Other Tribunal matters

3. Other Tribunal matters

3.1 Tribunal meetings

The Tribunal held 25 regular meetings and three special meetings in 2022-23.

Minutes were kept for each meeting. There were three disclosures of an interest by a Tribunal Member recorded in the minutes of a Tribunal meeting [reference - VIRTIPS Act ss. 12 and 14(4)].

• On 25 August 2022, Chair McCann advised that he had been appointed as an independent member of the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) remuneration committee and noted there was a potential conflict of interest arising from the appointment, including about any future proposals from DJCS to pay an executive above the relevant band.
• On 12 January 2023, Member Gardner declared a potential conflict of interest in respect of a payment above the band request from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and recused herself from consideration of the matter (Advice 2023/01).
• On 4 May 2023, Member Gardner advised she had been appointed as an independent member of the DFFH executive remuneration committee.

3.2 Finance

Section 45 of the Financial Management Act 1994 (Vic) (FMA) requires the Tribunal to prepare a report of operations and financial statements for each financial year. However, in accordance with a determination made by the Assistant Treasurer under section 53(1)(b) of the FMA, the Tribunal’s report of operations and financial statements is consolidated with the annual report of the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Under section 8(3)(d) of the FMA, and Standing Direction 1.5, the Assistant Treasurer has also exempted the Tribunal from the requirements of the Standing Directions.

While the exemption has been provided on an ongoing basis, it is subject to the Tribunal confirming with the Executive Director, Budget Strategy, Department of Treasury and Finance, prior to the end of May each year, that:

• the Tribunal has established and maintained alternative arrangements to ensure that no aspect of financial governance is compromised
• there has not been any significant change to the Tribunal’s risk profile and functions
• there has not been any key audit finding that might suggest deficiencies in the Tribunal’s financial management and internal control systems.

The Tribunal Chair, as the Accountable Officer for the Tribunal, provided this confirmation for the 2022-23 financial year.

3.3 Freedom of information requests

In July 2022 the Tribunal made a decision regarding one freedom of information request received in June 2022. The Tribunal identified nil (0) documents within scope of the request. The request was responded to within the statutory timeframe.

The Tribunal did not receive any freedom of information requests in 2022-23.