NT Director Update: April Edition

Ahead of the release this month of an Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) inquiry report into class actions and litigation funding, AICD takes a look at insurance claims data for ASX200 firms and the top five claims for directors’ liability insurance.

These quarterly updates will highlight our recent activities and also alert NT directors to upcoming events, seminars and courses on the horizon.

I am extremely fortunate to work with a loyal and engaged membership base across the Territory. I am proud to report that our membership continues to grow and we are very close to hitting 450 members here – I think this deserves a celebration!

AICD NT is part of the South Australia/Northern Territory division. We have an NT Committee comprised of AICD members who act as an advisory committee to represent the needs and interests of the AICD and its members within the Northern Territory.

In November 2017, NT Committee Chairman Richard Giles faicd was delighted to welcome to Darwin AICD Chairman, Elizabeth Proust am faicd, newly appointed CEO Angus Armour faicd, Roger Sexton am faicd SA/ NT Council Chairman and Clinton Jury SA/NT Manager for our Annual Dinner.

AICD Chairman Elizabeth Proust was our keynote speaker and touched on the topics of disruption and infrastructure challenges in our regions as ongoing challenges facing boards and directors. The next day Roger Sexton conducted a very enlightening roundtable with key stakeholders on Doing Business in Asia. Richard Giles was also delighted to celebrate the achievement of three Northern Territory members have been members for 25 years.

Congratulations

Australia Day Honours on January 26 2018

Alastair King AM FAICD

Recognised for service to the Indigenous community of the NT

Celebrating 25 Years of AICD Membership

Steve Margetic FAICD

Michael Sitzler FAICD

Ross Coburn FAICD

After a little downtime in December and January, we commenced our year with an economic update from AICD’s Chief Economist Stephen Walters gaicd. The demand for this event was so great we held another session at the Northern Australian Development Office that afternoon.

We are also delighted to announce that the AICD is working in partnership with the Department of the Chief Minister to seek out candidates suitable for appointment to various Northern Territory Government Boards and committees. In support of this initiative we have held a number of complimentary workshops in Nhulunuby, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Darwin.

We were also invited by Business Professional Women to conduct a session for International Women’s Day #PressforProgress for their members to assist in encouraging more women to consider board positions. If you are interested in completing an Expression of Interest Registration package please visit NT State page.

Whilst you can see the upcoming programs in the Diary Dates – one that is new for the NT is the Cyber for Directors Course in August – which is a critical topic in our rapidly changing world where organisations face new cyber security threats and opportunities. Cyber security is an ever-changing area that requires undiluted focus of all boards.

NFP Governance and Performance Study

Since 2010, the AICD has shone a light on governance in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector through our annual NFP Governance and Performance Study. The 2018 study commences soon with a survey to be sent to all AICD members alongside focus groups being held in different locations across Australia.Recent versions of the study have explored themes facing the NFP sector as well as monitoring broader governance issues over time. A key focus of the 2017 study was around culture. The study noted that directors recognised the imperative for an appropriate culture and that the vast majority of organisations appeared to have a good culture. However, the study also found that culture was not high on the board agenda and many were not measuring it in a formal way.

In 2016, the study noted the challenge of NFPs in building financial strength. While many organisations recognised the need to make a profit to build sustainable organisations, there were about 40 per cent that barely broke even or made a loss.

This was reiterated in 2017 with over half of respondents having profit margins of less than two per cent.
Directors in 2017 recognised that “reputation is a showstopper”, with an almost unanimous response to the importance of a good reputation. Yet the Edelman Trust Barometer noted the considerable drop in trust in Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in Australia and across the globe. It will be interesting to see the results when this is again investigated in the 2018 study.

Please contact NFP sector leader Phil Butler pbutler@aicd.com. au for further information – and keep an eye out for the survey.