Effective Governance Clients

'Standards Australia completed a facilitated board review workshop by using the electronic keypad process that Effective Governance offers as an alternative to the standard questionnaire process. We found this in-boardroom style of review an excellent process and the results will form the foundation of future discussions to enhance board performance.'

Archer Whetham, Company Secretary,
Standards Australia

'Effective Governance was engaged by Rio Tinto Alcan to provide professional development training on governance to our associated community groups in Gladstone.  There was very positive reception to the governance training with some of the groups now implementing governance enhancements.  The participants spoke highly of the presenters. We would be open to using Effective Governance for further governance training if the need arose.'

Jeremy Hastings, Specialist - Partnerships, Aboriginal and Community Relations,
Rio Tinto Alcan

'Effective Governance was recently engaged by St John of God Health Care to assist with our externally facilitated board review. We found the whole process worked extremely well and were pleased with their flexible approach that enabled us to tailor the questionnaire to suit our Mission as a health ministry of the Catholic Church.'

Jennifer Stratton, Group Director Mission,
St John of God Health Care

'Effective Governance was appointed to complete a Governance Structure Review for the Board of the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA).  The process was tailored to the specific needs of the TSRA.  The observation of cultural protocols and respectful communication enabled good working relationships that were critical for effective community engagement. The robust and professional approach of the eG team and their ability to work with all TSRA stakeholders produced a good report which clearly presented the arguments, options and recommendations for the Board to consider.'

John T. Kris, Chairperson,
Torres Strait Regional Authority,
November 2011

'Darumbal Community Youth Services once again used Effective Governance to provide a Governance Training Workshop for the board and executive to understand the key elements of governance and to provide an understanding of the role of the board. In the current climate where there has been an increased level of scrutiny and debate about the purpose and role of Indigenous community-controlled services, being able to work with a proven group such as Effective Governance has increased the confidence and capacity of the volunteer board members to manage Darumbal in a transparent and professional way. The facilitator conducted the training in a manner that the board and staff felt comfortable with and provided a clear explanation of governance requirements.  We will be happy to work with Effective Governance in the future.'

Margaret Hornagold, Chief Executive Officer,
Darumbal Community Youth Service Inc

'Lexon Insurance recently engaged the assistance of Effective Governance to enhance the  KPIs for the Chief Executive Officer's role in order to provide a clear means to measure the CEO's strategic achievements on an annual basis.  We have successfully resolved these performance measures and are appreciative of the role that Effective Governance undertook to achieve the outcomes.'

Chris Coyne, Chairman,
Lexon Insurance

'CQ University Australia engaged Effective Governance in the second half of 2009 to review the performance of the University Council.  The Council had been carrying out internal reviews since 2003 that covered Council as a whole, the Chancellor, Council Secretary, Council Committees and also a review of individual Council members and had been making improvements as a result of these reviews.  We felt it was timely for several reasons to have a credible external review.

The advantage of an external review by an enterprise that has performed many such University reviews is that the auditee organisation receives the benefit of external benchmarking against its peers.

Council was very pleased that many useful recommendations for improvement came forward. These were accepted by Council and implemented, leading to a much more effective and harmonious operation of Council both at Council meetings and otherwise.  We resolved to have an external review each three to four years to supplement our internal reviews.'

R.C. (Rennie) Fritschy, Chancellor,
Central Queensland University

'CS Energy Limited recently completed an external Board and Director Peer Review conducted by Effective Governance.  The review was conducted with professionalism and attention to detail.  The succinct Board feedback and reporting added significant value to ongoing governance operations and were appreciated.'

Warren Packer, Company Secretary,
CS Energy Ltd

'We recently used Effective Governance to complete a Board Review and Director Skills Assessment and the outcome was excellent.  We believe the Skills Assessment Process was very effective in creating an awareness of the existing directors' skills as a foundation to up-skilling our board members to enhance board performance.'

Christine Dixon, Chairman,
MRAEL Group

'Effective Governance recently provided assistance to the Centre for Remote and Rural Health Queensland Board by providing an opinion on our CEO Review.  We were extremely pleased that the assignment was conducted in a competent, timely and professional manner.'

Jim Petrich AM, Chairman,
Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health Queensland

'The board of QRAA were very satisfied with the recent board review process implemented by Effective Governance.   We found the questions relevant and all encompassing and the findings were presented in a simplistic manner highlighting where improvements could be made.   The workshop was beneficial as it allowed the board members to question and discuss the recommendations.'

Graham Davies, Chairman,
Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority

'Mermaid Marine Australia Limited has used Effective Governance to provide board evaluation services for the last two years and we have been impressed with their timely and professional service.  We found that the cost of executing the review externally compared favourably with the time and cost of completing the review in-house, as well as the added extra of providing anonymity and transparency.'

Dylan Roberts, Company Secretary,
Mermaid Marine Australia Limited

On completion of the third board review for Mermaid Marine, the Chairman commented, 'You guys do a great job with your reports, they set a great baseline for improvement'.

Tony Horwarth, Chairman,
Mermaid Marine Australia Limited

'Berrima District Credit Union have used Effective Governance for the last three Board Reviews and we have been very satisfied with the processes undertaken during the review and the way the results have been captured in the Findings Report.  The Report provides us with a reference point to enable enhancement of our governance processes for the next twelve months.'

Kristina Freire, Chairman,
Berrima District Credit Union

'Effective Governance's support in establishing our Advisory Council has been outstanding over the last twelve months.  This has been a great outcome for the growth of the B and W Group'

Karemie Williams, Executive Director,
B and W Group

'The on-line Board evaluation and subsequent governance workshop delivered the outcomes the Board needed to embark on the next phase of its governance development program.'

Myles Clacherty, Chief Executive Officer,
Central and Southern Queensland Training Consortium

'The Executive of Queensland Police Union of Employees recently undertook a governance workshop facilitated by Effective Governance.  The focus of the workshop was to gain greater understanding of the governance, financial and strategy processes to enable the Executive to have clarity around their role in these areas.

The facilitated sessions went extremely well and we were delighted with the outcomes.'

Mick Barnes, General Secretary,
Queeensland Police Union of Employees

'The Board of Bank of Queensland recently used Effective Governance to assist us with a Board and Chair Evaluation.  We were totally and utterly satisfied with the whole process and particularly satisfied with how the findings were portrayed in the report.'

Neil Summerson, Chairman,
Bank of Queensland Limited

 'Effective Governance recently conducted a board review for Arrow Energy and we were extremely satisfied at all stages of the process and by the services that were delivered to us. The board gained enormously in its governance from the practical contributions suggested in our report'.

John Reynolds, Chair,
Arrow Energy Limited

'Effective Governance recently facilitated for Urban Land Development a Board Review Process which we found to be a simple and easy process with clarity around the questioning.  The findings review workshop was particularly useful providing the recommendations that assisted us with the various solutions'

Julie Boyd, Chair,
Urban Land Development Authority

 'We recently used Effective Governance to conduct an externally facilitated Board Evaluation and Self /Peer Director Assessment instead of the internal conducted process used in the past.   The Board were very happy with the processes used and the outcome provided valuable insight into how we could move forward and continue to improve our governance performance at board and director level.'

Bruno Cullen, Chair,
Queensland Country Credit Union

'We recently used Effective Governance to provide a Board, Chair and Director Performance Review identifying strengths we could build on and areas where we needed to improve our performance both as a board and as individual directors. The survey process provided a robust framework for comparison against accepted governance criteria and the flexibility of open responses to identify opportunities for improvement.  The experience was an effective catalyst ... to reassess the way they approach their role as directors.I recommend the Effective Governance...to boards that want to ensure they maximise their contribution to their organisation.'

John G Herbert, Chairman
Condamine Alliance

'Effective Governance worked with us at our recent strategic planning retreat and with their facilitated approach and guidance, we established clarity of our current position within the challenging global financial crisis environment.  Their experience and input enabled us to re-focus and set our strategic direction and future purpose.'

Peter Carlin, CEO,
Service One Members Banking

'These toolkits are of a very high standard and I have no doubt that they will be of considerable benefit to my members. They will save valuable executive time and resources when implementing the new APRA standards. The toolkits also take the guesswork out of what needs to be done and provides comfort that the APRA standards will be effectively implemented.'

Raj Venga, CEO,
Australian Association of Permanent Building Societies

'Effective Governance has worked with us in 2007 and 2009 conducting our board and chair evaluation process.  We were impressed with the process and outcomes and will consider using their services again in the future.'

John Kindler, Chairman,
Newcastle Airport Corporation

'As Chairman of St Vincent and Mercy Private Hospital, I was very impressed with the professional approach undertaken by the team from Effective Governance.

The scope of the review was relevant and detailed and enabled quality reports to be produced which summarised succinctly and clearly the salient points and a roadmap going forward.  The Senior Advisor was always available to assist and the presentation to the board was excellent, well done to all.'

Jack O'Connell, Chairman,
St Vincent and Mercy Private Hospital

'Following a successful merger, a detailed board assessment had been done this year by Effective Governance and we found one of the outcomes of the process, particularly when you've got anonymity and an external party carrying it out, is a great measure of independence.   This reassures everybody that appropriate probity and care is carried out.  There are no idiosyncrasies of individual board members influencing the process.....it is fair to say there have been lessons learnt'

Gary Green, Chairman,
Community CPS Credit Union

'This evaluation was most constructive for our Board...I appreciate the productive interaction I have had with Effective Governance in this process.'

John Dempsey, Chairman,
Energex

'The on-line Board evaluation and subsequent governance workshop delivered the outcomes the Board needed to embark on the next phase of its governance development program.'

Myles Clacherty, CEO,
Central and Southern Queensland Training Consortium

'Over a number of years Effective Governance has worked closely with the directors of ahm in making them a more effective board.  The annual evaluation adds significant value to our governance process.  The graphs provide us with a good snap-shot as to where we are at.  However, I found the most powerful and insightful outcomes of our board evaluations are the one on one interview comments which are captured throughout the findings report.'

Michael McMahon, Former Chairman,
ahm

'The Boardroom Barometer provides us with immediate feedback on how we are going individually and collectively as a board.  This allows us to make changes as we go rather than waiting for our annual board evaluation.  We are finding it very effective and can highly recommend it.'

Ian Langdon, Chairman,
Dairy Farmers

'We recently used Effective Governance to conduct  a Committee Evaluation and  found that they were highly efficient in the  application of the process conducted and we were more than happy with the level of communication throughout the assignment.'

Laurie Gillespie, Committee Chair,
Stanwell Corporation

'Many local subsidiaries of multinationals struggle with implementing sound governance. The expertise and processes from Effective Governance assisted Parsons Brinckerhoff to establish an outstanding Advisory Council to enhance our governance practices, and also guide us in the growth of our business in the coming years.'

Stuart Glenn, Managing Director,
Parsons Brinckerhoff Australia Pty Limited

'Effective Governance worked with Tabcorp to develop and implement an IT governance framework that will assist us on our journey to a higher level of IT governance maturity and effectiveness'

Luke Healy, CIO,
Tabcorp Casinos Division

'On the day, Effective Governance displayed a very professional approach which helped us to achieve the strategy objectives'

Gavin Bailey, General Manager - Business Development,
Diversified Construction Corporation Pty Ltd

'The Strategic Planning process from Effective Governance gave us all a very clear strategic overview of where we are heading.'

 Charles Wright, General Manager,
Neumann Petroleum

'Effective Governance provided Pacific Seeds with a sound platform to review our existing strategic plan. From this we have updated our Mission, Vision and Value Statements and challenged a number of our long standing ideas.

The process was testing, but the facilitators ensured we understood why we needed to put so much effort into our strategic thinking.'

Chris Bazley, Managing Director,
Pacific Seeds Pty Ltd