DSI 001 ยท Governance
Impartiality and independence
A DSI 001 result is only worth relying on if the way it was produced is impartial. This policy sets out how the scheme keeps preparation, assessment and the standard apart, how relationships are disclosed, and how conflicts are identified and managed.
Three roles, kept apart
DSI 001 separates three roles, on the same principle as an independent audit: the auditor does not prepare the accounts.
- Evidence preparation. The organisation, with a preparation tool if it chooses, assembles and preserves the governance evidence. Preparation never scores, classifies or certifies.
- Assessment. The assessor evaluates the evidence and issues the GBI result, independently of preparation.
- The standard. Decision Standards Institute publishes and maintains the standard, authorises assessors to operate under the DSI 001 scheme, and does not assess or prepare.
The prepare-or-assess wall
The assessor must be independent of the organisation it assesses, and may not assess a system or scope for which it has provided readiness, remediation or implementation support. This is the prepare-or-assess wall, and it is absolute. An organisation that produces its own assessment has produced a self-assessment, not a certification.
Common control, disclosed
Independence is managed by disclosure, not concealed. The assessor currently operating under DSI 001, Attestra Pty Ltd, is under common control with the operator of the Custara evidence product. That relationship is disclosed on every report Attestra issues, and on the assessor directory. The Institute that publishes and governs the standard sits outside that ownership group.
Disclosing a relationship is not the same as a conflict. The wall above means the same party never both prepares and assesses a given system. The disclosure means a reader can weigh a result with the relationship in view, rather than discover it later.
How conflicts are identified and managed
Before an assessment proceeds, the assessor screens for relationships that could affect, or appear to affect, the objectivity of the result, including any preparation, readiness or implementation support provided to the same system or scope. Where a screen identifies such a relationship, the assessor does not proceed on that scope.
An independent impartiality function, with authority over conflict decisions, is being established. Until it is in place, potential conflicts are escalated and resolved conservatively, in favour of declining or disclosing rather than proceeding. This page will be updated to describe that function once it is operating.
Adding independent assessors
Authorising independent, non-related assessors is a priority for the scheme. Organisations interested in becoming an authorised assessor can register an expression of interest through the Institute at enquiries@decision-standards-institute.org.
Review and accountability
Authorisation carries accountability for the quality of the assessments produced, subject to a review mechanism that can withdraw authorisation where an assessor fails to meet the standard. Concerns about a result, an assessor's conduct or the scheme can be raised through the complaints and appeals process.