Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Governance Review update
Thank you to all members who have shared feedback during our governance review. Your engagement has made this the Society’s most active governance conversation, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and ongoing consultation as we move forward.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again remind members of the dedicated Governance Review webpage. This page serves as a central resource, providing information about the Governance Review, including background details, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and a recording of the recently held Governance Review Forum.
As we move from developing options to making recommendations, I want to reiterate what we are looking to change and why. Importantly the working group recognises that throughout the history of the Society our elected Council members and ACTLS staff have worked exceptionally hard—balancing the dual role of the Society as both a regulatory and membership body.
However, it is evident that the current structure is not well understood by our members and has not kept pace with the growth in the Society’s membership body and associated regulatory work. With this growth, a greater emphasis on governance is required in order to ensure integrity of our dual function.
Throughout the consultation, several key governance risks facing the Society have emerged, which the working group is now seeking to address:
- Strengthen the effectiveness of Council members: The high volume and urgency of regulatory decisions means there is limited time available for strategic planning and oversight.
- Greater strategic focus: The capacity limitations mean Council is focusing its governance efforts on addressing compliance needs (e.g. budget, audited financials, election processes) but not on the strategy of the organisation.
- Greater focus on members: By creating efficiency in the role of Council, more focus can be directed towards the strategic direction and delivering greater value and support to its members.
- Reduce dependencies on individuals: The lack of clear documentation and supportive governance processes means that the Society has an overreliance on the knowledge and commitment of individuals, which is unsustainable and further amplifies the capacity issues.
- Improve induction and knowledge transfer: While the short tenure and potential for frequent turnover among Council members brings fresh perspectives, the absence of a formal knowledge transfer process increases the risk of losing institutional knowledge and disrupts continuity.
- Address procedural gaps and role ambiguity: Although some responsibilities are understood implicitly, there is a lack of formal documentation outlining governance, operational, and regulatory functions. This increases the risk of noncompliance and weakens accountability.
- Normalise reviewing our governance: Given the length of time some of our governance practice has been in place we may still be unaware of the ways in which it limits or introduces risk to the Society. Instating a regular review process with an interval of 3-5 years means that we can move to more improvement and iterative change in the future.
The Council has considered a preliminary suite of proposed changes designed to update our governance framework, clarify roles and responsibilities, and strengthen the Society’s dual functions of regulation and member support. If you have any ideas or concerns you’d like to share with the working group, please feel free to email me at president@actlawsociety.asn.au.
We are committed to a transparent, staged transition and will provide regular updates as they are finalised by the working group and Council, ensuring members have clarity on the changes.
Thank you for your support as we build a stronger, more effective Society for all ACT practitioners.
Vik Sundar
President, ACT Law Society
