Extract from Public Administration Act 2004, Part 5, s. 81
Note that this section of the Act only applies to public entities established on or after the commencement of Part 5, unless applied by Order in Council to existing entities. The Act also allows for exemption, (s. 75 of the Public Administration Act).
PART 5 — OPERATION OF PUBLIC ENTITIES
81 Duties of entity
(1) The board of a public entity must—
(b) inform the Minister responsible for the public entity and the relevant Department Head of known major risks to the effective operation of the entity and of the risk management systems that it has in place to address those risks; and
(c) unless prohibited from doing so by or under any law, provide the Minister responsible for the public entity with any information relating to the entity or its operations that he or she requests; and
(d) except in the case of a Commissioner entity, ensure that adequate procedures are in place for—
(i) assessing the performance of individual directors; and
(ii) dealing with poor performance by directors; and
(iii) resolving disputes between directors; and
(e) ensure that a code of conduct applicable to directors is in place; and
(f) ensure that processes are in place to deal with conflicts of interests in directors that—
(i) apply to both financial and non-financial interests;
(ii) require full disclosure of interests at meetings of the board and the recording of the disclosure in the minutes of the meeting;
(iii) require the board to determine whether a conflict of interest in a matter is material;
(iv) enable the board to—
A. require the absence from a meeting of a director who has a material conflict of interest in a matter while the board is considering the matter;
B. prohibit such a director from taking part in any decision of the board in relation to the matter;
(v) require the board to notify in writing the Minister responsible for the entity as soon as practicable after becoming aware of any breach of the processes; and
(g) ensure that an adequate gifts policy for directors is in place; and
(h) except in the case of a Commissioner entity or as otherwise provided by an Order made under subsection (3) in the case of an advisory entity, ensure that adequate procedures are in place for the conduct of meetings and the making of decisions at meetings, including appropriate arrangements for acting directors, and that appropriate records of meetings are kept; and
(i) except in the case of an entity that has no money or other property under its management or control or as otherwise provided by an Order made under subsection (3) in the case of an advisory entity, ensure that appropriate financial records are kept; and
(j) ensure that adequate controls are in place to prevent fraudulent behaviour; and
(k) except in the case of an advisory entity, a small entity or an entity that is otherwise required to have its financial statements or accounts audited by the Auditor-General, ensure that its financial statements or accounts are audited by the Auditor-General at intervals of no greater than 3 years.
(3) The Governor in Council may, by Order published in the Government Gazette, make provision in relation to an advisory entity, or a class of advisory entity, in substitution for that made by paragraph (h) or (i) of subsection (1).
