Governance Board Communique 28 August 2020 The Board of Directors of RAAus met by video conference on Saturday 22 August 2020.
The board has also undergone an evaluation and review exercise. This process, while impacted by COVID-19, has now been completed. The Board of Directors will soon issue a statement to all members regarding the outcome of this review, with further details to be included in our annual report. This review also resulted in minor changes to our governance policies and will also result in changes to our board committee structure. Relevant documents will be updated in due course.
Directors put in place administrative processes to ensure the effective and smooth transition to the post-election Board which will include the newly elected Directors. As a result of COVID-19 and the delayed RAAus AGM, now set for 27 February 2021, it was important RAAus mapped a pathway to allow any newly elected director the opportunity to discharge their duties prior to the AGM given that vacancies from retiring Directors will exist. The process will see the two directors elected as part of the current election cycle being inducted and filling casual vacancies until the AGM when they will begin their 3 year term of office. This process is consistent with the RAAus constitution.
Directors received reports from the Chair, Chair of Risk and Performance Committee, and the CEO. Topics discussed included strategic meetings with advisory panels, financial reports for the financial year ending 30 June 2020, Part 149, HR and recruitment. The board was also advised of advocacy efforts. This includes our most recent efforts to improve access to aviation services at Warnervale through meetings with airport residents, local councils and the NSW Government.
Directors approved minor changes to our Operations Manual and Occurrence and Complaints Handling Manual (OCHM) to ensure consistency of language and compliance with Part 149 requirements. Changes to the Operations Manual won’t be effective until RAAus receives a Part 149 certificate and changes to the OCHM will be updated on our website in the coming weeks. Members will be advised of all changes to the Operations Manual once Part 149 status has been confirmed by CASA. The Operations Manual changes are minor in nature and largely deal with nomenclature.
The Board also discussed RAAus’ accident investigation policy. Currently RAAus is often invited to assist with an accident investigation by the police or coroner, usually in the absence of any other agency taking a lead role. Whereas RAAus believes this is not ideal, it does provide expert analysis from our trained investigators and is a model that affords our membership with an opportunity to gain access to safety related issues, albeit in a limited capacity and lengthy delays. RAAus will continue to work with the government, ATSB and CASA as we explore a model that affords members greater access to the results of accident investigations.
Directors finalised a review of system anomalies that occurred in 2019 and were discovered as part of our internal audit procedures. Directors were briefed at the time, and a thorough investigation using external assistance was undertaken. Two of the affected accounts belonged to directors and these people were excluded from the investigation process to remove any potential conflict. The board is satisfied that the anomalies were of a limited nature, that no harm or benefit had come to the individuals involved and that the integrity, and more importantly the privacy, of our members was not adversely affected. The nature of the incident was such that it did not meet the legal thresholds to be considered as an eligible breach which triggers statutory reporting requirements. Despite there being no legal obligation to do so, system changes were made to add a further layer of security to our data and systems, all affected people were notified and internal security procedures have been strengthened. The audit processes that brought this incident to light continue to be used.
Directors will meet again in October via video conference. 2020 Election Results 22 October 2020 RAAus is pleased to announce the results of our 2020 Director Elections. Each elected Director will serve a three year term from the end of our 2020 AGM. RAAus received four nominations for the two positions available. During the voting period (1 August 2020 to 25 September 2020) a total of 606 eligible ballot papers were mailed in. Due to COVID and delays in the mail system, RAAus undertook counting ballots on two
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