Victorian Numbered Acts Victorian Numbered ActsAfter section 19 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 insert —
(1) The Minister may give a direction to an Authority in relation to the performance of any of its functions or the exercise of any of its powers.
(2) The Minister must give an Authority 14 days' notice of his or her intention to give a direction under sub-section (1).
(3) If the Minister gives a direction to an Authority, the Minister must make sure that notice of the giving of the direction, and a statement or summary of the contents of the direction, is published in the Government Gazette.
(4) An Authority to which the Minister gives a direction must make sure that a statement or summary of the contents of the direction is included in the annual report of the Authority.
(5) A failure to comply with sub-section (3) or (4) does not affect the validity of the direction.
(1) Each Authority must submit to the Minister and the Council, on or before the prescribed date in each year, a report on the condition and management of land and water resources in its region and the carrying out of its functions.
(2) In this section "prescribed date" means the day in each year fixed by the Minister by instrument.
(1) Each Authority must prepare a corporate plan and submit it to the Minister—
(a) on or before the date specified by the Minister; or
(b) if no such date is specified, at least 2 months before it intends to implement the plan or any part of it.
(2) A corporate plan must be in or to the effect of a form approved by the Minister and must include—
(a) a statement of corporate intent in accordance with section 19D;
(b) a business plan and financial statements containing the information that the Minister requires;
(3) An Authority may implement a corporate plan 2 months (or any shorter time allowed by the Minister) after its submission to the Minister, unless the Minister, within that time, directs in writing any variations that the Minister thinks fit to be made in any corporate plan submitted in accordance with this section.
(4) The Minister must publish in the Government Gazette any direction made under sub-section (3).
(5) The Minister must not give a direction under sub-section (3) without first having consulted the Authority about the direction.
(6) An Authority must not make a major deviation from its corporate plan unless it has, at least 2 months (or any shorter time allowed by the Minister) before it intends to make the deviation, submitted to the Minister details of the proposed deviation.
(7) The Minister may issue guidelines as to what are major deviations for the purposes of sub-section (6).
(8) The corporate plan of an Authority at any time is that plan as varied under sub-section (3), or as revised by any deviation under sub-section (6), at that time.
Each statement of corporate intent must specify for the Authority, in respect of the financial year to which it relates and each of the 4 following financial years, the following information—
(a) the business objectives of the Authority;
(b) the main business undertakings of the Authority;
(c) the nature and scope of the activities to be undertaken by the Authority;
(d) the performance targets and other measures by which the Authority may be judged in relation to its business objectives;
(e) the kind of information to be provided to the Minister by the Authority during the course of those financial years;
(f) any other matters that may be agreed on by the Minister and the Authority from time to time.
(1) The Minister may—
(a) issue a statement of obligations to an Authority specifying obligations that the Authority has in performing its functions under this Act or exercising powers it has under this Act; or
(b) amend, vary or revoke a statement of obligations after complying with sub-section (5).
(2) The Minister must not issue, amend, vary or revoke a statement under sub-section (1), unless the Minister has first consulted with the Minister administering Part 10 of the Water Act 1989 .
(3) A statement of obligations may include provisions relating to—
(a) standards as to the performance of any such functions;
(b) requirements as to community consultation in performing any such functions.
(4) An Authority must comply with a statement of obligations that applies to that Authority.
(5) The Minister must not amend or vary a statement of obligations unless—
(a) the Authority has agreed to the proposed amendment or variation; or
(b) the Minister has—
(i) given the Authority notice in writing of the proposed amendment or variation; and
(ii) considered any written submission made by the Authority in response to the notice.
(6) The Minister must cause a notice of—
(a) the making and issue of a statement of obligations to an Authority; or
(b) the amendment, variation or revocation of a statement of obligations—
to be published in the Government Gazette.
An Authority may, by instrument under its common seal, delegate to—
(a) a member of the board of an Authority or any other officer of the Authority, by name or to the holder of an office; or
(b) to any committee established by the Authority under this Act, the members of which are members of the board or officers of the Authority;
(c) with the consent of the Minister, to any other person or body, including any committee established by the Authority under this Act, the members of which are not members of the board or officers of the Authority—
any function, power or duty of the Authority other than—
(d) this power of delegation; or
(e) the power to make by-laws; or
(f) any other power that is prescribed for the purposes of this section.
(1) An Authority may appoint a person as Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.
(2) A person appointed under sub-section (1) must not be a member of the board of the Authority.
(3) The Chief Executive Officer holds office for the period, not exceeding 5 years, specified in the instrument of his or her appointment.
(4) The Chief Executive Officer is responsible to the Authority for the carrying out of the Authority's functions.
(5) The Chief Executive Officer must comply with the directions of the Authority.
An Authority may, by instrument, delegate to any officer or employee referred to in section 19I, any power, duty or function conferred on the Chief Executive Officer under this Act or the regulations, except this power of delegation.
An Authority may employ, on terms and conditions determined by the Authority, such officers and employees it considers necessary for the carrying out of its functions.
(1) An Authority may establish—
(a) a committee to advise the Authority on any matter referred by the Authority; and
(b) a committee to exercise any power or perform any function, authority or discretion delegated to it by the Authority.
(2) The following provisions apply to committees—
(a) an Authority may at any time remove from office a member of a committee and must provide in writing to the member the reasons for the removal;
(b) a committee may act despite any vacancy in its membership;
(c) subject to this Act and any rules made under paragraph (d), a committee may regulate its own proceedings;
(d) an Authority may, by resolution, make rules, with which committees must comply, about—
(i) their quorums; and
(ii) voting powers of their members; and
(iii) their proceedings;
(e) the Minister by notice published in the Government Gazette may declare that a committee is a corporation, and may dissolve a corporation of that sort in the same way;
(f) an Authority must obtain the Minister's consent before it delegates any of its powers, functions, authorities or discretions to a committee of which any members are not members or officers of the Authority;
(g) the Minister may specify rules of procedure for the exercise of a delegated power by a committee referred to in paragraph (f) and any purported exercise of that delegated power by such a committee otherwise than in accordance with those rules is void.
(3) A member of a committee is entitled to be paid any fees and allowances fixed by the Minister.'.