The Minister is responsible to Parliament for the performance of the public entity.
The Minister relies on the Department in performing Ministerial functions. The Chair and the Chief Executive Officer (
CEO) should foster an effective relationship with the Department.
What is the role of the Minister?
The decision by Government to allocate a function to a public entity rather than a Department indicates the Government’s intention that the function warrants being performed outside of the routine control of the Department. This distance does not mean Ministers are not accountable for the performance of public entities.
A Minister is accountable for establishing and maintaining proper accountabilities and controls to ensure that public entities spend money and exercise powers in a proper manner and in a way that advances the Government's policy objectives.
The
Public Administration Act 2004 (PAA) (PDF
568KB), the
Financial Management Act 1994 (
FMA) and public entities' establishing legislation also give particular roles to Ministers.
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The Public Administration Act 2004
Powers of the Minister
The Board is accountable to the relevant Minister for the exercise of the public entity's functions and the Minister is responsible to the Parliament (s. 85 of the PAA) for:
- the public entity's exercise of its functions
- exercising the Minister's powers relating to the public entity including:
- the power to appoint and remove directors
- the power to give directions and request information
- the power to control its operations
- the power to initiate a review of the public entity's management systems, structures or processes
The Minister may apply to the Magistrates' Court for an injunction to stop the public entity or a Board member from breaching the PAA or the establishing Act, subordinate instrument or other document (s. 86). The Minister may also do this to stop the public entity or a member from breaching any other law.
The Minister or the public entity may take court action against a member who has contravened a duty or any other requirement under Division 2 of Part 5 (s. 87). This action would be to recover money from the member where the member or someone else has profited as a result of the breach or where the public entity has suffered loss or damage.
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The Financial Management Act 1994
The responsible Minister and/or the Minister who administers s. 44A of the
Financial Management Act 1994 (
FMA) may ask for financial information from the public entity's CEO and that information must be provided (s. 44A of the FMA). This provision is similar to the provision in s. 93 of the PAA which enables the Treasurer or the Minister administering s. 44 of the FMA to request any financial information from the Board of a public entity.
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The Minister and the Department
The Minister, in relating to the public entity and the Board, relies heavily on the Department. (
See linked module Roles: the Department).
Good practice tips in dealings with the Minister:
- The Board should ensure that public entity staff liaise early with Departmental officers about any major proposal the public entity will be putting to the Minister. This will speed up the process of Ministerial consultation with the Department
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