensland Public Service Commission.
That says "gifts other than a token or a memento must not be accepted unless it can be shown to be of benefit to the agency".
The scenario has been described as concerning by veteran ethics expert Howard Whitton, who questioned why gift-giving to teachers was being allowed.
"The conflict-of-interest risks could lead to a cash-for-grade scenario and a potential arms race between parents," he said.
Mr Whitton is a former ethics adviser to the Queensland government and was involved in writing the original Queensland legislation on public service ethics and whistleblowing.
"It leads to, 'Oh, he got to be captain of the football team or a prefect because his parents gave $2,500'," Mr Whitton said.
The ABC has found more than $60,000 worth of gifts were listed in the past 18 months as being given to teachers. The gifts include:
- a $600 gift voucher and card
- $773 worth of Kiss tickets
- a $500 restaurant voucher
- a $350 robotic vacuum cleaner
- $500 cash
- two $1,500 yoga memberships
- $385 Rebel sport voucher
Yoga memberships, shoes as 'end-of-year appreciation' gifts
Most of the gifts were from parent groups, but some were from individual parents.
In many cases, the reason listed for giving the gift was for a life event or end-of-year appreciation.
In the case of the yoga classes, the department's declaration states that two 12-month yoga memberships worth $1,500 each were gifted to teachers because a "parent owns the company and believes the wellness benefits offered are beneficial to the teachers".
The six Kiss tickets were gifted by a parent to an Education Queensland employee to be distributed to school staff "to promote RUOK day", the department's register said.
The register said the pair of Air Jordan 1 Retro OG Satin Red women's shoes were declared as being given by a family as an "end of school year appreciation gift".
It said the robotic vacuum cleaner was also gifted by a student's family to a teacher as an "end of school year appreciation gift".
The department said that an incident where a teacher was gifted $500 cash by a student's family had been allowed because the delegated approving officer was satisfied that exceptional circumstances warranted its acceptance.
"Due to its personal nature the Department of Education cannot provide any further information about this matter,'' a spokesperson said.
The ABC does not suggest any of the teachers who have declared receipt of the gifts have acted inappropriately.
Gifts policy at odds with public service directive
Education Queensland has defended the practice of teachers receiving gifts, saying the acceptance of a gift or benefit was assessed on an individual basis and teachers were not to accept gifts or benefits that were intended to influence the independent and impartial performance of their duties.
The department also directed the ABC to the Queensland Education's Gifts and Benefits Procedure, which states teachers are required to fill out a declaration form if the gift is valued at over $150 or is of cultural significance.
They must also seek the approval of an appropriately delegated officer before using the gift or benefit.
It also states that teachers should "refuse cash or an item readily converted to cash such as lottery tickets scratchies or shares".
The department directed the ABC to the Public Service Commission Directive 22/09.
But this directive appears to be at odds with the department's policy as it states that "any gift other than a token or a memento must not be accepted unless it can be shown to be of benefit to the agency, the state of Queensland and or the public generally".
It also states that any gift or benefit that is worth more than $350 may only be retained by an employee if their accountable officer considers it has been given in "exceptional circumstances".
Mr Whitton questioned why gifts that were not mementos or tokens were being allowed to be accepted when the PSC directive 7.2 says they should not be allowed.
"I think there's a lot of work to be done to find out how it is that particular gifts were approved,'' he said.
"How are these gifts, mementos or tokens?''
Mr Whitton also queried how something becomes an "exceptional circumstance" that would allow the acceptance of a $350 gift.
"People need to remember that the purpose of rules about conflict of interest are primarily intended to protect public confidence in the integrity of public institutions and public servants, including teachers," he said.
An Education Queensland spokesperson said employees were expected to comply with the department's gifts and benefits procedure, including to obtain appropriate approval before they retain and use the gift.
"A senior officer assesses every gift received by an employee against the department and whole of government requirements and makes a determination on whether it is an appropriate gift for the employee to accept,'' the spokesperson said.
"Teachers, and all public servants, may consider accepting gifts that are offered in gratitude of a task or for exemplary performance of their duties. In schools, gifts of this nature are most commonly received at the end of the calendar year.
"Teachers play a critical and influential role in a student's life. The department recognises that there is a strong tradition of parents giving gifts to express their gratitude to teachers in our state schools."
In a statement, the education department confirmed dozens of gifts worth in excess of $350 were retained by teachers in 2022.
"The acceptance of high-value gifts does not frequently occur in schools," it said.
The spokesperson said there was no expectation that families should provide gifts to teachers.
"While families are free to offer gifts, departmental employees must not ask for or encourage the giving of a gift or benefit in connection with the performance of their official duties,'' the spokesperson said.
"If offered a gift of any value, employees must consider whether the gift or benefit is appropriate to accept including why the offer was made [and] the public perception of acceptance."
The Queensland Teachers Union played down concerns about conflicts of interest being raised by the practice.
"Our members, our school leaders are absolutely aware of their obligations and requirements in declaring gifts that they may receive throughout the year,'' president Cresta Richardson said.
"They have to do training at the beginning of the year that talks about what might be a perceived conflict of interests ... and we know that any gift over $150 has to be declared."
P&C's Queensland, which represented parents, has been contacted for comment.
