Financial stability will be given greater prominence in Cowra Shire Council’s risk planning as the organisation prepares to navigate major future projects and funding decisions.

The move was among a series of matters considered by Council’s Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) at its August 20 meeting, with the committee recommending “Financial Stability” be formally added to Council’s Enterprise Risk Register.

The committee also recommended the register include an additional field showing whether risks, after mitigation measures have been applied, sit within Council’s established risk appetite.

Councillor Erin Watt welcomed the change, saying maintaining a strong financial position required continued attention, particularly with significant projects ahead.

“We are well regarded as a council with very good financial sustainability and stability, but you don’t get that without having that focus,” Cr Watt said.

“As we all know, we’ve got big projects on our books, particularly the water treatment plant, and ensuring that we’re considering our risk appetite for financial stability and instability in different projects.”

Cr Watt said future decisions following funding outcomes would need to be considered against Council’s willingness and capacity to accept financial risk.

“It’s important to have those frameworks around it,” she said.

The financial recommendation formed part of a broader review of Council’s governance, auditing, cyber security, records management and operational risks.

Deputy Mayor Nikki Kiss, who attends the ARIC as an observer, said she had no particular concerns arising from the August meeting and believed the committee provided valuable independent scrutiny of Council’s operations.

“I believe our practices of risk mitigation are good, and the staff are being congratulated for their attentiveness to the risk,” Cr Kiss said.

She said the committee’s role should not simply be viewed as identifying shortcomings, but as providing opportunities to strengthen the organisation.

“We should always be looking out for better practices, and it’s good to have outside input and be looking at what we can improve in,” she said.

“At the end of the day, it’s so that everybody is working in a safe environment, that we remain financially secure, and that we’re able to provide the best service to our community that we are.”

Another area attracting discussion was Council’s records management performance.

Council recorded a score of 2.32 out of five in its 2026 Records Management Assessment Tool assessment, an improvement from 2.05 in 2024.

However, the result remains below the baseline compliance level of 3.00 and the local government sector average of 2.90. Initial priorities have now been identified to improve performance ahead of the 2028 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise.

Cr Watt said the figures had prompted questions, particularly given Cowra remained below both benchmarks.

“I had similar concerns and questions about the record and compliance figure, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing that we’re both below the baseline but also below the average,” she said.

“I think it’s fair, as you mentioned, that obviously the average is below the compliance level of three, a lot of councils aren’t at that baseline yet, but we seem to be on a lower end of that.”

Director of Corporate Services Alan Dalton explained the assessment related to Council’s broader recordkeeping systems rather than indicating one particular area had failed.

He said Council remained compliant, but its current approach was not as efficient as it could be.

“The audit officers who undertake external audit ... impressed that we are compliant,” Mr Dalton said.

“It’s just that it’s not the most efficient approach possible.”

Mr Dalton said some of those efficiencies could not be achieved using Council’s existing software, with a future move to a cloud-based system expected to provide an opportunity for improvement.

In the meantime, Council is expected to continue using existing manual controls until the planned upgrade takes place.

The August audit meeting covered a broad range of other areas, including cyber security, chemical handling and storage, psychosocial hazards, business continuity planning and external auditing.

All compulsory compliance items arising from Council’s internal audit of chemical handling and storage have now been completed, although 12 low-priority, non-compulsory items remain and will be addressed as resources and operational priorities allow.

Work is also continuing on Council’s updated Business Continuity Plan, which is now expected to be completed by the end of September.

Meanwhile, an assessment of Council’s cyber security maturity against the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Essential Eight framework remains underway, while a draft Cyber Security Framework is progressing through Council’s internal processes.

The committee also noted the NSW Audit Office had raised a concern regarding privileged user access monitoring, although the Audit Office acknowledged Council had adequate controls in place to offset the identified risk until an IT system solution is introduced.

Mayor Paul Smith said the independent nature of the committee provided Council with another opportunity to identify areas where its practices could be strengthened.

He particularly welcomed the contribution of new independent committee member Kylie McRae, saying she had not only identified areas for improvement but offered practical ways to address them.

“She picked up a couple of things that we weren’t operating as well as we could have, and immediately offered to send the director involved a template,” Cr Smith said.

“I was very impressed that she not just say this is not right, this is how we should fix it.”

With major infrastructure decisions ahead, the addition of financial stability to the risk register will ensure financial consequences are formally considered alongside the range of operational, governance and other risks monitored by Council.