Improving the effectiveness of State Owned Corporations
The NSW Government is taking steps to improve the effectiveness, accountability and performance of state-owned corporations, with the first review of the legislative framework governing state-owned corporations since the SOC Act was introduced by former Premier Nick Greiner in 1989.
Issues paper
The Review aims to make recommendations to the government for legislative change to improve the commercial performance of SOCs and streamline and strengthen the SOC accountability and governance framework. The Issues Paper poses a series of question to help all interested parties to contribute to the Review.
- SOC Review – Issues Paper (PDF, 1.4MB)
- SOC Review – Issues Paper - Appendices (PDF, 1.1MB)
- SOC Review - Issues Paper - Executive summary and questions (extract) (PDF, 444KB)
Submissions
The closing date for submissions was 28 February 2014.
Submissions may be published online and/or referenced in future publications. Please advise if you would prefer that part or all of your submission be treated as confidential. The Review will endeavour to accommodate your request, however disclosure of certain information may be required under the law.
Steering Committee
The Review is conducted by a Steering Committee consisting of three independent members and the Secretaries of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and Department of Finance and Services, and the Secretary of Treasury.
The Committee's terms of reference (PDF, 54KB) include assessing the SOC Act and other relevant legislation, reviewing the role of shareholder ministers and portfolio ministers, benchmarking the NSW governance framework against best practice in the private sector and other jurisdictions.
The Steering Committee members are:
- Mr Alan Cameron AO (Chair)
- Ms Yasmin Allen
- Mr Simon Smith, A/Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Mr Philip Gaetjens, Secretary, Treasury
- Prof the Hon Andrew Rogers QC.
Steering Committee Independent Members' details
Alan Cameron is the former national managing partner of law firm Blake Dawson Waldren. In April 1991 he took up the role of Commonwealth and Defence Force Ombudsman. He relinquished that position at the end of 1992 to become chairman of what was then the Australian Securities Commission. Since leaving ASIC in 2000, he has been a company director and involved in board performance assessment and regulatory projects and governance reviews of various kinds.
Yasmin Allen was appointed as a director of insurance group IAG in November 2004. She is Chairman of the IAG Audit, Risk Management & Compliance Committee and a member of the IAG Nomination, Remuneration & Sustainability Committee. Ms Allen served six years on the board of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation.
Andrew Rogers was admitted to the NSW bar in 1956. In 1979 he was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW and some years later was appointed the foundation Chief Judge of the Court's Commercial Division. He currently acts as an international legal consultant, specialising in arbitration, mediation and dispute resolution.
On 30 April 2013, the NSW Government agreed to undertake a review of the legislative framework that provides for the governance and accountability of State Owned Corporations.
The Review will examine whether the legislative framework, comprising the State Owned Corporations Act 1989 (SOC Act) and the foundation charters of the SOCs, requires amendments to improve the commercial performance, efficiency and accountability of SOCs.
This is a joint Review being carried out by the NSW Treasury (Treasury), Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) and NSW Department of Finance and Services (DFS).