Chief Executive Officer statement – City of Stonnington Community Recovery Grant program
I wish to make the below statement in response to media reports over the weekend regarding the administration of the City of Stonnington's COVID-19 Community Recovery Grant program in 2021. This reporting has resulted in misinformation in the media and on social media.
Following questions in Council meetings about the administration of our COVID-19 Community Recovery Grant program, I committed to a full and detailed audit of the program's processes and outcomes.
The audit was conducted independently by HLB Mann Judd and presented to Council at its meeting on Monday 11 April. This was an opportunity to review the process with full transparency and was undertaken with the cooperation of all parties involved. It is available in full on our website.
The independent audit report had no findings of misappropriation or misuse of funds by Councillors or Council officers in regards to the COVID-19 Community Grants program.
Media reports and information on social media have mentioned that not-for-profit organisations linked to City of Stonnington Councillors were the recipients of funds through the program. I'd like to be clear that Councillors were not involved in making any decisions on grant applications. It is commonplace for Councillors to have connection to local not-for-profit organisations – in fact, it is because of these important connections to their community that many people decide to run for Council.
The audit reported noted that the City of Stonnington had to establish the relevant grant procedures to administer the program in a short timeframe and with limited resources. As COVID continued to impact our community it was considered imperative that the grant funding be dispersed within the earliest possible timeframe to enable community organisations to mobilise resources quickly.
Opportunities and areas for improvement in processes and systems were highlighted in the findings, as is standard practice with audit reports, and we have taken on these recommendations for the administration of our 2022-23 community grants program.
Jacqui Weatherill, Chief Executive Officer
