Resources and publications

This AGM roadmap has been updated to reflect the significant rule changes that have recently been made for virtual meetings. It remains a user-friendly tool that can be adapted to your entity’s specific needs. In addition to a clear list of deliverables, the roadmap provides you with a regulatory background for each step and prompts you to take action within automatically-generated deadlines.

Checklist to help prepare for large community meetings.

This template can be used to establish a plain English Code of Conduct for board members or your general PBC staff.

This board induction checklist provides a downloadable template for your PBC to formalise the induction process of new board members. It contains suggestions on documents to be included in an induction kit and when and by whom the new board is inducted. 

ORIC newsletter about CEO accountability. 

An guide to creating a board dispute resolution policy.

An Ethics Workshop will be held for PBCs and Traditional Owners to be aware of best practice ethical research standards that should be used by researchers when working with Traditional Owners.

The workshop will introduce you to the themes and principles outlined in AIATSIS’s Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies (GERAIS). Examples and case studies will help you understand how and why the GERAIS principles should be the minimum standards applied to any research on your land and sea country.

There is a concern that the PBCs and Traditional Owners are not as familiar with ethical standards as the researchers are and how they should be applied to any research. This seems to be a one-sided conversation. GERAIS will educate and inform PBCs and TOs about ethical standards in research taking place across Indigenous estates – IPAs, Ranger work including compliance and enforcement issues, Indigenous engagement in Government processes and other research as well as Native Title and PBC research. It is so critically important that PBCs and TOs know what to expect from both the researcher and the participants so that they are well informed before they enter into a research agreement.

An emerging bibliography on free prior and informed consent, engagement and consultation.

This guide is for people who are, or are thinking of becoming, board members of a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). It focuses on good governance and how it helps charities in the context of their obligations.

This guidance offers suggestions reflecting the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and associated regulation. Companies will need to consider their individual circumstances, including their constitutions and any other relevant matters.

This revised comprehensive review of AIATSIS sets the highest standards of ethics and support for human rights in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research. While the principles in the 2012 edition are largely retained, they have been reorganised into a new framework and augmented to reflect emerging standards and developments.

This guidebook provides information on how to select independent directors for the Aboriginal boardroom. 

Independent Directory connects skilled and interested people looking to become an independent director with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations looking to appoint the right independent directors to their boards. It is a free service that allows: *Individuals to register an interest in being an independent director, identifying their experience and skills. *Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations to promote board vacancies. The service finds matches and allows candidates and corporations to initiate contact with each other. Candidates and corporations are in control of how much detail they reveal about themselves to the public and what they show only to their connections.

In this statement, the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and Governance Institute of Australia (Governance Institute) summarise key principles, provide their view on matters to be included in minutes, and consider the approach to board papers and document retention policies.

This guidebook provides information about how a board member in a non-profit or voluntary organization manages conflict. 

For native title holders, the ability to exercise native title rights for commercial purposes is crucial to full and meaningful participation in the social, cultural and economic life of Australia. This article examines the extent to which native title gives its holders the power to manage resources, govern their use and exploit them commercially.

Outlines the treatment of income tax under native title agreements

An outline of some of the legal issues surrounding PBCs charging fees for service and what PBCs can and cannot charge fees for.

Taungurung Land and Waters Council and AIATSIS collaboratively produced a decision-making guide for Taungurung people to use in governance.

The guide contains practical information on:

• Compliance and legal requirements
• Decision-making models
• Separation of powers
• Conflicts of interest
• Subsidiarity
• Cultural governance

The guide is of practical use for Taungurung Land and Waters Council in governance, assisting communication and engagement, inducting new board members, and managing disagreements about procedures and policies.

It will also be of interest to other Indigenous corporations that are working on their own decision-making structures, processes and models, particularly native title Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs) and other traditional owner corporations.

Tips for Independent directors.