The National Board of Amnesty International Australia (AIA) provides leadership and governance for AIA.
Members of AIA are now invited to nominate for election to the National Board.
At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October last year AIA members voted overwhelming in support of a new system of governance. A key component of this new system was a National Board of seven elected directors, assessed by a Nomination & Assessment Committee (NAC) with regard to a statement of capabilities, attributes and diversity (Attributes Statement).
The three members of the NAC are:
- Inge Saris as the AGM elected member, a former ACT SNSW Branch President;
- Simon Rumore as the National Board appointed member, a former QLD NNSW Branch Committee Member and former National Board member; and
- Kate Harper as someone with specific expertise in executive and non-executive director recruitment. Kate has 15 years’ experience in the executive search industry and currently runs her own business that specialises in executive search and board consulting for not-for-profit organisations.
The Attributes Statement was originally drafted by the Governance Committee with reference to the practices of other Australian not-for-profits as well as Amnesty International sections globally. It was subsequently endorsed by the NAC and finally approved by the National Board in July 2019. The Attributes Statement has four parts:
- Part A – collective capabilities of the National Board including activism;
- Part B – personal attributes of directors;
- Part C – a statement of diversity and inclusion; and
- Part D – required capabilities to be a director of AI Australia.
As a transition year to a new system of governance at the AGM on 13 October 2019, the General Meeting Votes will elect all seven members of the National Board. The elections at the AGM will be held in two rounds: the first round is to elect 4 board members – only current members of the National Board are eligible to stand. The second round will be to elect the remaining three board members and these positions are open to all members.
In order to commence the staggering of three year terms, candidates will be elected for a period of one, two or three years. More details are available in the Constitution, cl. 13.1(b).
Expression of interests open today for directors of the National Board and will remain open until 5:00 pm AEST on Monday 2 September 2019. To apply, please refer to:
- Candidate Brief; [available on 16 August]
- Attributes Statement; and
- Board Charter [available soon]
To complete your expression of interest you will need to undertake a self assessment with regard to the Attributes Statement and include a brief resume (maximum of 4 pages). After a review of the expressions of interest, NAC will determine those individuals to interview over the first half of September in presenting a list of candidates to the General Meeting Voters.
If there are any questions about these critical roles please contact the NAC Chair, Simon Rumore on simon.rumore@amnesty.org.au.
