Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Actsinsert
Division 3.2 President
18 President's functions
(1) The president has the following functions:
(a) managing the administration of the commission;
(b) the efficient and effective financial management of the commission's resources;
(c) ensuring the commission's functions are exercised in an orderly and prompt way;
(d) developing a governance and corporate support protocol in accordance with section 18A;
(e) developing a client service charter in accordance with section 18B;
(f) developing an operations protocol in accordance with section 18C;
(g) ensuring, as far as practicable, the commission's functions are exercised in a way that takes into account, and is consistent with, the governance and corporate support protocol, the client service charter and the operations protocol;
(h) reporting, or coordinating reporting, on behalf of the commission in accordance with subsection (2);
(i) promoting community discussion, and providing community education and information, about—
(i) this Act and related Acts; and
(ii) the operation of the commission; and
(iii) the procedures for making complaints;
(j) advising the Minister about any matter in relation to this Act or a related Act;
(k) collecting information about the operation of this Act and related Acts, and publishing the information;
(l) dealing with complaints about the operation of the commission (but not a complaint about a decision of a commissioner in relation to a complaint made under division 4.1);
(m) if the president considers that a commissioner has a real or perceived conflict of interest in relation to a complaint—considering the complaint or allocating responsibility for consideration of the complaint to another commissioner;
(n) any other function given to the president under this Act or another territory law.
(2) The president—
(a) must for each inquiry and review mentioned in section 14 (1) (e)—
(i) report, in writing, to the Minister and other appropriate entities about the inquiry or review; and
(ii) advise the Minister and other appropriate entities about the those matters; and
(b) is responsible for giving reports under the following sections on behalf of the commission:
(i) section 17 (Minister's directions);
(ii) section 83 (Third-party reports);
(iii) section 84 (Commission-initiated reports);
(iv) section 87 (Reporting to Minister); and
(c) may report, in writing, to the Minister on the following systemic matters:
(i) a matter of public importance relating to the commission, including how the commission handles complaints under the Act;
(ii) a matter affecting the system—
(A) for the protection of the rights of users of prescribed services (or a class of user) as a whole, rather than a matter affecting an individual alone; and
(B) for the provision of prescribed services (or a class of prescribed services) as a whole, rather than a matter affecting an individual alone.
(3) The president may exercise any function given to any other commissioner under this Act or another territory law.
(4) To remove any doubt, the Minister may, but need not, present advice mentioned in subsection (2) (a) to the Legislative Assembly.
Note A report under s 87 must be presented to the Legislative Assembly.
18A Governance and corporate support protocol
The president must—
(a) after consulting with the director-general, prepare a draft governance and corporate support protocol for each 3-year period that includes—
(i) how the responsible directorate and the commission will consult and communicate with each other; and
(ii) a strategic plan for the 3-year period; and
(iii) how funding will be allocated within the commission for each year in the 3-year period; and
(iv) a budget for each commissioner mentioned in section 12 for each year in the 3-year period; and
(v) performance criteria to be met by the commission in each year of the 3-year period; and
(vi) financial and performance reporting and auditing requirements for the 3-year period; and
(vii) processes for requesting funding; and
(viii) anything else prescribed by regulation; and
(b) give the draft plan to the director-general for approval; and
(c) publish the approved plan on the commission's website.
18B Client services charter
The president must—
(a) every 3 years, after consulting with the ACT community for 8 weeks, prepare a client service charter that states—
(i) how the commission will provide services to the community; and
(ii) what the community can expect when dealing with the commission; and
(b) publish the charter on the commission's website.
18C Operations protocol
The president must—
(a) every 3 years, after consulting with the other commissioners, prepare a protocol consistent with part 4 (Complaints) that provides for the following:
(i) how enquiries and complaints generally will be received by the commission;
(ii) how enquiries will be dealt with within the commission;
(iii) how complaints will be referred within the commission;
(iv) how clients can access the commission's services;
(v) how the president undertakes advocacy and reporting on systemic matters under section 18 (2);
(vi) the kinds of questions or matters that may be considered at a commission meeting under section 33;
(vii) when complaints should be referred to other complaint handling entities;
(viii) anything else the commission considers appropriate;
(ix) anything else prescribed by regulation; and
(b) publish the protocol on the commission's website.
Division 3.2A Appointment of commission members
18D Appointment of commission members
(1) The Executive must appoint the commission members.
Note 1 For the making of appointments (including acting appointments), see the Legislation Act
, pt 19.3.
Note 2 In particular, an appointment may be made by naming a person or nominating the occupant of a position (see s 207).
(2) However, the Executive must not appoint a person as a member unless satisfied that the person has the experience or expertise necessary to exercise the member's functions.
(3) A member must not be appointed for a term of longer than 5 years.
Note A person may be reappointed to a position if the person is eligible to be appointed to the position (see Legislation Act
, s 208 and dict, pt 1, def appoint ).
(4) A member's conditions of appointment are the conditions agreed between the Executive and the member, subject to any determination under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995
.
18E Ending appointments
(1) The Executive may end the appointment of a person as a commission member—
(a) if the person contravenes a territory law; or
(b) for misbehaviour; or
(c) if the person becomes bankrupt or personally insolvent; or
Note Bankrupt or personally insolvent —see the Legislation Act
, dictionary, pt 1.
(d) if the person is convicted, in the ACT, of an offence punishable by imprisonment for at least 1 year; or
(e) if the person is convicted outside the ACT, in Australia or elsewhere, of an offence that, if it had been committed in the ACT, would be punishable by imprisonment for at least 1 year.
(2) The Executive must end the person's appointment—
(a) if the person is absent, other than on leave approved by the Minister, for 14 consecutive days or for 28 days in any 12-month period; or
(b) for physical or mental incapacity, if the incapacity substantially affects the exercise of the person's functions.
Note A person's appointment also ends if the person resigns (see Legislation Act
, s 210).
18F Delegation of member's functions
A commission member may delegate the member's functions under this Act or another territory law to another member or a commission staff member.
Note For the making of delegations and the exercise of delegated functions, see the Legislation Act
, pt 19.4.