4. Office of the Compliance Officer
The VIRTIPS Act establishes an Office of the Compliance Officer, which is ‘attached’ to the Tribunal, but does not formally constitute a part of the Tribunal.
The VIRTIPS Act and the Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Superannuation Act 1968 (Vic) specify the Compliance Officer’s functions and powers. The Compliance Officer is responsible for independently hearing and determining appeals from current and former MPs in relation to the use of work-related parliamentary allowances, the EO&C Budget and the separation payment.
MPs may appeal a decision made by a Clerk of the Parliament, or by the Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services, to reject a claim for a work-related parliamentary allowance or regarding their entitlement to receive the separation payment.
The Compliance Officer:
- is not subject to the direction or control of any person
- is not bound by the rules of evidence
- may conduct proceedings with as little formality as considered appropriate
- may publish a statement of findings, and any required actions, on the Tribunal’s website, which is absolutely privileged.
These functions are performed by a primary Compliance Officer or, if not available or otherwise unable to hear an appeal, by the secondary Compliance Officer.
4.1. Compliance Officers
Information about the primary and the secondary Compliance Officers is provided below. The position of primary Compliance Officer has been vacant since 16 March 2021 when Ms Stefanie Wilkinson resigned from the role.
Stefanie Wilkinson:
Ms Wilkinson served as the primary Compliance Officer from 8 October 2019 until 15 March 2021.
Ms Wilkinson has significant experience in legal practice, specialising in corporate governance and market integrity. At the time of her appointment, Ms Wilkinson was a partner at the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills and an independent member of the Audit Committee of the Parliament of Victoria.
Jane Brockington:
Ms Brockington is the secondary Compliance Officer, appointed to the role on 10 June 2020 for a period of five years.
Ms Brockington is an adviser and independent reviewer with a focus on regulation, integrity and governance. She is Principal of the consultancy, Bridging Policy and Practice, and was previously a senior executive in the public sector. Ms Brockington holds several non-executive director positions and is a fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Victoria).
4.2. Report on the function of the Compliance Officer
The Compliance Officer did not hear any appeals in 2020‑21. The Compliance Officer made no requests for further information from MPs regarding separation payments, work-related parliamentary allowances or the EO&C Budget (table 1).
Table 1: Summary information – appeals heard by the Compliance Officer, 2020–21
Function |
VIRTIPS Act provision |
Total appeals |
|---|---|---|
Separation Payment |
||
| Number of MPs who have not complied with requests for further information about separation payments | s40(d) | 0 |
| Number of appeals heard in relation to separation payments | s40(e) | 0 |
Work-related parliamentary allowances and the EO&C Budget |
||
| Number of MPs who have not complied with requests for further information about work-related parliamentary allowances and the EO&C Budget | s40(f) | 0 |
| Number of appeals heard in relation to work-related parliamentary allowances and the EO&C Budget | s40(g) | 0 |
4.3. Other Compliance Officer matters
In April 2021, the secondary Compliance Officer provided a response to the Review of the proposed resolution for the establishment of a Parliamentary Compliance Officer by the Parliament of New South Wales Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics.
This response was published on the New South Wales Standing Committee’s website.
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