WA
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
Role
of the board
The role of the Board is to govern the
Association. It is accountable for:
- All Association matters;
- How the association develops its strategic outcomes and
direction;
- How the Board monitors the performance of the association in
achieving its strategic outcomes; and
- Ensuring the Board acts in the best interests of the
Association.
Legal
responsibilities of the Board
Board members share common legal
responsibilities, these include:
- Acting honestly;
- Exercising a reasonable level of care and diligence in order to
meet their duty of care;
- Not gaining a personal advantage or making improper use of
information;
- Complying with all relevant legislation;
- Acting in the best interests of the association as a whole;
- Ensuring the proper keeping of records, registers, accounts,
reports and lodgement of documents; and
- Ensuring that the association only exercises those powers and
functions permitted to it under its constitution and articles.
Prime
responsibilities include:
- Stewardship and trusteeship on behalf of stakeholders
- Carrying public trust
- Ensuring the Association remains viable and effective now and
in the future.
The Board has responsibility to ensure that
the Association has a viable long term
future by:
- Establishing the Association’s strategic direction and
priorities
- Interacting with key stakeholders to inform them of
achievements and ensuring that they have input to the strategic direction
of the association
- Regularly check to ensure that the strategic direction remains
relevant, achievable and the progress being made;
- Monitoring organisational performance and evaluating strategic
outcomes on a regular basis;
- Establishing the policy framework for the association;
- Defining key relationships with stakeholders;
- Appointing and setting performance targets for the Executive;
- Monitoring the Executive against th performance targets;
- Providing advice and guidance to the Executive as appropriate;
- Assessing risks that the Association has and establishing risk
management plans;
- Evaluating the effectiveness of the Board.
Board
Member Duties
- Attend all Board and committee meetings and functions as
identified;
- Be informed of the Association’s strategic direction, budget
content and process, structure, philosophy, policies and services.
- Review the agenda for each meeting and all supporting
information prior to the Board meeting;
- Contribute to the board agenda prior to each Board meeting;
- Serve on committees and assist staff where appropriate;
- Represent the best interests of the association on all
occasions, be that formal Association functions or other occasions;
- Agree to conflict of interest principles
- Assist the board in meeting its fiduciary responsibilities such
as reviewing the Association’s annual financial statements and responding
to the development of the annual budget.
Personal
Characteristics Desired of a Board Member
- There are a number of characteristics of an effective Board
member and these include:
- Ability to listen, analyse, think clearly and work well with people;
- Willingness to be an active member of the Board and
Association, eg prepare for and attend Board and committee meetings, ask
questions, take responsibility and follow through on a given assignment,
evaluate self.
- Willingness to develop skills that may assist the role of a
Board member, is required;
- Being honest, operate with integrity, respect other people’s
points of view, be responsive to staff requests for assistance and
actively support the association’s values.
Code
of Conduct
Codes of conduct or behaviour give Board
members a guide to what is acceptable behaviour or what is expected of them as
they conduct their work. They help guide board members ethically and
professionally. The following Officer’s Declaration is applicable for all elected
and appointed officers of BAWA.