Board of Management Committee
The role of the Board of Management (BOM) Committee is to provide a forum for decision-making and to debate, discuss and agree on departmental direction for key strategic and operational issues. It also monitors performance and reporting requirements for agency targets, reviews risk treatment strategies and actions, and provides continual monitoring of the risk appetite for the agency.
Additionally, the BOM assesses whole-of-government priorities for agency implications relating to policy and resourcing, manages the department's audit recommendations and subsequent implementation actions to ensure a robust, compliant agency. It utilises all available analytics and insights to drive the department to provide engaging and relevant community programs to meet the agency vision.
BOM Membership
Chair
Director-General
Members
- Deputy Director-General – Investment
- Deputy Director-General – Engagement
- Deputy Director-General – Strategy
- Deputy Director-General – Policy and Performance
- Head of Corporate
Observers
- Director, Office of the Director-General
- Head of Corporate Services
Risk management
The department's risk, internal audit and assurance functions are outsourced to PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC). The risk management function works with business areas to identify any relevant risk mitigation strategies for implementation by the respective business areas.
The department has a two-tiered structure of risk registers to ensure that all risks are reviewed, escalated, managed and reported at an appropriate level within the organisation, including reporting escalated risks quarterly to the DESBT Board of Management.
In strengthening internal controls, the department has a Fraud Control Officer who oversees the coordinated implementation of the department's Fraud and Corruption Control Framework.
Audit and Risk Committee
The role of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) is to provide independent assurance and assistance to the Director-General of DESBT on:
- the risk, control and compliance frameworks
- the agency's external accountability responsibilities as prescribed in the relevant legislation and standards
- the agency's integrity framework.
The committee does not replace or replicate established management responsibilities and delegations, the responsibilities of other executive management groups within DESBT or the reporting lines and responsibilities of either internal audit or external audit functions.
The ARC assists the accountable officer to meet responsibilities under the Financial Accountability Act 2009, the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 and other prescribed requirements.
ARC will meet quarterly and must observe the terms of its charter and have due regard to the Audit Committee Guidelines.
In addition, monitoring the implementation progress of agreed actions against all Queensland Audit Office (QAO) audit recommendations is performed.
ARC carries out a range of activities to maintain oversight of key financial, risk and performance management activities for the department including:
- Financial statements—reviewing the appropriateness of accounting policies and financial statements for compliance and analysing our financial performance
- Risk management—reviewing the effectiveness of the department's risk management framework, and processes for identifying, monitoring, escalating and managing significant business risks
- Integrity oversight and misconduct prevention—monitoring misconduct trends and prevention approaches, providing advice on integrity issues and ensuring compliance with relevant integrity legislation and whole-of-government policies, principles and guidelines
- Internal control—reviewing, with the assistance of the department's internal and external audit functions, the adequacy of our internal controls, including information technology security
- Performance management—reviewing compliance with the relevant legislative and whole-of-government performance management and reporting requirements and identifying appropriate use of performance information
- Internal and external audit—reviewing and approving the department's Internal Audit Plan, consulting with External Audit on the proposed audit strategy, and reviewing findings and recommendations from audit activity to ensure key risks are considered and mitigated.
ARC membership
Chair
Karen Prentis (external chair)
Members
- Deputy Director-General – Investment
- Deputy Director-General – Engagement
- Deputy Director-General – Strategy
- Deputy Director-General – Policy and Performance
- Chief Finance Officer - Queensland Treasury (public sector external)
Internal audit
PwC provides an independent and objective internal audit service and operates in accordance with the department's ARC Charter, the Internal Audit Charter and ethical standards. Internal Audit reports administratively to the Director-General and functionally for operations to the ARC though the Chair, with direct access to both if necessary. Internal Audit evaluates the department's financial and operational systems, reporting processes and activities. Although independent, Internal Audit liaises with QAO regularly to ensure appropriate assurance services are provided.
Internal Audit develops an annual plan which is reviewed by the ARC and approved by the Director-General.
External scrutiny
The department is subject to a number of external reviewers, including the Queensland Auditor-General, the Office of the Information Commissioner (Queensland), the Crime and Corruption Commission (Queensland) and the Queensland Ombudsman.
Queensland Audit Office (QAO) reports tabled in the Queensland Parliament
The Auditor-General is an independent officer of Parliament, appointed for a fixed 7-year term. The QAO enables the Auditor-General to fulfil this role by providing professional financial and performance audit services to the Queensland Parliament and the public sector on behalf of the Auditor-General.
The following QAO reports are applicable to the department and were tabled by the Queensland Auditor-General in Parliament during 2020–21:
- Report: Effectiveness of audit committees in state government entities (Report 2: 2020–21)
- Report: Queensland Government response to COVID-19 (Report 3: 2020–21)
- Report: State Entities 2020 (Report 13: 2020–21)
- Report: State Finances 2020–21 (Report 15: 2020–21)
- Report: Education 2020 (Report 18: 2020–21).
For more information, visit:
For information about the reviews conducted by the Queensland Training Ombudsman during 2020–21 involving the department, visit the Queensland Training Ombudsman website.
Information systems and recordkeeping
Pursuant to section 7 of the Public Records Act 2002 (Qld), the department must make and keep full and accurate records of its activities and have regard to any relevant policy, standards and guidelines made by the archivist about the making and keeping of records.
Last updated 18 May 2023
