The Victorian Ombudsman has tabled her report into the misuse of staff budget entitlements during the 2014 State election. Key points in the wash up from this Inquiry are: 21 Labor MPs breached guidelines for use of Parliamentary funds The scheme saw Labor’s field organisers partially paid as Parliamentary staff Labor has paid back $388,000… Continue reading Misuse of public funds says Vic Ombudsman
Tag: charities
Learning from others’ mistakes Part 5 – Codes of Conduct missing key elements
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) published a report today which asserts that ‘poor corporate culture is linked to weaknesses in codes of conduct and whistleblowing systems’ within ASX200 companies. While the report focuses on large corporations in the for-profit sector, more and more not-for-profit organisations have been aligning their governance standards with ASX Governance expectations… Continue reading Learning from others’ mistakes Part 5 – Codes of Conduct missing key elements
ACNC highlights poor governance concerns
The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) has released their Charity Compliance Report 2017, covering activity from 1 January – 31 December 2017. This report uses aggregated data and de-identified information to offer insights into the compliance work of the ACNC, and outlines their compliance focus for the year ahead. The ACNC’s media release about… Continue reading ACNC highlights poor governance concerns
Learning from others’ mistakes Part 4 – Red Cross and Plan International
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
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
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?