Audit and Risk Subcommittee Appointment Made

Dunedin (Wednesday, 26 February 2014) – The Dunedin City Council has appointed the first of two independent members to its new Audit and Risk Subcommittee.

Susie Johnstone, who is managing partner of accounting firm Shand Thomson, Balclutha, has been appointed by the Council as Subcommittee Chair.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says Mrs Johnstone has a great deal of experience leading audit and risk committees across a range of public sector entities.

“We are very fortunate to have someone of Mrs Johnstone’s calibre on the Subcommittee. Her skills, attributes and knowledge will be of huge benefit to the Subcommittee’s work.”

Mrs Johnstone is Deputy Chair of the Otago Polytechnic Council and a director of REANNZ, which is responsible for the provision of an advanced high capacity internet service to the New Zealand research and education communities. She is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of its Governance Committee.

She has also served on the boards of Tourism New Zealand, the Southland, Otago and Southern District Health Boards, the New Zealand Blood Service and the New Zealand Hockey Federation.

Mrs Johnstone says, “I am looking forward to working with Council and am supportive of their increasing focus on the governance aspects of audit and risk. These matters tend to fly below the radar until something doesn’t go so well so the Council is to be commended for taking the initiative in this area.”

The Audit and Risk Subcommittee has been set up to provide the Council with a degree of comfort that risk is being managed appropriately within the organisation. The Subcommittee’s responsibilities include risk management and internal control and it will oversee governance policies in areas such as conflict of interest, insurance, procurement, risk, fraud, and health and safety. It will also include oversight of the Annual Report.

The Subcommittee will report directly to the Council.

At this stage, the Subcommittee members are Mrs Johnstone, Cr Richard Thomson, Cr Hilary Calvert and Deputy Mayor Chris Staynes. The Council will shortly publicly advertise for a second independent member.

ENDS

© Scoop Media