In October last year the Victorian Government announced the integration of Western Water and City West Water into a new water provider, Greater Western Water.
The integration will occur on 1 July 2021 and the transition is being overseen by a Joint Transition Committee (JTC) with an independent Chair and board members from both Western Water and City West Water.
As part of the integration CWW and WW have engaged Sequana to oversee and provide independent assessment to support a successful integration.
Sequana will provide a structured and systematic assessment over the integration period, following the internationally accepted Three Lines of Defence Model. Under the model, the organisations will have a structured and coordinated approach to risk management; with risks appropriately assigned and overseen as an independent ‘third line of defence’.
As an external assurance partner, Sequana will provide CWW and WW’s Board with independent assurance on the effectiveness of governance, risk management and internal controls for the integration.
Board Assurance Framework
The third line of defence function typically take the form of a Board Assurance Framework providing the Board with insight on the organisation’s effectiveness in managing project risks. The development of an effective board assurance framework generally involves an assessment of:
- Efficiency and effectiveness of project risk management practices;
- Reliability and integrity of risk reporting processes;
- Compliance with laws, regulations, policies, procedures and contracts; and
- Appropriateness of assurance plans and confirmation of compliance with the plans.
The development of a Board Assurance Framework is a logical extension of existing risk management arrangements.
CWW and WW requirements
The program assurance partner provides:
- an independent and systematic assurance approach for measuring and reporting on integration risks and outcomes;
- independent reviews and assessments of integration project performance and risk management;
- assurance in relation to the implementation of integration project risk governance and management;
- opportunities for improvements in integration project risk governance and engage with management and the Boards on these opportunities; and
- oversight of the integration project as a whole and assure activities across the individual work streams.
Sequana also leverages specialist knowledge to apply innovative thinking and approaches to delivery of the assurance program.
