New Guide for Not-For-Profit Governance

The Australian Institute of Company Directors has launched a useful publication Good Goverance Principles and Guidance for the not-for-profit sector.

The ten governance principles have been developed after extensive consultation with directors in the Not-For-Profit sector and can be tailored to take into consideration the diversity of circumstances that can exist in this sector.

The ten governance principles are structured around:

• Roles and responsibilities.
• Board composition.
• Purpose and strategy.
• Risk – recognition and management.
• Organisational performance.
• Board effectiveness.
• Integrity and accountability.
• Organisation building.
• Culture and ethics.

According to the Hay Group report “Board Effectiveness in the NFP Sector” published in December 2012, there are an estimated 600,000 entities in the not-for-profit sector in Australia making it larger than the communications industry, agriculture or tourism.

The sector employs 900,000 paid staff which is approximately eight per cent of national employment and the ‘economically significant’ NFP’s contribute in excess of $43 billion to the Australian GDP.

It is gratifying to see this sector belatedly getting the credit it deserves and attention to the governance challenges within this sector being recognised.

This publication will be an extremely valuable reference for all NFP’s in assessing their governance framework and practices.

Follow this link to find out more about Good Governance Principles and Guidance.