Minutes of Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting Minutes 12 November 2020

Minutes of the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting held on Thursday, 12 November 2020

File No: I2020/1751

PRESENT: Cr M Lyon, Cr B Cameron, Cr A Hunter

Staff: Mark Arnold (General Manager)

Vanessa Adams (Director Corporate and Community Services)

Esmeralda Davis (Acting Manager Corporate Services)
James Brickley (Manager Finance)

Emma Fountain (Strategic Risk and Business Continuity Coordinator)

Community: Michael Georghiou (Chairperson), Brian Wilkinson, Rae Wills

Auditors: Adam Bradfield, Thomas Noble Russell (External Auditor)

Judy Malpas, O’Connor Marsden and Associates (Internal Auditor)

Michael Georghiou (Chair) opened the meeting at 11.36am and acknowledged that the meeting was being held on Bundjalung Country.

Apologies:

There were no apologies.

Declarations of Interest – Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary

There were no declarations of interest.

Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meetings

Report No. 3.1 Adoption of Minutes from Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting 20 August

File No: I2020/1737

Committee Recommendation:

That the minutes of the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee Meeting held on 20 August 2020 be confirmed. (Wilkinson/Lyon)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Business Arising from Previous Minutes

There was no business arising from previous minutes.

Staff Reports - Corporate and Community Services

Report No. 4.1 Status of Council Policies 2019 - 2020

File No: I2020/1056

Committee Recommendation:

1. That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee notes the status of Council’s policies as provided in this report.

2. That the Audit Risk and Improvement Committee receive an annual report on the Policy Register as a standing item at their November meetings. (Wilkinson/Georghiou)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 4.2 Update on delegations in place 2019 - 2020

File No: I2020/1627

Committee Recommendation:

1. That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee notes this report.

2. That the Audit Risk and Improvement Committee receive an annual report on Delegations as a standing item at their November meetings. (Georghiou/Wilkinson)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 4.3 Operational Plan 2020/21 - First Quarter Report - Q1 - 1 July to 30 September 2020

File No: I2020/1723

Committee Recommendation:

1. That the Audit, Risk, and Improvement Committee notes the Quarter 1 Report on the 2020/21 Operational Plan for the period ending 30 September 2020 (Attachment 1 #E2020/81520).

2. That the Audit Risk and Improvement Committee receive a Quarterly Report on the Operational Plan as a standing item at their November, February, May, and August meetings. (Georghiou/Cameron)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Confidential Reports - Corporate and Community Services

Committee Recommendation:

That pursuant to the Local Government Act, 1993, Council move into Confidential Session to discuss reports 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 for the following reasons:

Report 5.1 under Section 10A(2)(f) of the Local Government Act:

The reasons for closing the meeting to the public to consider this item be that the report contains:

a) details of systems and/or arrangements that have been implemented to protect council, councillors, staff and Council property

and on balance it is considered that receipt and discussion of the matter in open Council would be contrary to the public interest, as it is a matter of Risk Management.

Report 5.2 under Section 10A(2)(d)i of the Local Government Act:

The reasons for closing the meeting to the public to consider this item be that the report contains:

a) commercial information of a confidential nature that would, if disclosed prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it

and on balance it is considered that receipt and discussion of the matter in open Council would be contrary to the public interest, as the nature and content of audit report is for operational purposes.

Report 5.3 under Section 10A(2)(f) of the Local Government Act:

The reasons for closing the meeting to the public to consider this item be that the report contains:

a) details of systems and/or arrangements that have been implemented to protect council, councillors, staff and Council property

and on balance it is considered that receipt and discussion of the matter in open Council would be contrary to the public interest, as it exposes security risk and vulnerabilities that could assist unauthorised threats to Council's data and systems

Report 5.4 under Section 10A(2)(f) of the Local Government Act:

The reasons for closing the meeting to the public to consider this item be that the report contains:

a) details of systems and/or arrangements that have been implemented to protect council, councillors, staff and Council property

and on balance it is considered that receipt and discussion of the matter in open Council would be contrary to the public interest, as the nature and content of audit reports is for operational purposes and report details information about Council's systems, controls and processes.

(Georghiou/Wilkinson)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 5.1 Confidential - Risk Management - Update

File No: I2020/1604

Committee Recommendation:

That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee notes the strategic and operational risk reports for the quarter ending 30 September 2020 (E2020/80564). (Georghiou/Hunter)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 5.2 Confidential - Audit Status Report - November 2020

File No: I2020/1607

Committee Recommendation:

1. That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee notes the Internal Audit Status Report – November 2020 (E2020/87675).

2. That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee endorses the recommendation from the Executive Team to close off 15 recommendations in Appendix A of the attached report (E2020/87675).

3. That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee endorses the Internal Audit Plan (E2020/82245), as updated in October 2020. (Georghiou/Wilkinson)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 5.3 Confidential - Cyber Security and System Outages Quarterly Update

File No: I2020/1611

Committee Recommendation:

That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee:

a) notes the Cyber Intrusion Detection report, attachment 1 (E2020/83056); and,

b) notes the Cyber Incidents report, attachment 2 (E2020/83057); and,

c) notes the System Outages report, attachment 3 (E2020/83055); and,

d) receives ongoing status reports for cyber Incidents and systems outages (Georghiou/Lyon)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Report No. 5.4 Confidential - External Audit Actions Quarter 1 2020-2021 Update

File No: I2020/1746

Committee Recommendation:

That the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee notes the external audit activity update for the quarter ending 30 September 2020. (Georghiou/Wilkinson)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

Procedural Motion

Committee Recommendation:

That the meeting move out of confidential session. (Georghiou/Wilkinson)

The recommendation was put to the vote and declared carried.

There being no further business the meeting concluded at 1.01pm.

Venue	Conference Room, Station Street, Mullumbimby
Date	Thursday, 12 November 2020
Time	11.30am