Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee

What does this committee do? 

The objective of the committee is to provide independent assurance, oversight and assistance to Council on risk management, control, governance, internal audits, organisational performance and external responsibilities in an advisory capacity.

The responsibilities of the committee will include, but not be limited to, keeping under review the following aspects of Council’s operations:

  • Compliance
  • Risk management
  • Fraud control
  • Financial management
  • Governance
  • Implementation of the strategic plan, delivery program and strategies
  • Service reviews
  • Collection of performance measurement data by the Council, and
  • Any other matter prescribed by the regulations

The Committee’s role is to review aspects of Council’s operation and provide advice and guidance to Council for the purpose of improving the performance of its functions.

It is important the work of the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) is thoroughly planned. To help guide this work ARIC have developed the MidCoast ARIC Strategic Plan(PDF, 3MB) that will be reviewed and updated at least annually.

On an annual basis the Chair provides an ARIC Annual Report to Council along with the Audit Plan for the coming year. Copies of the Annual Reports are provided below.

ARIC Annual Reports

End of Term Report

At the end of each Council term ARIC prepares a report for Council that presents a comprehensive strategic assessment of the structure of the Committee and the work undertaken by ARIC over the Council term.

 

Committee Membership

The Committee membership (voting) comprises two elected Councillors and three independent external members, one of whom is the Chairperson.

The members of the Committee are:

Stephen Coates (Chair)

Stephen has a background as an experienced internal audit professional. He is currently President of IIA-Australia and member of the global International Internal Audit Standards Board (IIASB). Stephen has held senior roles in advisory and consulting services, technology risk consulting, and assurance services. His focus is on authoritative, independent, and confidential advice to enterprise and technology leadership on delivering improved strategic deployment, risk culture, technology insight and systems and operations performance. He also chairs a number of Audit Risk & Improvement Committees nationally. Stephen tries to bring a culture of continuous improvement to his work, and has a passion is helping Boards and Committees make good decisions.

Mark McCoy 
BCom MBA FCA FFin FCG (CS, CGP) FGIA FAICD

Mark has twenty years of experience as a non-executive director in banking, software, hospital and aged care sectors, and as chair of various board committees for over fifteen years.

His ‘day job’ is running his own professional practice advising the boards and CEOs of public and private sector clients on a wide range of governance-related and other business issues.

He has taught twenty different accounting, finance, business information systems, governance and international business subjects to post-graduate and undergraduate students at four universities during the last fifteen years.

He was the original author of all director-related governance guidance notes published by Lexis Nexis through a subscription service.

Shane Hubble

Shane has over 20 years’ experience working as a corporate governance, enterprise risk and internal audit specialist. The majority of these years have come from a combination of working with international entities, local government and professional service firms.

He is a professional member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand as a chartered accountant and enterprise risk specialist; a certified fellow of the Institute of Internal Auditors as a certified internal auditor; and a fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

His passion lies in assisting executives to manage enterprise risks and in assisting organisations to drive a culture that continuously improves corporate governance, ethics, compliance and a strong internal control culture.

Cr Alan Tickle

Deputy Mayor, Cr Alan Tickle is one of the appointed Councillors to the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee.

For further information about Cr Tickle, visit the Councillors page on our website.

Cr Jeremy Miller

Cr Jeremy Miller is one of the appointed Councillors to the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee.

For further information about Cr Miller, visit the Councillors page on our website.

The General Manager and other staff participate in Committee meetings as required.

Committee meetings

The Committee meets at least four times per year for approximately three hours. If necessary, additional meetings/s will be held to review and endorse the annual audited financial reports.

Enquiries

All enquiries or requests for information should be directed to Rob Griffiths, Manager Governance on 0427 062 593 or email [email protected].