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                    Audit and Risk Committee

                    The City of Melbourne Audit and Risk Committee was first established in 1996.

                    ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At its meeting on 28 July 2020, the Council resolved to re-establish the Audit and Risk Committee as required under section 53 of the Local Government Act 2020 (Act).

                    The Audit and Risk Committee is appointed by the Melbourne City Council to oversee the activities of council particularly its risk management and internal control processes in addition to the activities of the Council’s external and internal auditors.

                    The committee gives independent advice to Council on:

                    • appropriate accounting
                    • auditing
                    • internal control
                    • business risk management
                    • compliance and reporting systems
                    • processes and practices.

                    They consider and make recommendations to the Council and its management on many issues and internal audits.

                    Meetings

                    The Audit and Risk Committee meets five times a year. For more information see the Audit and Risk Committee Charter below.  

                    Other details

                    Committee membership

                    • Geoff Harry

                      Geoff has been a member of the Audit and Risk Committee since 2016. He is a retired Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years’ experience as an Audit & Assurance Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He also held the position of Chief Risk Officer at Fortescue Metals Group Ltd in Perth and a similar position at Jemena Ltd.

                      Geoff also served as an independent member or Chairperson of several Audit Committees, across the Department of Premier & Cabinet, IBAC, City of Greater Geelong, City of Whittlesea, Chisholm TAFE, City of Greater Dandenong, Agriculture Victoria Services, Knox City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, Bayside City Council, Brimbank City Council, Kingston City Council and Orygen Youth Mental Health.

                      He has a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and is a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia & New Zealand and CPA Australia. Geoff is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

                    • Andrew Dix​

                      Andrew was appointed to the Committee on 1 July 2023. He commenced his professional career at Price Waterhouse in external audit. After 14 years he moved to Telstra for 21years where had held CFO roles for a number of the major Business Units, and finished as the Executive Director responsible for Risk, Assurance and Compliance. Once leaving Telstra he embarked on a non-executive career with positions on Boards and Audit and Risk Committees for a number of Federal, State, and Local Government Organisations.

                      Current Board appointments include NBN Co. Ltd, Western Leisure Services Pty Ltd, and Public Transport Ombudsman Ltd. In these Companies he is also the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committees. Current Local Government experience includes Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee at City of Monash, and City of Manningham.

                      Andrew graduated from The University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Professional Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

                    • Rachel Thomson

                      Rachel was appointed to the Audit and Risk Committee in July 2022. She is a former financial services executive with extensive experience in risk management for a number of publicly listed global corporations in the United States.

                      She is currently a Non-Executive Director on the board of the Country Fire Authority and Central Highlands Water Region Corporation and is an independent member of several Audit & Risk committees, including the Department of Premier & Cabinet, the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning and V/Line Corporation.

                      Rachel holds a Bachelor of Science (majoring in mathematics) from the University of Melbourne and is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

                    • Jen Johansen

                      Jen was appointed to the Audit and Risk Committee in July 2022. She is an experienced Non-Executive Director across government, financial services, education and the not-for-profit sectors. With a background in audit, risk and information technology, her experiences and capabilities in governance and risk management are supported by strong communication and negotiation skills.

                      Jen has served as an independent member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committees in a number of Victorian councils including Brimbank City

                      Council, City of Greater Dandenong, City of Whittlesea, City of Stonnington, Bayside City Council, Hume City Council and South Gippsland Shire Council. She has also held similar positions at the University of Melbourne, IBAC and Education Services Australia. Jen is also on the Advisory Board for iAM OMNI and is a Senior Advisor for RSM Australia's Cyber Security & Privacy Risk Services practice.

                      She is a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor with a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

                    Council representatives

                    • Councillor Jamal Hakim
                    • Councillor Philip Le Liu
                    • Councillor Davydd Griffiths


                    Internal audit

                    The internal audit service ensures we maintain effective internal controls in our day-to-day roles in serving the community. City of Melbourne’s internal auditor reports directly to the Audit and Risk Committee and is contracted to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The current contract commenced in July 2021 for a three year term.

                    Internal Audit Plan

                    The Internal Audit Plan is developed following a hard analysis by Internal Audit. They consult with a number of key stakeholders to identify key themes and ensure that the plan is focused on these key areas.

                    During this process the following are taken into account:

                    • City of Melbourne’s business goals and strategy, the maturity of the internal control environment and key strategic and operational risks.
                    • A cyclical process coverage to provide assurance over core financial and operational processes with a consideration of internal audits concluded over the last three years.
                    • Current business initiatives to ensure that the plan focuses on providing proactive assurance over risks associated with key changes to the business.
                    • Industry insights over emerging risk areas.

                    The Three Year Internal Audit Plan integrates with City of Melbourne’s key risks, corporate governance requirements and Victorian Auditor-General Office (VAGO) requirements.

                    The City of Melbourne works on the precept that a strong internal control environment provides assurances to management that systems are in place to effectively manage operations in particular in relation to:

                    • finance and accounting
                    • risk
                    • legislative compliance
                    • fraud
                    • governance
                    • performance
                    • systems related to information management and security.

                    Core functions

                    The core functions provided by the internal audit services are:

                    • risk assessment
                    • development and management of an audit program
                    • conducting audits and reviews
                    • reporting audit opinions, findings and recommendations
                    • presenting, discussing and providing advice on key issues.

                    External audit

                    The Victorian Auditor-General is responsible for the external audit of the City of Melbourne and its subsidiary companies. The external audit focuses mainly on compliance of reporting the financial performance against the Australian International Financial Reporting Standards. This includes a review on significant potential areas of organisational internal control risk each year.

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