Audit and Risk Committee Prequalification Scheme

What is the Audit and Risk Committee Prequalification Scheme

The Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) Prequalification Scheme (the Scheme) was established in 2009 as a requirement of TPP20-08 Internal Audit and Risk Management Policy for the General Government Sector.

TPP20-08 mandates Government Sector Finance (GSF) agencies and statutory bodies to establish an independent ARC. There are over 100 agencies in scope.

Agencies must select the chair and members for their ARCs from the list of prequalified individuals. The ‘prequalification list’ of the Scheme is a list of highly skilled individuals with extensive experience across a range of policy areas. Applications for prequalification are reviewed and approved by an independent Assessment Committee.

Prequalification allows someone to be considered for appointment as a chair or member of NSW Government ARCs. Prequalified individuals may be appointed to up to five committees at any one time. Each shared portfolio committee (formerly known as cluster committee) counts as one.

To be prequalified as a member, you need to have a range of skills and experience including:

• extensive senior-level experience in governance and management of complex organisations
• understanding of the ethical requirements of government
• functional knowledge in a range of business areas
• ability to form independent judgments and willingness to constructively challenge.

To be prequalified as a chair you need to have:

• the skills and experience of a member (see above)
• leadership and communication abilities
• knowledge of governance 
• knowledge of internal audit and risk management.

Prequalified individuals must also be independent. Current employees of NSW Government sector agencies cannot be prequalified. 

Appointments need to be compliant with TPP20-08 and no conflicts of interest should arise on engagement.

1. Apply for the scheme

The ARC Prequalification Scheme is open to new applicants. Before applying, please review the Application Guide.

In applying for the Scheme you agree to the Scheme Conditions, the Code of Conduct and to accepting the roles and responsibilities outlined in TPP20-08 on being engaged to an ARC.

Apply now

2. Assessment

Once you submit your application, the ARC Scheme Secretariat (the Secretariat) will review it for completeness. Incomplete applications are not considered for assessment and will be rejected.

Complete applications are forwarded to a panel of assessors for their consideration against the criteria in the Scheme Conditions. The panel consists of individuals from within the NSW Government and external independent assessors.

The assessment period typically takes up to eight weeks. If your application is urgent, please contact the Secretariat.

If the assessment process identifies a need for further information or verification by referees, the Secretariat will contact you via email.

3. Notification of assessment outcome

The ARC Scheme Secretariat will notify you of your application outcome by email.

Email us for further information or advice.

You can also contact us about:

Re-submission

If you have already submitted an application and it was rejected, contact our team and we'll guide you through how to re-submit your application.

Prequalified members details update

To update your details, please email us.

Access to the ARC Prequalification Scheme list

Agencies seeking to engage ARC members need to provide an EOI (see template) to the ARC Scheme Secretariat ([email protected]), who will email the EOI to all ARC Pool individuals to let them know of opportunities. Interested ARC Pool members need to apply directly to the agency.