NDIA Accountability Project

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Meeting of Risk Committee, 14 September 2023

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Meeting of Risk Committee

Minutes 14 September 2023 11:30am – 1:30pm (AEST) 111 Macquarie Street, Hobart Tasmania

Attendance

Committee members:

  • Ms Maryanne Diamond AO, Chair
  • Mr Kurt Fearnley AO
  • Ms Meredith Allan
  • Dr Denis Napthine AO

Board members:

  • Ms Estelle Pearson
  • Dr Peta Seaton
  • Dr Richard Fejo
  • Ms Leah van Poppel

Management representatives:

  • Ms Rebecca Falkingham, Chief Executive Officer
  • Ms Debbie Mitchell PSM, DCEO Governance, Risk & Integrity
  • Mr John Dardo, Chief Transformation Officer (item 4.4)
  • Mr Garth O’Brien, A/g DCEO Service Design and Improvement (item 4.5)

Other attendees:

  • Mr Mark Sullivan, Chief Risk Officer
  • Mr Matthew Swainson, Chief Counsel Legal (item 4.3)
  • Mr Matthew Curtis, BM Governance & Royal Commissions (Secretariat)
  • Ms Claire Callaghan, BM Strategic Coordination
  • Mr Mick Turner, EO to Board Chair

Apologies: Nil

The Minutes are presented in order that items were discussed in the meeting.

Minutes – NDIA Risk Committee of 14 September 2023

1. Meeting open

1.1 Chair’s welcome, Acknowledgment of Country and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, provided an Acknowledgement of Country, and noted there were no apologies.

1.2 Declaration of material interests

The Chair noted there were no updates to the members’ declarations of material interests.

2. In-camera

The Chair conferred with the Committee and confirmed that no in-camera session was required.

3. Administration

3.1 Minutes of the 24 May 2023 meeting

The Committee approved the minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2023.

3.2 Matters arising

The Committee noted the matters arising report for September, approving the closure of the item proposed to be closed.

4. Matters for discussion and decision

4.1 Chief Risk Officer Report

Mr Sullivan introduced the item and gave an overview of the key matters for the Committee’s consideration, as set out in the paper, noting:

  • the Agency was seeking the Committee’s endorsement of the Risk Management Declaration, to be submitted to the Board for decision on 15 September 2023, and
  • the Fraud and Corruption Control Plan had previously been tabled and approved by in November 2022. The ANAO has subsequently requested approval of the Board. The plan had been re-submitted to the Committee for endorsement prior to consideration by the Board.

The Committee noted that no material findings had been identified by internal audit as part of the preparation of the Risk Management Declaration. The Committee discussed the 4 improvement opportunities identified in the self-assessment and noted Mr Sullivan’s advice that the deterioration of notifications to the NDIS Commission relates to the level of information provided and that improvement action was underway.

The Committee discussed the Fraud and Corruption Control Plan and noted typographic errors in section 1.2.1. Management undertook to correct the errors in the final document before its progress to Board.

Action 1: Management to correct the errors noted in the Fraud and Corruption Control Plan before it progresses to Board.

[redacted — s47C deliberative process; s 47E(d) operations of agency]

Minutes 2

Minutes – NDIA Risk Committee of 14 September 2023

Action 2: Ms Kitsa Papadopoulos, GM Fraud Fusion Taskforce, to attend the next Committee meeting to present on Agency activities in fraud space and impacts on participants.

The Committee discussed the risk-related impacts arising from ANAO audits, as well as the Disability Royal Commission and NDIS Review reports, and linkage to the Risk Committee workplan. Ms Falkingham noted that the Agency would map the Agency’s broader program of work and how it aligns with the Board and each Committee. This will be done as part of the usual forward planning.

The Committee also discussed business continuity planning, including the structure and allocation of resources.

Mr Sullivan provided an overview of an open fraud matter currently before the courts.

The Committee requested high-level detail of fraud matters, particularly the percentage of non-compliance, be included in future papers.

Action 3: Management to provide further detail on fraud cases in future papers.

Resolution:

  • The Risk Committee endorsed the 2022-23 Risk Management Declaration for submission to the Board for endorsement.
  • The Risk Committee endorsed the Fraud and Corruption Control Plan and specific fraud and corruption risk consequence categories for inclusion in the NDIA Risk Rating Matrix, for submission to the Board for endorsement, with required edits to section 1.2.1.

4.2 Risk Management Strategy

Ms Falkingham introduced the item and gave an overview of the key matters for the Committee’s consideration, as set out in the paper, including an update on the HWLE Data Breach. Ms Falkingham emphasized the Agency’s commitment that communication with participants is supportive and does not exacerbate any harm caused by the incident.

The Committee and management discussed learnings of the incident and how these might inform the Agency’s response to future events. The Committee noted the update from Mr Sullivan on the Barkley Tableland fires in the Northern Territory, in particular that two NDIA staff were on the ground supporting participants. Ms Falkingham advised that she had spoken with the staff, who were deeply committed to supporting the community. Ms Falkingham noted that 2023-24 was expected to be one of the worst fire seasons, and that the Agency was making preparations.

The Committee, on behalf of the Board, passed on its well wishes and gratitude to the staff assisting the fire response.

Action 4: Management to pass on the Board’s gratitude and well wishes to the two NDIA staff members assisting the Barkley Tableland fires.

4.3 Chief Counsel Report

Mr Swainson [redacted — s42] - legal professional privilege

Strategic Fraud Initiatives Update

Mr Dardo joined the meeting.

Mises 4/C deliberative process; [redacted — s47E(d)]

The Committee thanked Mr Dardo for his update.

3P Update

Mr O’Brien joined the meeting.

Mr O’Brien introduced the item and gave an overview of the key matters for the Committee’s consideration, as set out in the paper, and provided an overview of the preparations for the 3P/PACE national roll-out. Mr O’Brien advised that PACE had been given a high-risk profile due to its size and complexity, and that the PACE team was working closely with the Chief Risk Officer to identify and manage all risks.

Mr O’Brien provided an overview of the risks associated with payments, noting the high volume of calls flowing through to the National Contact Centre (NCC).

The Committee discussed the key themes of the PACE Provider visits that they had engaged in that morning to gauge readiness for the roll-out. This included a discussion of payment issues, system requirements, the capacity and capability of the NCC, and the role

Minutes

Minutes – NDIA Risk Committee of 14 September 2023

of Local Area Coordinators. Mr O’Brien clarified that some of the matters reported as PACE roll-out issues by the Providers were un-related policy or process changes.

The Committee noted that it would prefer more time for provider visits in future and suggested that a visit to the NCC would be helpful.

Mr O’Brien left the meeting.

Action 5: Board Secretariat to include a visit to the NCC on the forward Board calendar.

5. Meeting close

The Committee requested that the attachments to papers include the agenda item number in future Committee documents.

Action 6: Board Secretariat to ensure that all papers are correctly labelled with a corresponding agenda item number.

The meeting closed at 1.28 pm.