An audit of the effectiveness of the Governance Board appointed to the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS) has found the board to be operating satisfactorily.
In his report, Governance of the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation, Auditor-General, Grant Hehir recommended however that SBS establish a Board Charter and that it review and update its risk framework.
“The governance and oversight arrangements adopted by the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation are effective,” Mr Hehir said.
“The SBS Board’s governance and administrative arrangements are consistent with relevant legislative and policy requirements, and the board has structured its operations in a manner that supports effective governance.”
He said the board had implemented fit-for-purpose arrangements to oversight compliance and alignment with key legislative and policy requirements.
The audit made two recommendations relating to the establishment of a Charter for the Board of SBS and the review of SBS’s risk framework in relation to the identification and treatment of priority risks. These were both agreed.
Mr Hehir said the audit was one of a series that applied a standard methodology to the governance of individual boards.
As well as SBS the audits included the boards of Old Parliament House, the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.
He said key messages from the Australian National Audit Office’s series of governance audits would be outlined in an upcoming insights product available on the office’s website.
The Auditor-General’s 66-page report can be accessed at this PS News link and the audit team was Peter Bell, Susan Ryan, Christian Coelho, Emily Urquhart and Paul Bryant.
