Corporate Governance Arrangements

The APVMA is an Australian Government statutory authority, employing approximately 130 people. The authority exists within the portfolio of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

The APVMA is a body corporate constituted by an executive manager, the Chief Executive Officer, who has responsibility for the management and governance of the authority. The APVMA is subject to financial regulation under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. APVMA staff are engaged under the Public Service Act 1999.

The CEO is supported by an Advisory Board, consisting of up to nine part-time members. The role of the Advisory Board is to provide advice and make recommendations to the CEO.

Prior to 1 July 2007 the APVMA's focus and strategic direction was determined by a Board of Directors comprising a similar range of skills and experiences to those of the current APVMA Advisory Board.

Reform of governance arrangements taking effect on 1 July 2007

In 2002 the Australian Government commissioned a review of the corporate governance arrangements for statutory authorities and office holders. The objective of the review was to examine the governance arrangements of these bodies and to identify reforms that might optimise their performance (particularly in terms of their accountability frameworks), without compromising their statutory duties. A key task of the review was to develop a template of governance principles that could be applied to all statutory authorities and office holders.

The review, ‘Review Of The Corporate Governance Of Statutory Authorities And Office Holders’ (often referred to as ‘The Uhrig Review’) was completed in June 2003. It proposed two governance templates for statutory authorities depending on their parameters of operation; the Board template, where a governing board is responsible for governance and the performance of an authority; and the Executive Management template, where an executive manager or management group (such as a commission) is responsible for governance and the performance of an authority.

The Government largely accepted the recommendations of the report and Ministers were tasked with assessing the governance arrangements of all Australian Government statutory authorities (such as the APVMA) within their portfolios against the report’s governance templates and principles. The Governments expectations for governance arrangements were further clarified in the document Governance Arrangements for Australian Government Bodies, released in August 2005.

The APVMA was assessed against the ‘Uhrig’ templates and principles and in June 2006 Minister McGauran confirmed that the future governance arrangements for the APVMA would be based on the Executive Management template. The reform to governance arrangements also included a transition to financial regulation under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (the FMA Act) and a transition of staff to employment under the Public Service Act 1999 (the PS Act). Previously the APVMA had been subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997  and the staff of the APVMA had been employed under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) Act 1992.

The governance reforms took effect on 1 July 2007. The Authority remains a body corporate with a separate legal identity from the Commonwealth and retains its independence. The reforms only related to the governance arrangements for the APVMA and did not impact on the APVMA’s powers or functions, or its administration of the National Registration Scheme for agricultural and veterinary chemicals.