Meeting papers

      Enterprise Risk and Opportunity Management                                                                                      Audit and Risk Committee

      Managing risks and opportunities is part of good leadership and governance and is fundamental to how Council is                 In accordance with subdivision 2 of the LG Regulation, Council conducts Audit and Risk Committee meetings
      managed at all levels. Council manages risks and opportunities within a context of competing resources, financial and           to promote good corporate governance through the provision of independent advice and counsel on audit and
      community priorities. It recognises that innovation involves risks, but also provides opportunities to create new ways to       risk management issues covering a wide range of Council operations and projects.
      benefit the community and achieve its objectives.
                                                                                                                                      Council’s Audit and Risk Committee Charter, adopted 17 March 2022, highlights that a key function of the
      Council regularly reviews, monitors, manages, and reports its strategic, service delivery (operational) and project risks       Committee is to provide reasonable assurance to Council that its core business goals and objectives are being
      to the Council, the Executive Team and to the Audit and Risk Committee. Within this context, the Executive Team                 achieved in an efficient and economical manner, within an appropriate framework of internal control and risk
      regularly review and reset Council’s strategic risk register profile to reflect Council’s current strategic risk appetite, to   management.
      support good governance, and to assist in decision making processes.
                                                                                                                                      Four formal Audit and Risk Committee meetings were held throughout the reporting period. The Audit and Risk
      On 15 September 2022, Council adopted the Enterprise Risk and Opportunity Management Policy, which replaced the                 Committee comprises of two elected members and two expert independent external members. The current
      former 2014 Enterprise Risk Management Policy. This new Policy was extensively reviewed over a two-year period by               members of Council’s Audit and Risk Committee are:
      Council’s Executive Team, operational areas, elected members and Council’s Audit and Risk Committee.
                                                                                                                                      - Mayor Clare Stewart
      The intent of this Policy is to ensure Council adopts a systematic approach to the identification, management, mitigation       - Cr Tom Wegener
      and monitoring of risks and opportunities in alignment with the Policy, Council’s strategic objectives and the Australian       - Tim Cronin (Chair)
      Standard AS/NZS ISO 3100.                                                                                                       - Ian Rushworth




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Noosa Council Annual Report 2022 - 2023
      Key improvements to the Policy include:                                                                                         Internal Audit

      - The inclusion of risk management principles for clarity, direction, and compliance.                                           Under section 105 of the LG Act, Council has established an efficient and effective internal audit function that
      - New strategic risk appetite and risk tolerance thresholds.                                                                    provides independent, objective assurance and appropriate services designed to add value and improve
      - Horizontal and vertical integration and communication, resulting in a risk management culture which supports sound            Council’s operations.
        decision making across all Council activities.
      - Addressing gaps in monitoring, escalation, and reporting on risks, including risk ownership, reviewing the                    The Internal Audit Policy, adopted 17 March 2022, provides the framework for the conduct of internal audit
        effectiveness of controls and the ‘3 lines of defence’ model.                                                                 function of Council as endorsed by the Audit and Risk Committee. Council’s internal audit activity over the
                                                                                                                                      medium-term is managed by its Internal Audit Plan 2020 - 2025 which is developed having regard to current
      On 19 October 2022, Council attained a LGMS Risk Excellence gold award for the South East Queensland district at the            strategic and operational risks and is regularly reviewed by the Audit and Risk Committee and adopted annually
      Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) Annual Conference. The award recognised Council’s strategic risk              by Council. Council’s internal audits are conducted in accordance with Council’s Internal Audit Terms of
      appetite journey initiative which has helped increase governance, transparency, and improved risk management for Council.       Reference and Internal Audit Policy.

      Council is now focused on implementing the new Policy through various education and awareness initiatives. On 3                 For the period, Council undertook an internal audit on Payroll which commenced on 13 March 2023 with the
      March 2023, in conjunction with LGMS, Council delivered training on the Enterprise Risk and Opportunity Management              final report delivered to Council on 19 July 2023. This internal audit was undertaken by an external specialist
      Framework to staff, which explored topics such as:                                                                              provider. The objective of the audit was to review the internal control framework for payroll services and
                                                                                                                                      to provide reasonable assurance to management that adequate processes and procedures were in place
      - Understanding risk management concepts                                                                                        to reduce potential risk to Council. Council has in place numerous systems and processes to ensure that
      - External context and horizon scanning                                                                                         recommendations resulting from its internal audits are appropriately actioned and implemented into day-to-day
      - Risk and Opportunity Management in action at our Council                                                                      operations.
      - Our new risk appetite statements
      - Conducting a risk assessment

      The workshop was highly successful and provided attendees with new skills and abilities to apply the Risk and
      Opportunity Management Framework to their work functions and activities at Council.

      Council will continue to educate and train staff on risk and opportunity management best practice.


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