Other Tribunal matters

3. Other Tribunal matters

3.1 Tribunal meetings

The Tribunal held 23 regular meetings and one special meeting in 2023-24.

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

• On 19 October 2023, Member Gardner advised that she may be joining the V/Line Remuneration Committee. Member Gardner subsequently confirmed that she was appointed Chair of the V/Line Remuneration Committee in October 2023.
• On 16 November 2023, Member Gardner advised that she was no longer a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee at the Department of Health.
• On 14 December 2023, Member Gardner advised that she had been appointed to the VicTrack Board.
• On 22 February 2024, Member Gardner advised that she was no longer on Energy Safe Victoria’s Remuneration Committee.
• On 14 March 2024, Chair McCann advised that Member Acton had raised a potential conflict of interest regarding a request for advice from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Chair McCann determined that an actual or potential conflict of interest did not exist.

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 Treasury and Finance.

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 2023-24 financial year.

3.3 Freedom of information requests

The Tribunal did not receive any freedom of information requests in 2023-24.