Dear members,

You may have received a message from an ex RPA member since the  Annual General Meeting in September 2020, which was held by necessity via Zoom and suffered from some technical glitches. He pointed out, in his opinion, some things were not done correctly as per the constitution, he also pointed out that he believed that the financial statement did not balance and there was money not accounted for.

We acknowledged that the honorarium as per the AGM minutes was incorrect as three of the committee were not entitled to an honorarium as per the constitution of the RPA. 

These payments should have been listed as either an allowance or petty cash float. The matter will be addressed at the next AGM in September 2021.

The financial reports were perused by our Vice President and she found all calculations were correct and there was nothing amiss. The ex member was not happy with this.

We sent the last two years of our books and financial statements to an auditor (Qualifications MBA, MCOM, CPA, BCOM, DIP FIN SERVICES).  We received her report at the RPA committee meeting on the 22^nd of June 2021 and I quote some paragraphs from her 5 page report :-

“There is no notable appearance of any misappropriation of the Retired Police Association funds.”

“I have read the audit report prepared by Ms Hazel Goatman dated 21 August 2020 and have not identified any issues to question her opinion.”

“in my opinion the financial report of the Retired Police Association of Victoria Inc. gives a true and fair representation of the income and expenditure of the association for the period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.”

“After examining these Financial Records of the Retired Police Association Financial Records for the period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 I have formed the opinion that the Financial Records are a true and fair representation of the operations and financial position of the Retired Police Association.”

Some recommendations were made in the way financials were recorded and this will be taken on board by the treasurer.

A full copy of the auditor’s report can be obtained by any RPA member by requesting it from the secretary.

The other matters raised by the now ex member of the RPA and sent out in an email by him are all matters that were put before various AGM’s and passed by a majority vote of the members present.

Ron Veldman 15280

President RPA