About
UQ is a prestigious University, ranking consistently in the Top 50 Universities globally with $2.2Bn AUD in revenue, over 55,000 students, and close to 7,000 staff across 3 campuses. It also has an extensive Research department, with funding from both private and public funding and grants.
As an organisation it needs to operate with the utmost integrity and transparency. Issues like fraud or conflict of interest are therefore a key reputational risk for the university.
What we did
UQ first implemented Verify to monitor its accounts payable function, quickly identifying duplicate payments totalling more than $3.5 milllion. UQ then added Verify’s conflict of interest module.
This resulted in an automated monitoring of Vendor and Employee master files, as well as cross-referencing external data sources such as the Australian Business Registry (ABR).
The outcome
The automated monitoring of accounts payable saved UQ considerable funds as the payment discrepancies were identified in real-time, allowing for early recovery.
The insights gathered from monitoring led UQ to implement a number of changes, including tightening the conflict-of-interest policies, running education programs on disclosure and self-declaration requirements across the University, and commencing an annual self-declaration of Conflict of Interest.
External oversight bodies have been impressed with the automated tools put in place by UQ.