Key achievements
- developed an integrated framework for governance, ethics, compliance, and risk
- independent review undertaken to identify steps required to become a carbon neutral business
- developed a new on-line compliance refresher training course for our people.
Corporate governance
WorkCover Queensland’s corporate governance framework guides the way we manage our business, minimise our risks, and ensures integrity. Our systems are based on strong ethical foundations and our commitment to fairness, accountability, and transparency.
Our corporate governance policy outlines our commitment to best practice governance and the means by which we ensure this. The policy is available on our website.
This year we reviewed our corporate governance structure, developing an integrated framework for governance, ethics, compliance and risk. Reporting against this framework occurs monthly at board meetings.
Strategic planning
A statement of corporate intent and three year corporate plan are prepared annually and approved by the Minister in accordance with the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003.
Our statement of corporate intent outlines our objectives and major activities, and specifies various financial and non-financial performance targets for the financial year.
The corporate plan summarises our vision, values, goals, business drivers, and key corporate expectations. The plan is communicated to our people by the executive managers and forms the basis for divisional business plans. Our divisional business plans define operational strategies to address our key drivers and meet our business projections. The plans outline our key financial and operational performance indicators. We measure our performance monthly against these indicators and data derived from our internal systems.
Board of directors
The Board of directors sets the strategic direction for WorkCover Queensland and tracks performance to ensure the organisation meets the financial and non-financial targets set out in our statement of corporate intent. The Board reports to the Honourable Cameron Dick, Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations.
The statutory role and requirements of the Board are set out in section 427 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, and chapter 8 outlines the powers and functions of WorkCover Queensland. The WorkCover Queensland Board charter specifies the role and responsibilities of the Board in detail and is available on our website.
The WorkCover Queensland Board consists of seven independent non-executive directors appointed until 30 June 2012. The Governor-in-Council is responsible for selecting directors, based on experience and knowledge, and determining their remuneration. Information on directors’ and executives’ benefits is detailed in Note 28 to the financial statements.
| Directors’ length of service | ||
|---|---|---|
| Directors* | First appointed | Term expires |
| I Brusasco AM | 17/07/98 | 30/06/12 |
| T A White AO | 01/02/97 | 30/06/12 |
| C Lohman | 28/02/08 | 30/06/12 |
| W P Ludwig OAM | 17/07/98 | 30/06/12 |
| R W Monaghan | 11/12/03 | 30/06/12 |
| H A Skippen | 01/07/03 | 30/06/12 |
| R C McNally | 01/07/06 | 30/06/09 |
* On 1 July 2009, Ms M Bailey was appointed to the Board, until 30 June 2012.
The Queensland Government provides directors who were first appointed prior to July 2006 with an indemnity for any liability incurred arising as a result of the performance of his/her duties. WorkCover Queensland also provides directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. The insurance premiums relate to costs and expenses incurred by the relevant director or officer defending either civil or criminal legal proceedings and other liabilities that may arise from their position. It does not cover conduct involving a wilful breach of duty or improper use of information for personal gain.
To assist directors in exercising their duties, WorkCover Queensland makes available independent professional advice as required and at the expense of the organisation. In addition, the Chairman facilitates an annual self-assessment of the Board’s performance.
Audit Committee
The primary role of the Audit Committee is to assist the WorkCover Queensland Board in monitoring our systems of internal control and ensure integrity of the financial reporting process. The Audit Committee charter, which is available on our website, defines the role and responsibilities of the committee. The committee tracks its performance against the charter each meeting, with due regard for Queensland Treasury’s Audit Committee Guidelines: Improving Accountability and Performance.
The Audit Committee is made up of three directors. Internal Audit, External Audit, the CEO, and CFO are invited to Audit Committee meetings at the discretion of the committee. The committee meets quarterly.
This year the Audit Committee approved the internal audit plan and continued to focus on workplace health and saftey and injury management for WorkCover Queensland employees.
Directors’ meetings
During the year, WorkCover Queensland held eleven formal Board meetings and four Audit Committee meetings.
The CEO attends all Board meetings and general managers are often invited to present and discuss relevant issues.
A register of directors’ material interests is updated at each Board meeting to avoid conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest does arise, the director involved will not receive the relevant Board paper and is not present when that item is considered at the Board meeting.
| Directors’ meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directors | Board Meetings | Audit Committee | ||
| A | B | A | B | |
| I Brusasco AM | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| T A White AO | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| C Lohman | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| W P Ludwig OAM | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| R W Monaghan | 9 | 11 | 4 | 4 |
| H A Skippen | 10 | 11 | 4 | 4 |
| R C McNally | 11 | 11 | 4 | 4 |
A: Number of meetings attended
B: Number of meetings eligible to attend
Delegations
Under sections 428 and 455 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, the Board and CEO have authority to delegate certain powers to appropriately qualified WorkCover Queensland people. We regularly review and update our delegations and relevant documentation.
Privacy and access to information
The privacy and confidentiality of the personal information of our customers, stakeholders, and other parties is of the highest importance. We are committed to protecting privacy through responsible collection, use, storage, and disclosure of personal information. WorkCover Queensland’s privacy statement is available on our website.
On 1 July 2009, the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act) were introduced by the Queensland Government replacing the Freedom of Information Act 1992. With the implementation of the RTI and IP Acts, WorkCover Queensland has introduced a publication scheme which allows for information that is considered of public interest, to be routinely available on our website.
In 2008–2009, WorkCover Queensland recorded 71 applications for information under the former Freedom of Information Act.
Recordkeeping
WorkCover Queensland continues to build on its currect recordkeeping practices to ensure:
- all records are made, managed, kept, and preserved in a useable format for the benefit of present and future generations (if appropriate) in accordance with the requirements of the Public Records Act 2002, IS40: Recordkeeping and IS31: Retention and Disposal of Public Records.
- public access to records is consistent with the principles of the Right to Information Act 2009.
Queensland State Archives has acknowledged and approved WorkCover Queensland’s self assessment questionnaire regarding compliance with the requirements of IS40: Recordkeeping and have also approved our retention and disposal scheduled developed to meet the requirements of IS31: Retention and Disposal of Public Records.
Information and communications technology governance
WorkCover Queensland depends on its information and communications technology for day-to-day business operations and the provision of excellent customer service. Our information and communications technology governance and quality assurance framework is based on the AS8015–2005 Australian Standard for Corporate governance of information and communication technology. The framework ensures business continuity and sustainability by aligning information and communications technology with our business needs.
Stakeholder feedback and complaints
Every year, WorkCover conducts a customer survey and receives feedback from its customers (injured workers and employers). Further details are available in the customer focus section of this report.
All complaints are managed in accordance with AS ISO 10002:2006 Customer Satisfaction -- Guidelines for complaints handling in organisations and the Public Service Commissioner’s Directive 13/06 -- Complaints Management Systems.
We believe that all customer feedback, positive or negative, presents an opportunity for improvement. WorkCover Queensland is committed to resolving customer complaints quickly and fairly, and we empower our people to resolve issues as they arise.
We have a centralised system for recording, monitoring, and responding to complaints to ensure they are actioned appropriately. In addition, the Board and executive managers review complaints data quarterly.
In 2008–2009, we recorded 335 complaints and the Queensland Ombudsman received 91 complaints about WorkCover Queensland, of which 74 were declined.