Corporate governance
The CGC has structures and processes in place to implement the principles and objectives of good corporate governance. The CGC is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). This imposes accountability requirements similar to those of a department, but gives the CGC independence from the policies of the Department of the Treasury.
The Commonwealth Grants Commission Act 1973 appoints the Secretary of the CGC as the accountable authority, as defined by the PGPA Act. The Secretary is responsible for the governance and performance of the CGC and for working with the Chairperson and the other members of the commission to steer and manage the deliverables of the CGC.
The three main committees that assist in the management of the organisation are the Executive Committee, Workplace Representative Committee, and Audit Committee. The membership and roles of these committees are shown in Table 4.
Table 4 CGC Committees as at 30 June 2020
Committee | Membership | Role and activities |
Executive Committee | Members of the senior executive, with support provided by the Chief Operating Officer | The committee:
|
Workplace Representative Committee | The Secretary (as the chair), three staff members and the Chief Operating Officer | Established under the Commonwealth Grants Commission Enterprise Agreement 2015–2018, the committee monitors matters concerning the implementation and interpretation of the agreement and general workplace issues, and coordinates employee involvement in the development and ratification of policies or guidelines that affect the terms and conditions of employment. |
Audit Committee | Two external members (one of whom is chair) and a member of the senior executive, with support provided by the Chief Operating Officer | Established under the provisions of the PGPA Act, the committee provides independent assurance and assistance to the Secretary on the CGC’s risk, control and compliance framework, and its financial statement responsibilities. |
Audit committee
Table 5 Audit committee members and attendance, 2019–20
Name | Qualifications | Attendance |
Nicholas Creagh | CPA, Assistant Secretary, Finance Branch at DPS (CFO) | 3/3 |
Michelle Crowther | CPA, Assistant Secretary, Shared Services at PM&C | 3/3 |
Anthony Nichols | Assistant Secretary at CGC | 3/3 |
Audit committee members received no remuneration for their work on the audit committee.
The audit committee charter can be found at cgc.gov.au.
Corporate planning
The CGC published its Corporate Plan 2019–20 on its website, cgc.gov.au, as required under paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. The corporate plan sets out our purpose and performance measures, and is an important tool in articulating the CGC’s strategic direction to staff and external audiences.
Fraud prevention
There were no incidents of fraud in 2019–20. The CGC’s risk management framework is an important part of our corporate governance responsibilities, and risk management is overseen by the Audit and Risk Committee. The Chief Operating Officer is responsible to the senior executive for ensuring that risk management is aligned with overall business strategy.
External scrutiny
The CGC is subject to an annual financial statements audit by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). During 2019–20, the CGC was not the subject of any ANAO performance audits. There have been no significant developments in external scrutiny of the CGC during 2019–20.
Visit
https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/commonwealth-grants-commission/reporting-year/2019-20-25