About the Good Governance program

Sports and volunteering help to build strong, connected and more resilient communities; however, being on a board and managing a community organisation is getting more complex by the day. We recognise that sporting groups are finding it more challenging to achieve their goals for a range of reasons, including increasing compliance requirements, succession planning, and attracting members and volunteers.

In response to these challenges, the Centre for Participation has initiated the Change Our Game Regional Governance program. This program is committed to strengthening sporting communities through building the knowledge, skills and abilities of women in communities to confidently accept leadership positions in sporting organisations.

Sporting leaders nominated by their Regional Sports Assembly (RSA) take part in a train-the-trainer workshop. On completion, these RSA-nominated trainers deliver governance workshops to women in sporting groups who are ready for their next sporting leadership opportunity. To sustain the project and make real change, these new leaders continue learning and sharing through the CoP.

This grassroots program is working to increase female participation on sporting boards across the Wimmera. Due to its success building leaders throughout the region, the Office for Women is partnering with the Centre for Participation to explore opportunities to build governance knowledge, understanding and confidence across the state.

The Good Governance program aims to support community organisations to improve governing processes, build their capabilities and achieve their goals.

The community organisations who look to the program for support are diverse in makeup and history but often have similar challenges. Groups include:

• sporting organisations
• parents and citizens school groups
• not-for-profit charities
• community radio
• historical associations
• agricultural show societies
• progress associations.

There are many reasons why community organisations seek support with the Good Governance program. Challenges that are often highlighted include:

• difficulties obtaining required funds
• burn-out of members
• inducting new members
• group dynamics
• decisions being made prior to meetings
• understanding and adhering to legislation
• identifying and managing risk.

Why sign up to the program?

Working with a mentor will give your community an agreed purpose and set the goals needed to meet your purpose.

Once you are confident that the purpose is understood and the goals are achievable, you can then deliver meetings that are streamlined, effective and more enjoyable.

By running cohesive and effective meetings – and making improvements to your organisation overall – you can be more attractive to members and make your organisation more sustainable.

Mentors within the Good Governance program volunteer their time and resources at no cost. The mentors volunteer under the management of the host organisation, and adhere to their policies and procedures.

All mentors live locally within the region they are servicing. This local knowledge opens up networking opportunities that can really make a difference to the supported community organisation.

The local mentors volunteering their time have both a deep knowledge of governance and a broad spread of experiences. Our volunteer mentors have worked in diverse roles including as:

• Chief Executive Officers
• Chairs of national boards
• members of international advocacy groups
• Chief Financial Officers
• Australian Defence Force personnel
• university lecturers.

Mentors can help community organisations to build healthy, sustainable communities. They can collaboratively guide the committee/board to build an organisation that is:

• adherent with the law
• purposeful with clear objectives
• financially sustainable
• conducting well run meetings
• open and transparent
• effective and an enjoyable place to be involved.

The role of the mentor is to guide the community organisation to:

• prioritise challenges
• work together to consider solutions
• consider the elements of good governance
• work together to build a folder of documents and resources specific to the community organisation.

The mentor will not:

• provide advice
• develop documents
• make decisions.

The Good Governance program is currently delivered from three regional locations: Albury Wodonga, Mildura and Ballarat.

The host organisations in these locations are:

• Albury Wodonga Volunteer Resource Bureau
• Centre for Participation
• Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council

Host organisations are essential partners for the Good Governance program. The role of the host organisation is to implement the program in local areas by identifying and recruiting mentors and community organisations.

Key community leaders such as local councils can host the Good Governance program and select community organisations to take part. The program is cost-effective and simple to implement, allowing mentors to work directly with organisations to meet their unique needs.

The Good Governance program can help councils provide governance support more effectively to community organisations in their region and:

• minimise risk to both community organisations and local councils
• help organisations navigate complex reporting and compliance requirements
• ensure the effective use of resources
• reduce the social cost of unsustainable organisations
• build organisational capacity
• create cohesive and resilient communities.

The Good Governance host coordinator works within the host organisation, and is the key conduit between the mentor and the community organisation. Their local networks and on-the-ground knowledge are essential in delivering their two key roles of recruitment and support.

The host coordinator is responsible for recruiting community organisations, matching volunteer mentors with local community organisations, acting as a point of contact and providing support for the mentors and the community organisations while they work together, and contributing to the evaluation and ongoing development of the Good Governance program.

Host coordinators will:

• promote the Good Governance program and recruit mentors and community organisations into it
• evaluate mentors and organisations against key criteria provided as part of the program, to determine a suitable match
• support mentors and organisations throughout the duration of the placement by providing email and phone support at suitable intervals
• regularly communicate with the Good Governance coordinator at the Centre for Participation and provide feedback on the program
• input data into the information management system and support the outcomes evaluation framework.