Tickets to the AFL, entry into private marquees at the races and items worth more than $1000 are among presents Victorian public servants have accepted while dispensing millions of dollars in contracts.
The state's government agencies have been warned they are not doing enough to prevent public servants from having a conflict of interest because of any gifts and benefits they receive.
Public institutions need to get better at cracking down on public servants accepting gifts if they want to avoid corruption or misconduct, Victoria's acting Auditor-General says in a report on Thursday.
"Victorians rightly expect public sector employees ...(to) apply the highest standards of integrity and impartiality," Peter Frost said.
Some agencies in the arts sector were audited as part of a probe into the effectiveness of the government's gifts, benefits and hospitality guidelines.
The Arts Centre Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria, and Museum Victoria accepted most gifts they were offered, the report says.
Almost half of these gifts came from organisations which received a total of $14.1 million in contracts administered by the three bodies.
A fourth agency - Creative Victoria, the body charged with developing the state's arts sector - said it declined more offers than it accepted, but kept no records of this.
Premium tickets to sporting events and invitations to private Melbourne Spring Carnival functions were some of the gifts accepted by staff that posed a conflict of interest.
Museum Victoria accepted all but one of the 38 offers of gifts.
The museum has been singled out by the auditor-general for trying to justify its gift record.
"I have some concerns about Museum Victoria's response to this report," Dr Frost said.
He said no amount of explanation addresses the "clearly inadequate management of the significant risks posed" by gifts and other benefits on the impartiality and integrity of government agencies.
The auditor-general has handed down six recommendations aimed at improving how the government monitors the gifts their employees receive and reduces the risk of misconduct.
