Hard on the heels of the Oxfam admissions last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Plan International have also uncovered sexual misconduct by some of their staff. ICRC director-general Yves Daccord issued a statement on 23 February, advising that 21 staff members have resigned or been fired since 2015 after violating policy by paying for… Continue reading Learning from others’ mistakes Part 4 – Red Cross and Plan International
Month: February 2018
Data breach prevention and incident response
If you are a not-for-profit organisation with over $3 million in turnover, then you will doubtless be aware that today marks the first day of the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) Scheme. This means you now have new obligations to notify affected parties and the OAIC in the event of a breach. The Office of the… Continue reading Data breach prevention and incident response
Less trust in NGOs
The 2018 Edelman Global Trust Barometer indicates that trust in the Australian not-for-profit sector is down from 52% in 2017 to 48% in 2018. (Note – the link provided here takes you to the Trust Barometer page on the Edelman website, where you can choose whether or not to download the 114 Mb file). In… Continue reading Less trust in NGOs
Learning from others’ mistakes Part 3 – RSL NSW
Former New South Wales RSL president Don Rowe has been referred to police by the NSW State Government and significant reforms are also proposed, potentially affecting all Australian charities and other not-for-profit organisations. The NSW State Government last week released the 705-page report (WARNING – 48Mb file) by former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin after establishing the Public Inquiry in May… Continue reading Learning from others’ mistakes Part 3 – RSL NSW
Learning from others’ mistakes Part 2 – Oxfam
If yesterday’s post regarding the CPA Australia Independent Review is considered Part 1 of a series about what we can learn from troubles experienced by not-for-profit organisations, then the Oxfam scandal can be considered Part 2. The UK Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into “allegations of misconduct by staff involved in its humanitarian… Continue reading Learning from others’ mistakes Part 2 – Oxfam
Learning from the CPA Australia Independent Review
Some association directors and executives will have followed the unfolding story about CPA Australia quite closely during 2016-17, while others may have only occasionally noted that there was media interest in governance and management arrangements in that organisation. Now that the Final Report of the CPA Australia Independent Review is available, along with the Board’s… Continue reading Learning from the CPA Australia Independent Review
CDC word bans include “evidence-based”
You may have missed this story in the pre-Christmas rush, but the Washington Post (WaPo) published two stories in mid-December about the Trump administration telling divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services that they should avoid using certain words or phrases in official documents being drafted for next year’s budget. This story could… Continue reading CDC word bans include “evidence-based”
How transparent is your policy evidence?
Not-for-profit organisations want to ensure that their policy submissions to current and future governments are effective, and so they rightly look to align their arguments with election promises and policy platforms made public by the major parties, and to time their interactions appropriately within the policy cycle. Beyond those considerations, however, there is perhaps a… Continue reading How transparent is your policy evidence?
IT Governance (and cyber-risk) in your governance framework – Part 2
It is more evident than ever before that information technologies are essential enablers of almost all strategic and operational activities undertaken by associations and charities. Equally, we must now acknowledge that cyber-risks and cybersecurity concerns present as significant risks for not-for-profit entities. Recognising this, the importance of addressing IT governance and risk management within your… Continue reading IT Governance (and cyber-risk) in your governance framework – Part 2