Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee

Provides a forum for communication between all stakeholders such as Council, CEO, Senior Management and Internal and External Audit.

Overview

The Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) is an independent appraisal and consulting function established within Council to examine and evaluate its internal audit and enterprise risk management activities. The Committee provides a monitoring/advisory role to Council but does not have executive power or authority to implement actions.

Benefits

The main purpose and function of the ARIC is to assist Council in discharging its enterprise risk management responsibilities by evaluating the design and implementation of Council’s risk management systems, ascertaining risk exposures and current trends, and monitoring the adequacy and effectiveness of risk reporting and risk management responses. Specifically the ARIC provides support to Council and the community by:

• Improving the processes and accountability within Council.
• Identifying redundancies in operational and control procedures and providing recommendations to improve efficiency and effectiveness of Council.
• Providing an early warning system, enabling deficiencies to be identified and remediated on a timely basis.

Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Members

The ARIC consists of an independent chair and two independent members who have voting rights and one non-voting councillor. The councillor member is appointed by Council yearly in accordance with Council's Code of Meeting Practice.

Current members of the Committee are:

• Jennifer Whitten, Independent External Member (Chairperson)
• George Araj, Independent External Member
• Martin Booth, Independent External Member
• Cr Helen O’Neil, Councillor Member 

Meetings

The Committee meets no less than four times per year.

ARIC Terms of Reference

The functions of the ARIC are detailed within the committee Terms of Reference(PDF, 1MB)

Further information

For further information about the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee, and/or the role of the external committee members, please contact Risk Management Coordinator, Wayne van der Westhuysen, (02) 6499 2222.