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ABF Officer Recruit SJT study materials
ABF Officer Recruit SJT study resources

ABF Officer Recruit SJT: Integrity, Ethics and Professional Standards

ABF Officer Recruit SJT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Integrity, Ethics and Professional Standards

What this domain tests

Integrity questions ask whether you will do the right thing when it is inconvenient, unobserved, or costly. The concepts you must hold clearly are: honesty (accurate reporting, no exaggeration of evidence or qualifications), conflict of interest (declaring and stepping back from decisions where a personal, family or financial interest could bias you), confidentiality and data handling (sharing only with those who need to know, using approved systems), gifts and hospitality (declaring anything that could create obligation), and the duty to report concerns through proper channels rather than informally.

Traps to expect

  • The loyal-but-wrong option. A colleague asks you to overlook a minor breach "just this once". The distractor is framed as team loyalty; the right answer usually involves not colluding and escalating proportionately.
  • The over-reaction option. Reporting a trivial first-time slip straight to an external body or a senior leader is usually wrong; proportionate, local resolution first is preferred unless the matter is serious or already ignored.
  • The silent fix. Quietly correcting a record without telling anyone hides the original error and destroys the audit trail. Disclose and correct.
  • The "no policy covers it" excuse. Absence of a specific rule is not permission. Apply the principles.

Rule of thumb

Ask three questions in order: Is it honest and lawful? Would I be comfortable if it were fully visible to my supervisor and the public? Am I the right person to act, or must I declare and escalate? If any answer is uncomfortable, escalate through the line of command and record what you did.

Worked example

A supplier offers you tickets to a sporting event worth a significant sum during a procurement. You are not the deciding officer but sit on the panel. Best action: decline or declare in writing to your manager and the procurement lead, and withdraw from any discussion of that supplier. Not: accept and "stay objective", and not: accept silently because you are not the decision-maker - perceived influence is enough to create risk.