What are Delegations

Last amended: 13 August 2009

What does delegation mean

It is impossible for the Minister, the Repatriation Commission, or the Secretary to personally undertake all the functions required under the VEA. The solution is to delegate their powers to officers of the APS.

Commission to delegate authority to decision makers

The authority to exercise the powers of the Commission for the administration of pensions under the VEA is delegated to decision makers through a formal instrument of delegation.    

Secretary to delegate authority to allow investigation of claims

To allow an officer to seek information necessary for the investigation of a claim, the Secretary may delegate his or her powers to the officer.    

Delegations are issued to a level

Delegations are nearly always issued to a specified level, rather than to a specific person.   It should be noted that while the effect of delegation to level is that all departmental employees at the designated level are capable of exercising the delegated power, not all employees at the designated APS level are required to use the power as part of their duties. The necessity to use the power derives from the allocated duties of each individual APS employee.