Management accountability

People and performance

Management accountability

Our main corporate governance practices

The Commission, as a legal entity, is constituted by the President and the Commissioners. The President is the senior member of the Commission. The Commission meets every six-to-eight weeks to make its decisions. All meetings are minuted.

The responsibilities of the Commission include preparing and implementing the strategic plan, ensuring compliance with the APS Code of Conduct, ensuring transparency and accountability for our work and fostering high ethical standards in its execution. The President has specific responsibility for financial management but has delegated some of those functions to the Executive Director.

The Commission has developed a Governance Handbook which sets out its responsibilities and, where relevant, the individual responsibilities of the President and specific Commissioners.

Identifying financial and operational risk

We annually review and identify changes to business and operational risks through our business risk assessment. Risks are categorised according to whether they are strategic or corporate in nature. Controls and risk-mitigating strategies are also identified along with an assessment of the residual risk.

Protecting against fraud

We have undertaken a Fraud Risk Assessment, developed a Fraud Control Plan and have procedures and processes in place to assist in fraud prevention, detection, investigation and reporting in line with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines. The Fraud Control Plan is available electronically to all Commission staff.

Audit committee

Consistent with the Australian Stock Exchange principles of good corporate governance and the requirements of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth), we maintain an audit committee. The audit committee advises the President on compliance with external reporting requirements and the effectiveness and efficiency of internal control and risk management mechanisms. The audit committee met four times during the reporting period.