Governance and Indigenous Organisations panel speech

Our Managing Director, Murray Saylor was invited by Deakin University to be part of a panel to share insights on the issue of "Governance and Indigenous Organisations" at the inaugural Indigenous Accounting and Business Conference in Melbourne (September 2015).

After paying my respects as a Torres Strait Islander on the land we were meeting I shared some of my observations on the panel topic.

How governance is viewed and worked through is different between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities due to in my opinion their differing governing influences and internal governance perceptions which will differ from community to community.

We do not celebrate enough of our governance success stories internally amongst our communities and in the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This also extends to exploring opportunities to learn from success stories in a collegiate manner between communities.

Challenges faced by our communities in relation to robust governance structures:

• Loss of community intellectual capital
• unconscious bias by our community organisations and business boards to not use Indigenous consultants and service providers who specialise in governance training and guidance
• Continual merry go round of government public policy and funding governance requirements which limits innovative thinking

All of the abovementioned challenges also provide an opportunity for change and innovation.

For our communities to remain viable, vibrant and our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures to thrive and continue, educated Indigenous professionals are responsible to give back to their communities in way of sharing their intellectual capital. Also, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and company boards have to be open to working with Indigenous Consultants in community service delivery. But, most importantly our Boards need to move from a genealogical directorship model to a skills based model underlined with strong value principle governance foundations.

If you are a community and/or Company Board that is looking at establishing or improving your governance systems and processes do not hesitate to contact Tagai Management Consultants via email info@tagaimanagementconsultant.com.au  for a initial free consultation about your challenges and governance requirements.