30 April 2019
The members of ADA Inc voted at the Special General Meeting in April to make a few amendments to the constitution.
The most significant of these was to change the structure of Federal Council, the ADA's equivalent of a Board of Directors, which is made up of 17 people who are appointed by ADA branches who are then legally required to govern the organisation in the best interests of all members nationally (rather than as representatives of the members of their branch).
Branch Presidents were included without a vote when the Federal Council was given the overall governance role in the early 1960s (prior to that, the Federal Executive held the governance role). Since that time, there has been enormous changes in laws surrounding the responsibilities of stewards of organisations so it was time to make some changes to reflect contemporary laws and governance practice.
The changes result in the current Federal Council of 23 people effectively becoming two bodies.
Firstly, Federal Council in its governance role will consist of the current 17 voting council positions appointed through branches who will be ultimately responsible for setting the direction, approving policy, compliance and oversight of ADA Inc as has been the case since the 1960s.
In addition to this, a new body has been formed called the National Advisory Committee which includes Federal Councillors and all branch presidents.
This important body will continue to debate and offer high level advice on ADA policy and strategy meeting next to the Federal Council meeting to avoid additional costs. It will undoubtedly be the place for ongoing lively debate on federal matters.
The second key change was to allow direct voting for members for General Meetings such as the Annual General Meeting. This will allow members to cast a ballot electronically for motions and will provide them with a greater say in motions.
In the past, voters at general meetings have mostly been made up of Federal Councillors albeit from time to time a large number of proxy votes have been provided. Direct voting gives members a way to vote directly on motions, however these will still require approval at the SGM.
These aren't significant changes however continuous improvements to the ADA are needed over time to move toward contemporary practice.
