Procedure: Delegations of authority

Purpose

To set out the procedures pertaining to the management and use of the University’s Delegations Framework.

Definitions

Area of responsibility – The organisational unit or portfolio for which a delegate is responsible operationally and/or financially, as reflected in duty statements and/or employment contracts.

Associate Dean – A person appointed by the relevant College Dean to exercise delegations prescribed in the University’s academic legislation.

Banded (Generic) Delegations – Delegations which have been assigned to specific profile bands in accordance with level of responsibility. These are depicted as D1 - D6. The delegations held by positions on lower band levels are also held by those on the bands above them e.g. a D3 position will also hold D4-6 delegations.

PGPA Act – Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. This Act was enacted to put in place measures to ensure the governance, performance and accountability of, and the use and management of public resources, by organisations under the Act (of which the University is one, by virtue of its enabling Act) including; the Commonwealth, Commonwealth entities, and Commonwealth companies, and those who govern or manage them.

Delegate – A person invested with authority to carry out the functions, powers and duties of, or to act on behalf of or represent others. A person who occupies an official position at the University, that position having been assigned authorities or powers by the Vice-Chancellor by way of the University’s delegations system.

Delegated Authority (DL) – A person appointed by the relevant College Dean or Associate Dean to exercise delegations prescribed in the University’s academic legislation.

Delegation – An authority given to a delegate to exercise powers, incur liabilities and make decisions. A delegation is expressed in, and limited by, a form of words, and is formally assigned by the holder of the power to the delegate.

Delegation Profile – A grouping of delegations of the same level of authority or type of responsibility into a single profile name for more efficient assignment to positions.

Executive – Refers to the most senior officers of the University – the Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Pro Vice-Chancellors.

Legislative Delegations – Delegations which are prescribed in legislation as only being exercised by designated people/positions. These delegations can only be held by another person IF the delegation is transferrable AND the designated delegate assigns the delegation to another person. These delegations are not automatically held by the position’s line supervisors.

Person of Interest (POI) – A person who does not hold a formal staff position within the University, but who may undertake duties within an area and require the assignment of a delegation profile.

Responsible Officer – A person appointed by the Executive Director (Administration & Planning) to exercise powers and perform functions in accordance with the Information Infrastructure and Services Rules.

Senior Delegate – The relevant approving authority (Level D3 and above) for the assignment of delegations to staff in an area of responsibility.

Specialist Delegations – Delegations which are held by occupants of designated positions. These delegations are held by the specified position as well as that position’s line supervisors up to the Vice-Chancellor.

Procedure

Delegations Framework

1. The Delegations Framework reflects the University’s organisational structure and is made up of three types of delegations:

• Banded (Generic) Delegations: delegations which are assigned in accordance with level of responsibility. As a guide, the banding distribution is:
• D1 – Vice-Chancellor
• D2 – Members of the University Executive and College Deans
• D3 – College General Managers, Directors of Service Divisions, Directors of Schools and Centres within Colleges, Deputy/Associate Deans, and positions reporting directly to members of the University Executive
• D4 - Deputy Heads of Schools, Heads of Departments, Deputy General Managers, Deputy Directors, and direct reports to Directors of Schools
• D5 – Administrative managers
• D6 – Delegates requiring basic expenditure and supervisory delegations

2. This is a guide only as the levels of responsibility required of some of these position titles vary within individual organisational structures.
3. The delegations held by positions on lower band levels are also held by those on the bands above them e.g. a D3 position will also hold D4-6 delegations.
4. Specialist Delegations: delegations which are held by occupants of designated positions. These delegations are held by the specified position as well as that position’s line supervisors up to the Vice-Chancellor.
5. Legislative Delegations: delegations which are prescribed in University legislation as being exercised by a designated office or offices. These delegations can only be exercised by another person IF the delegation is transferrable AND the designated delegate assigns the delegation to another person. These delegations, whether transferable or non-transferable, are not held by the position’s line supervisors except in one instance. The ANU College Governance Rules provide that a College Dean may exercise any power held by an Associate Dean under legislation. Should a College Dean wish to exercise a delegation held by an Associate Dean, he or she MUST do that BEFORE the Associate Dean exercises his or her delegation.
6. A full listing of delegations by category, profile and budget unit is available on the web at: https://services.anu.edu.au/planning-governance/governance/delegations
7. Delegation profiles are designed as a mechanism to group together delegations of the same level of authority or type of responsibility into a single profile name for more efficient assignment to positions. Banded delegations are grouped together into banded profiles of the same name – i.e. a band D2 delegation is part of the D2 Profile. Specialist and Legislative delegations are combined into a profile name that reflects the position which exercises them – i.e. the profile ‘Registrar’ contains both specialist and legislative delegations.
8. Delegations are classified as transferrable or non-transferrable. Non-transferrable delegations are attached to specific delegations profiles and may only be exercised by delegates holding those specific profiles and their supervisor or line manager (except in the case of legislative delegations – see Legislative Delegations entry above).

Senior delegate

9. The delegate responsible for the assignment of delegations in their area of responsibility is known as the Senior Delegate.
10. In relation to the assignment of banded or specialist delegations, the Senior Delegate must be a relevant line supervisor of D3 level or above.
11. In relation to the assignment of legislative delegations, the Senior Delegate must be a relevant line supervisor of D3 level or above, with one exception: the Delegated Authority profile can only be assigned by the relevant holder of a College Dean or Associate Dean profile for that academic area.
12. Senior Delegates have the authority to determine which staff in their area of responsibility will hold delegations. They may appoint as many, or as few, delegates as is convenient for the efficient operation of their area of responsibility.
13. The Senior Delegate is responsible for managing and monitoring delegations within the organisational unit, including reviewing all delegations in the unit at least once a year.

Assigning delegations and delegation profiles

14. The level of a Delegation profile or transferrable delegation assigned by a Senior Delegate must be appropriate to the responsibilities and relative level of a position in the University’s organisational structure.
15. Senior Delegates have the authority to determine any financial or other limits to a delegation, up to and including (but not exceeding) any limit stated in the delegation itself. The Senior Delegate can also assign component delegations within a delegations profile, rather than the whole profile, to a delegate.
16. A delegate may hold delegations, as part of a delegations profile, which they may or may not be required to exercise depending on business processes in their individual areas.
17. Delegations may be assigned to staff positions within the University as well as others defined as ‘Persons of Interest’ (POI). This allows for individuals such as students to hold delegations where it is deemed necessary by a Senior Delegate.
18. Delegations will be assigned via the appointment letter of a new staff member; as part of the temporary transfer/higher duties process; or by completion of the Assignment of Delegations form. Steps to appoint a new delegate or to change a delegate’s existing delegations, can be found at: https://services.anu.edu.au/planning-governance/governance/delegations.
19. Delegates must formally accept the delegations assigned to them to ensure that they are aware of the responsibility being undertaken.
20. A copy of the appointment letter, temporary transfer/higher duties form or Assignment of Delegations form will be kept on the relevant personal file.
21. The approved delegation(s) will then be entered into the Human Resources Management System against the appropriate position number or POI as soon as possible.
22. It is the responsibility of the Senior Delegate to ensure that relevant forms are generated and signed by the delegate, that the delegations assigned are appropriate, that entries are correct within HRMS and that the documentation is filed appropriately.

Exercising delegations in respect of oneself

23. Delegates must not exercise a delegation if it contravenes the Conflict of Interest and Commitment Policy.
24. Delegates must not approve an action or transaction in respect of themselves or their position. Therefore, delegates may not, for example, approve their own appointment, any form of remuneration or payment, or travel. Delegates will need approval from their supervisor for transactions from which delegates derive a direct personal benefit, except in the following examples.
25. Payroll Costing Analyses (PCA): Each budget unit will have at least two delegates with the authority to approve the budget unit’s PCA. In approving a PCA, the delegate is in effect authorised to approve the running of the budget unit’s fortnightly payroll. It should be noted that, in approving the PCA, delegates are not approving variations in their own salary as that will have been approved by their supervisor or line manager.
26. Approval of appointment of staff: In cases where a delegate such as a Director of an academic unit chairs a selection committee for a staff position within their area of responsibility, provided that University recruitment policy has been followed, a delegate who chairs a selection committee may approve the offer of an appointment on the recommendation of that selection committee.
27. Approval of minor financial matters such as petty cash reimbursement: Senior administrative staff of budget units may exercise financial delegations in respect of their line manager and may independently approve or reject a claim for reimbursement from a Senior Delegate. However, if a delegate declines to approve such a claim, the claim may be sent to the Senior Delegate’s supervisor for approval. If this happens, the declining delegate will attach a written explanation of why he or she is unable to approve the action or transaction.

Monitoring

28. The exercise of delegations, observance of the limits of delegations and the efficacy of the Delegations Framework will be subject to monitoring. The Delegations Administrator, the Risk Management & Audit Office, the Director or senior staff of a service division, the Senior Delegate or a member of the Executive may conduct a check of delegations in an area.
29. Senior Delegates are expected to maintain a watching brief, using all means at their disposal, over the exercise of delegations in their area. They are expected to take or recommend action in the form of the gradient of disciplinary procedures, including revocation of a delegation profile, if there is evidence of misuse of delegated authorities.
30. Where a division or office believes a delegation has been improperly exercised, the division will notify the Senior Delegate in writing and in detail, with a copy to the Delegations Administrator. The Senior Delegate must promptly investigate the claim and act according to the outcome of the investigation. Action will include a response to the initiating division or office acknowledging the notification and giving a brief report on the outcome of the investigation, with a copy to the Delegations Administrator.
31. If the Senior Delegate does not act within a reasonable time to investigate a formal notification, the notifying division or office will then advise the Delegations Administrator who will pursue the issue further. Pursuit of the issue may include a formal report to the Vice-Chancellor and/or a recommendation to the University’s internal auditor for further investigation.
32. If a proper investigation concludes that, on the evidence, a delegation was improperly exercised, action to be taken will be in accordance with the misconduct provisions of the University’s Enterprise Agreement and associated policies and guidelines.

Induction, training and briefing

33. The Delegations Administrator is responsible for ensuring that information on delegations is included in the usual orientation and induction processes carried out by the supervisor, local area and/or the Human Resources Division.
34. Senior Delegates are responsible for ensuring that new delegates appointed to their area are given appropriate training on delegations as part of the induction processes within their area.
35. The Human Resources Division will conduct periodic training for staff in the use of the online Delegations system within the HRMS.

Reports

36. The Delegations Administrator is responsible for posting, on the Delegations website, regular reports of delegations entered in HRMS for each budget unit:

• https://services.anu.edu.au/planning-governance/governance/delegations/delegations-by-budget-unit
• Staff members may obtain an individual report of their own delegations, or those held by positions they supervise, via HORUS.
• At the end of every year, the Vice-Chancellor and Council will seek written assurance from Senior Delegates that the policies of the University have been followed, financial controls exercised appropriately and University resources applied for the sole and proper benefit of the University. This written assurance forms part of the University’s compliance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, and enables Council to make its reports to the relevant federal government Ministers with confidence.

Proposals for new or modified delegations

37. Proposals requesting new delegations, or modifications to existing delegations, will be sent to the Delegations Administrator who will make a recommendation to the Vice-Chancellor.
38. Senior Delegates and area delegations administrators will be notified by email if and when a new or modified delegation is raised. These changes will be reflected on the Delegations website and within the online Delegations system.