6.1 The Community Services Review Council (the Review Council) is established by Part 8 of the Community Services (Complaints, Appeals and Monitoring) Act 1993 (NSW) (the Act). The Act outlines the functions of the Review Council, its meeting procedures and matters relating to the appointment and remuneration of members.

WHAT IS THE REVIEW COUNCIL?

Composition of the Review Council

6.2 The Review Council comprises seven members who are members because of the position they hold and six members who are appointed by the Minister for Community Services. The ex officio members are the:

• Community Services Commissioner;
• Directors General of the Department of Community Services and the Ageing and Disability Department;
• Ombudsman;
• President of the Guardianship Tribunal;
• Divisional Head of the Community Services Division of the ADT; and
• Public Guardian.

The appointed members are people with “knowledge and experience” gained as service providers (two members) or clients of service providers (two members) or people the Minister thinks are “interested in the provision of community services” (two members). Members are appointed for a term of up to five years and may be reappointed. The Minister can terminate an appointment for misbehaviour, incompetence, incapacity or failure to attend meetings.

Functions of the Review Council

6.3 The Review Council has two broad functions. They are:

(1) to encourage co-ordination of the functions of the bodies established by the Act and others involved in providing community services; and

(2) to give the Minister strategic advice about the operational effectiveness of the review and monitoring system established under the Act.¹

In addition, the Minister must consult the Review Council before recommending someone for appointment as Commissioner, as the President of the CSAT and as a Community Visitor.²

IS THE REVIEW COUNCIL NECESSARY?

6.4 The Review Council, including, as it does, the heads of all the government agencies involved in providing community services, is well placed to encourage co-ordination of the agencies. It is the only forum in which the heads of these agencies meet and the only formal body that might take a whole of government approach to community services. On the other hand, there are other bodies that perform the Review Council’s advisory role, for example, the Disability Council of New South Wales and the Community Welfare Advisory Council. The Law Reform Commission understands that in the early days of the implementation of the legislation the Minister used the Review Council for advice very effectively. However, the Review Council has never been given sufficient resources to carry out its review function. In recent years it appears that the Review Council has almost lapsed into disuse.

Issue 33

Should the Act include a body whose function it is to oversee the operation of the Act and advise the Minister accordingly? If so, how should it be constituted?

What exactly should the functions of a Review Council be?

Should the functions of the Review Council be given to another body? If so, which one?

1. s 108.

2. When the ADT Act comes into operation, the Minister will no longer have to consult the Review Council before recommending someone for appointment as Head of the Community Services Division of the ADT.