Governance

• the Corporations Act 2001
• the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT Constitution
• the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012
• the Charities Act 1978
• the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991
• the Charitable Fundraising Regulations 2015

The Board, in undertaking its role in representing Guide Dogs NSW/ACT Members, and in promoting and protecting Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is committed to:

• Better practice standards of governance.
• Overseeing and monitoring our business using due care and diligence to ensure our long term reputation and financial sustainability, and our vision is achieved.
• Acting in good faith, with honesty and integrity, and in the best interests of our Members, clients, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders.

The Board is comprised of up to eleven unpaid non-executive directors. Each member is elected by the Members or co-opted to fill casual vacancies. The CEO is not a Board member.

Board Committees have been established to cover the key areas of our business. Each Committee focuses on specific tasks and programs being undertaken by Management, aligned to our Strategy.

Our Annual and Financial Reports are available here.

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT (GDN) is committed to breaking the boundaries that limit people with low vision and blindness. Advocacy work undertaken with State and Federal governments is key to help us realise the much-needed changes in day-to-day life for our Clients.

GDN supports the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission’s (ACNC) guidelines, stating: “A charity can promote or oppose a change to any matter of law, policy or practice, if the change would further or oppose a charitable purpose. The law, policy or practice being promoted or opposed can be in anywhere in Australia or overseas.”

Advocacy must further or aid a charitable purpose or advance public debate, which informs the public and policymakers. GDN undertakes advocacy consistent with the rule of law and the established system of government.

The Customer Advisory Panel (formerly the Client Advisory Committee) was launched in 2019 as a pilot and transitioned to the existing format mid 2020.

It is comprised of up to eight members and also includes a representative of the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT Board:

Steve Fox,

Dianne Walker,

John Barlow,

Rosanna Liang,

Nicholas Parsons,

Mark Scofield,

Harrison Kirkwood,

Janine Evans, and

Jacqui Jones (Board representative)

Sarah Hirst is the CAP Lived-experience co-ordinator.

The CAP is considered a key stakeholder to ensure that Guide Dogs NSW/ACT collects meaningful customer input into strategic and operational plans.

The CAP brings important customer perspectives to our planning and continuous improvement work, as well as helping us to explore and enhance existing strong connections with local communities. It plays a key role in reviewing updates to existing services, and advising on the co-design of potential new services.

The CAP was established following a review of the previous Regional Advisory Committees, undertaken late 2019. The review led to 14 recommendations including combining existing country and metropolitan Regional Advisory Committees to better facilitate the exchange of views across regions and streamline operational processes.

Reflecting our diverse customer base, members of the CAP come from a range of backgrounds, age groups and locations. Their lived experience of disability contributes a wealth of knowledge to the organisation, and Guide Dogs values their contributions as experts in their personal experience of vision impairment. Members have experience with a range of approaches to orientation and mobility, including Guide Dogs, White Canes and use of Assistive Technology. They also use different sources of funding to access our services, including NDIS, My Aged Care and donor funding.

Please contact us at gdncap@guidedogs.com.au  for more information.