Governance
Role of the Board
In accordance with Section 95 of the Water Act 1989 the board of directors of a water corporation is responsible for the strategic planning of the corporation; the management of the affairs of the corporation; and may exercise the powers of the corporation.
Section 94 of the Water Act 1989 prescribes that each water corporation, in performing its functions, exercising its powers and carrying out its duties has the objective that the water corporation must act as efficiently as possible consistent with commercial practice.
Water Corporations are required to have regard to the following principles—
(a) the need to ensure that water resources are conserved and properly managed for sustainable use and for the benefit of present and future generations; and
(b) the need to encourage and facilitate community involvement in the making and implementation of arrangements relating to the use, conservation and management of water resources; and
(c) the need to integrate both long term and short term economic, environmental, social and equitable considerations; and
(d) the need for the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity to be a fundamental consideration; and
(e) if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty as to measures to address the threat should not be used as a reason for postponing such measures.
(f) develop and implement plans, systems and processes, having regard to the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZ4360 – Risk Management to ensure that risks to the Corporation’s assets or services are identified, assessed, prioritised and managed.
Board Composition
The Board is a skill based Board and comprises a non-executive Chair and 6 non-executive Directors and a Managing Director. Chair Michael Tilley and Directors Kay Martin, Peter MacIntosh, May Ward, Leonie Burrows and Frank Smith were appointed on 30 Sep 2007 for a three or four year term. Peter Jones was appointed by the Minister in December 2008 until Sep 2011. The Directors come from diverse backgrounds and bring to the Board a mix of skills and experience. The Board appointed Ron Leamon, the former CEO as Managing Director of the water corporation for a period of five years effective from 1st July 2007.
The Board is accountable to the Minister for Water. The Board annually reviews its effectiveness and performance as a whole and as individual members by way of self appraisal.
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Board
Committees
The Board has established two Committees to assist in carrying out
its duties.
Governance Committee
The objectives of this Committee are to assist the Board to discharge its duty
with respect to overseeing all aspects of good corporate governance, including
risk management. It makes recommendations to the Board in regard to Board self-review, training and development for Board members and the induction of new Board members. It reviews executive remuneration; conducts the Managing Director's performance review, authorises bonuses and reviews the organisational structure.
Meetings are held at least quarterly. The Managing Director provides an executive service to the Committee.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee reviews the financial accounts, approves our audit plan and reviews internal and external audit reports, accounting policies and standards, internal control and audit performance.
The Corporation’s Audit Committee is chaired by Board Member, Leonie Burrows and Kay Martin and Peter MacIntosh are members. Lower Murray Water appointed Bill Ridge as an external appointment to the Committee in July 2007. Independent accounting advice is also provided to the Audit Committee by a suitably qualified internal auditor. In addition to this expertise, Lower Murray Water takes independent professional advice as required.
Meetings are held at least quarterly and at any time as requested by a member
of the Committee or the internal or external auditors.
The Victorian Auditor General is responsible for the external audit of the Corporation's financial statements.
Minutes of the audit Committee meetings are presented to the full Board with recommendations for its considerations. The General Manager Business Services provides an executive service to the Committee.
Risk Management
The Board of Lower Murray Water adopted a Risk Management Policy that details the Corporation’s commitment to the management of risk within its operations.
The policy which outlines responsibilities and accountabilities, aims to:
- Protect the quality and continuity of its service delivery
- Protect customer and employee well being
- Protect assets, including property and customer goodwill
- Reduce the Corporation’s legal exposure
- Promote due diligence and responsibility
Risk Registers are regularly reviewed and reported to the Audit Committee and Board in accordance with a rolling timeframe.
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