Qantas 2013 Annual Report Download - page 70

68
Corporate Governance Statement continued
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2013
Qantas rotates the lead external audit partner every ve years
and imposes restrictions on the employment of personnel
previously employed by the external auditor.
Policies are in place to restrict the type of non-audit services
which can be provided by the external auditor and a detailed
review of non-audit fees paid to the external auditor is
undertaken on a quarterly basis.
At each meeting, the Audit Committee meets privately
withExecutive Management without the external auditor,
and with the internal and external auditors without
ExecutiveManagement.
THE BOARD MAKES TIMELY AND BALANCED DISCLOSURE
Qantas has an established process to ensure that it complies
with its disclosure obligations under the ASX Listing Rules.
Thisprocess includes a bi-annual conrmation by all Executive
Management that the areas for which they are responsible
have complied with the Continuous Disclosure Policy,
together with an ongoing obligation to advise the Company
Secretary of any material non-public information arising in
betweenconrmations.
The Qantas Group Continuous Disclosure Policy is summarised in
the Qantas Group Business Practices Document which is available
on the Corporate Governance page of the Qantas website.
THE BOARD RESPECTS THE RIGHTS OF SHAREHOLDERS
Qantas has a Shareholder Communications Policy which
promotes effective communication with shareholders and
encourages participation at general meetings. The Qantas
Shareholder Communications Policy is summarised in the
Qantas Group Business Practices Document which is available
on the Corporate Governance page of the Qantas website.
All company announcements lodged by Qantas with the ASX
are available on the Qantas website. In addition, shareholders
who are registered receive email notication of signicant
marketannouncements.
The 2013 Notice of Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be
provided to all shareholders and made available on the
Qantas website. The 2013 AGM proceedings will be available for
viewing by live and archived webcast. For shareholders unable
to attend, an AGM Question Form will accompany the Notice
of Meeting, giving shareholders the opportunity to forward
questions and comments to Qantas or the external auditor
prior to the AGM.
Auditor at AGM
The external auditor attends the AGM and is available to answer
shareholder questions about:
»the conduct of the audit
»the preparation and content of the Independent Auditor’sReport
»the accounting policies adopted by Qantas in relation to the
preparation of the nancial statements
»the independence of the auditor in relation to the conduct
of the audit
THE BOARD RECOGNISES AND MANAGES RISK
Qantas is committed to embedding risk management practices
to support the achievement of business objectives and full
corporate governance obligations. The Board is responsible
for reviewing and overseeing the risk management strategy for
the Qantas Group and for ensuring the Qantas Group has an
appropriate corporate governance structure. Within that overall
strategy, Management has designed and implemented a risk
management and internal control system to manage Qantas’
material business risks.
Qantas is a complex business and is exposed to a range of
strategic, nancial and operational risks that are inherent
in operating in the aviation industry.
Risks that could affect results and performance include:
»impacts arising from a weakening global or Australian economy
»uctuations in the price of aviation fuel
»increased competition from domestic and international airlines
»uctuations in currency exchange rates
»performance of key aircraft and engine suppliers
»government regulations including national aviation regulators
»industrial relations
»natural disasters or the rapid spread of contagious illness,
placing restrictions on aviation operations
»performance of technology in our operations
»a change in our credit rating
»a signicant incident within the aviation industry
»performance of alliance partners or termination of
a signicant airline alliance
The Qantas Group Risk Management Framework (Framework)
supports the proactive management of these and other risks
facing Qantas.
The Qantas Group Risk Management Policy (Policy) sets out the
minimum requirements, roles and responsibilities for managing
risk across the Qantas Group. This Policy is summarised in the
Qantas Group Business Practices Document available on the
Corporate Governance page of the Qantas website.
The Framework is aligned to the Australian/New Zealand
Standard on Risk Management (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009) and
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO) framework for evaluating internal controls.