NACCHO Constitutional Reforms Strengthening community control 1
Why reform the constitution? • Our Constitution was written in 1992, drawing on the history of NAIHO set up in1974 • From the initial Redfern AMS there are now 140 member services with over 300 clinics • Tough current environment with many risks- reviews, funding pressures and changes, governments wanting more for less • NACCHO will manage $20m, up from $3m and will attract much more scrutiny about governance • Current constitution does not give our members the strongest voices to advocate for community control Best advice from Gilbert and Tobin 1 Strengthening community control
What benefit does NACCHO offer you • NACCHO provides the national voice in support of community control. We collect information from local services on the ground and affiliates about what works and doesn’t • We are located in Canberra so we can provide timely and reliable advice to the Commonwealth Government that provides the bulk of the funding for community controlled health. • We give you feedback about developments in Aboriginal health, mainstream health and Indigenous affairs that impact on the health and wellbeing of our people. • We can influence for changes that make a difference like getting iron folate back on the PBS, getting an MBS item number for Aboriginal health checks
What we will discuss • Why the Constitution needs to be changed • Principles of corporate governance • Decisions to be made • Next steps 3 Strengthening community control
The Constitution is the NACCHO rule book Plain language Current Easy to find Appropriate what you need Short Complete 5 Strengthening community control
Strengthening community control What about NACCHO’s Constitution? Australian NACCHO US Constitution Constitution Constitution 19 pages 31 pages 68 pages 6
Principles of corporate governance • Directors must be accountable to their members and must act in the best interests of NACCHO at all times • Directors must declare conflicts of interest • Failure to manage conflicts in the right way can damage community and member confidence in NACCHO and its performance • Board members must have the skills to deliver the purpose and manage the risks and their own legal responsibilities as Directors • Strong governance is underpinned by strong administration- supporting members to deliver high quality services, effectively managing finances and risk and being influential 7 Strengthening community control
The core parts of a Constitution needed to run NACCHO effectively are missing • Clear statement of who are NACCHO members and their roles – National network agreement clarifies roles and responsibilities • Clear statement of powers of directors, how they are elected and, for what and how they can be suspended • Ability to have the right mix of Aboriginal community members on the Board • The Board is not directly accountable to members 8 Strengthening community control
Key decisions What is Who are NACCHO’s NACCHO’s purpose? members? Who is on the How is the Board and how Board held are they accountable to elected? members? 9 Strengthening community control
Example of purpose NACCHO is established to be a charity whose purpose is to advance the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians including by: – providing national leadership, to influence policies and programs on behalf of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisations; – sharing best practice initiatives including international examples, to improve health delivery standards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians; and – facilitating continuous improvement in health outcomes. 10 Strengthening community control
Who are NACCHO’s members? Currently ACCHOs are the members but they can only vote for nominees of the Affiliates Members need to be able to hold the Board to account, this is currently limited because only Affiliates can nominate potential directors The Board must be accountable for their performance to members. The Constitution needs to give members powers to nominate, elect and if required, dismiss Board members 11 Strengthening community control
Who are our members? • We want an integrated collaboration to actively improve the health and wellbeing of our people • We need comprehensive representation of the sector to get the broadest view and deepest understanding • We should have both ACCHOs and Affiliates as NACCHO members, each with one vote for each organisation • An inclusive approach gives us the strongest collective voice to advocate for community control into the future 13 Strengthening community control
The Board needs to be a workable size to make decisions and operate effectively Current NACCHO board is 16 directors made up of 14 representatives from Affiliates , plus chairperson and deputy chairperson. The board is too big and hinders efficient decision making Nominating only members limits accessing the full expertise of the Aboriginal community to support community control Board members are all in a representative capacity. This can mean a conflict between their duty to their employer and to NACCHO 14 Strengthening community control
The Board: key considerations How Who? many? How How to long? elect? 15 Strengthening community control
What skills do we need and how big should the Board be? Research suggests 7-9 directors for optimum effectiveness Skills relevant to NACCHO’s role: – technical - accountants, health economist – Research- clinical, social determinants – Influence- with governments and stakeholders Half retire every three years to give stability and continuity 16 Strengthening community control
Who will represent ACCHOs on the Board • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people only • Every member in each state elects a Board member • The Board should reflect the diversity of Aboriginal people and ACCHOs eg urban, regional, remote and • Can be community members with relevant expertise but if they are employed in the affiliates there is a high risk of conflicts: – between their duty/loyalty to employer and/or Affiliates vs duty to act in the best interests of NACCHO – conflicts may be actual or perceived 17 Strengthening community control
Election & appointment of NACCHO Board – Candidates nominate and record a short video for members to view prior to election – Members elect 8 Directors, and Board appoints independent Aboriginal Director – Vote electronically using a secure system – Vote on changes to the Constitution at November AGM including transition provisions to keep the current Board in place until 31 March – Elect new Board in Mar 18, in place 1 Apr 19 Strengthening community control
Appointing the Chair and Deputy • Currently these two roles are elected by NACCHO members • While this gives members control it risks this role becoming politicised • Most other Boards allow Directors to agree who on the Board is best placed to lead them • The 8 elected Directors will choose their Chairperson • This ensures the Chair has the confidence of the Board 21 Strengthening community control
Implementation • Special resolution of passed by 75% of members present at the meeting (in person or in proxy) is needed to change the constitution • The constitution will include transition clauses • Candidates nominate and the Board is elected • NACCHO will notify ACNC and ASIC of changes 22 Strengthening community control
Keeping members involved in the discussions up to the AGM • April-May: Consultation and discussions re structure and membership • Mid July: Board approval on way forward • Mid July-August: Drafting constitution and feedback from Board • September: Member feedback on draft • End September: Official notification sent to members • 2 November: Annual General Meeting • Election March 2018 • New Board appointed 1 April 23 Strengthening community control
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