Board and committees

Board appointments

The Sport Australia Board is the accountable authority under the PGPA Act. The ASC Act provides for between eight and 13 members, appointed by the responsible Minister and the Secretary of the Department embracing the Federal Sport portfolio.

The Board welcomed the appointment of two members in 2017–18: Ms Gabrielle Trainor (5 October 2017) and Ms Andrea Mitchell (15 November 2017), both of whom bring with them significant sport, government, communication and legal expertise.

On 5 October 2017, Mr Mark Textor was appointed to the Board. Mr Textor resigned on 3 May 2018.

In early September 2017, Mr Martin Bowles retired from his role as Secretary of the Department of Health and, by extension, his appointment as an Ex-officio Member of Sport Australia Board. The Board would like to acknowledge the contribution and support of Mr Bowles to Sport Australia while welcoming Ms Glenys Beauchamp PSM (18 September 2017) as the Ex-officio Member of the Sport Australia Board.

Consistent with Sport Australia’s focus on increasing female representation on sporting boards, six of the ten Sport Australia Commissioners as at 30 June 2018 were women.

Board members

Board activity

The Board met on seven occasions throughout 2017–18 and held a strategy session in May 2018.

Throughout the year, the Board focused heavily on the challenges and opportunities facing the sector, drawing on its extensive collective experience to inform and shape the development of Sport 2030. Simultaneously, the Board worked closely with Sport Australia management to formulate the Sport Australia strategy, one that will transform the organisation to help deliver on our goal for Australia to be the most active sporting nation, known for our integrity, participation base, thriving sports organisations and world-leading sports industry, while also achieving international sporting success.

The Board has also focused its efforts on ensuring that Australian sport environments are safe and supportive, with considerable work undertaken internally to ensure that athletes, staff and others in our care have appropriate protection and support.

Other activities overseen by the Board include a range of Sport Australia governance and compliance-related matters such as the endorsement of Sport Australia’s Financial Statements, Performance Statements, Annual Report and Corporate Plan.

Table 9: Sport Australia Board meeting attendance

Name

Position

Meetings eligible to attend

Meetings attended

John Wylie am

Chair

7

7

Alisa Camplin-Warner OAM

Deputy Chair

7

7

Andrea Mitchell

Member

5

5

Andrew Plympton AM

Member

7

7

Danielle Roche OAM

Member

7

7

Gabrielle Trainor AO

Member

6

5

Jennifer Morris OAM

Member

7

4

Katherine Bates

Member

7

6

Mark Textor*

Member

5

3

Pat Farmer AM

Member

7

7

Stephen Moneghetti AM

Member

7

7

Glenys Beauchamp PSM

Ex-officio

6

5

Martin Bowles PSM**

Ex-officio

1

0

*appointment ceased 3 May 2018
**appointment ceased 1 September 2017

Throughout the year officials from the Department of Health attended several Board meetings in an observer capacity. The Minister for Sport, the Honourable Bridget McKenzie, attended the February 2018 Board meeting.

Board committees

Finance, Audit and Risk Committee

The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee provides independent advice and assurance to the Board on matters relating to Sport Australia financial management and strategic planning, efficiency, physical assets, risk management, audit, compliance matters, and NSO finances.

During the reporting period the Committee, chaired by Andrew Plympton, continued to have a focus on reviewing and reporting on NSO finances, reviewing Sport Australia’s financial statements, reviewing the appropriateness of Sport Australia’s annual performance statements, monitoring Sport Australia’s PGPA Act legislative compliance, risk management, cyber security, Sport Australia’s capital and infrastructure projects, and overseeing the internal audit program.

Members from the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and the Governance and Executive Performance Committee met jointly as part of the April 2018 Committee meetings to consider cross-committee matters. Topics discussed were NSO finances, frequency of NSO financial reporting, sport industry growth and Sport Australia assessment of quality governance within NSOs.

The Finance, Audit and Risk Committee met on six occasions during 2017–18.

Table 10: Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meeting attendance

Name

Position

Meetings eligible to attend

Meetings attended

Andrew Plympton AM

Chair

6

6

Katherine Bates

Member

6

6

Robert Dalton*

Member

6

6

*Independent member

Governance and Executive Performance Committee

The Governance and Executive Performance Committee provides independent advice to the Board on better practice corporate governance for Sport Australia and NSOs, and on executive performance and remuneration issues.

During the reporting period, the Committee had oversight of the AIS Director recruitment process, continued its focus on governance reform in sport, strengthened and monitored performance objectives for the CEO, monitored Board and Sport Australia senior management conflict of interest declarations, extended their scope to include sport leadership talent, as well as the establishment of a group to advise the Sport Australia Board on key sector issues, and provide a platform for discussing system-wide matters that impact sport.

The Governance and Executive Performance Committee met four times in 2017–18.

Table 11: Governance and Executive Performance Committee meeting attendance

Name

Position

Meetings eligible to attend

Meetings attended

John Wylie am

Chair

4

4

Alisa Camplin-Warner OAM

Member

4

4

Jennifer Morris OAM

Member

4

3

Steve Moneghetti AM

Member

4

4