It is great to be back after a month of chasing sunshine, warmer weather and a good book or two. I have been successful on all fronts and grateful to Robyn, Narelle, Lisa, Heidi, Sue and Vanessa for all their work in my absence.
It is a very busy time for organisations as they meet their governance and accountability requirements. I have just sent out to our members the Notice of Meeting for the FRSA AGM that will be held virtually on Thursday, 28 November 2024 at 12:00pm AEDT. There has been no shortage of debate and conversation in the media this week about political accountability and transparency (think Qantas upgrades and Robodebt). Whilst Charities are no longer legally required to hold an AGM (under the ACNC Act or the Corporations Act) the FRSA Board is and has always been of the view that AGMs provide an opportunity for organisations to exercise transparency and accountability – especially for their members and stakeholders – and that it is a practice that we should encourage and actively participate in. This is also a strong message delivered by the ACNC as part of the Governance Standards around accountability. Now that we are able to present our AGM online, we encourage our members and stakeholders to register to attend to hear what FRSA has been doing over the last 12 months and ask questions. It will be the last AGM for our current Chair, Teresa Jayet, who will be stepping down from the FRSA Board having served six years of her maximum term as a member elected Board Director.
On that note – just a reminder to Member Delegates of FRSA Full Financial Members that the FRSA Member Elected Board Director election process is currently open and will close at 4pm on Monday 11 November. Please be in touch if you need any further information.
Getting an insight into how our members celebrated Children’s week (see more) reflects that children are truly at the heart of so much work within the Family and Relationship Services sector. I encourage the FRS sector to take the opportunity to showcase their fantastic work and programs through the FRSA Child Inclusive Practice Forum (18-19 February 2025) and the FRSA National Conference (19-22 May 2025). We are currently in the ‘Call for Abstracts’ phase of building the programs for these two events. I strongly encourage you to look at the Call for Abstracts for each of these events and make an application. Deadlines are approaching so please take a look today!
