Governance
Who decides what
Roles and decision rights for revenue, the delegations the gate enforces, and the guardrails that stop agents.
Roles
| Role | Kind | Responsibilities | Decision rights |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUDITOR Internal audit | INTERNAL | Verifies the evidence chain and tests decisions against delegations. | No decisions. Unrestricted read of the chain. |
| COLLECTIONS Collection agency | EXTERNAL | Acts only on referred debts, under the fair collection rules. | None. No contact with a person flagged vulnerable. |
| DELEGATE Financial delegate | INTERNAL | Holds the delegation to commit public money under the program. | Awards and declines; variations; terminations; ineligibility notices; closeouts. |
| HARDSHIP_OFFICER Hardship officer | INTERNAL | Trained in financial hardship; speaks to the person before deciding. | Hardship applications above the threshold or with vulnerability indicators. |
| RATEPAYER Ratepayer or debtor | EXTERNAL | Pays, sets up plans, applies for hardship, objects. | Objects within the window; applies for hardship; seeks external review. |
| REVENUE_OFFICER Revenue officer | INTERNAL | Runs assessments, receipting and reminders with the agents; handles exceptions. | Sets up plans within policy. No waivers, enforcement or objections. |
| REVIEWING_OFFICER Reviewing officer | INTERNAL | Decides objections, independent of the assessing officer. | Objection outcomes. |
| TRIBUNAL External review tribunal | EXTERNAL | External merits review. | Sets aside or varies on external review. |
| VALUER Valuer-General's office | EXTERNAL | Provides land valuations and responds on valuation objections. | Valuation basis; not the objection outcome. |
Delegations
| Role | Decision | Note |
|---|---|---|
| DELEGATE | write off | Waive or write off a debt, in full or in part. |
| DELEGATE | enforcement | Refer to an agency, commence legal action, register a charge on land, sell for unpaid rates. |
| DELEGATE | plan outside policy | Approve a payment plan longer or lower than policy allows. |
| HARDSHIP_OFFICER | revenue hardship | Decide hardship applications above the threshold or with vulnerability indicators. |
| REVIEWING_OFFICER | objection | Allow, part-allow or disallow an objection. |
Guardrails
GL-RV-01 Waivers and write-offs are a delegate's decision
No debt is waived or written off by an agent. The agent verifies the ground against the registers, applies the policy provision and recommends; the delegate decides.
GL-RV-02 Enforcement is a delegate's decision
Referral to an agency, legal action, a charge on land or a sale for unpaid rates is prepared by the agent and decided by the delegate. Reminders and final notices on the policy cadence are the agent's.
GL-RV-03 Hardship above the threshold goes to a person
A hardship application above the delegation threshold, or with indicators of vulnerability, is decided by a hardship officer who has spoken to the person. Standard plans within policy are set up on the spot.
GL-RV-04 Objections decided independently
An objection is decided by a reviewing officer who was not the assessing officer, on a file the agent assembled with the basis, the comparables and the objector's evidence.
GL-RV-05 Stay while hardship or an objection is open
No reminder escalation, interest or recovery step while a hardship application or an in-time objection is open on the debt.
GL-RV-06 Fair collection
Contact on the policy cadence only; no contact by a collection agency with a person flagged vulnerable; part payments accepted and allocated to the oldest debt; every contact on the record.
GL-RV-07 Every notice shows the basis
Assessment notices show the valuation or schedule, the rate in the dollar or fee, any concession, the amount, the due date and the objection window and review rights.
GL-RV-08 Interest only as the instrument allows
Interest and penalties accrue at the statutory rate only after the due date and never during a stay.