Governance Structure
At the Special General Meeting in June 2007 a new Constitution was adopted that provided for a new Governance structure for ANZASW. The National Executive was appointed as the new Governance Board until elections could be held at the November Annual General Meeting. The Board was also given the task of managing the transition to the new governance structure, including reviewing the Standing Committee structure and organising the transition to a new complaints resolution process. The ANZASW Board held a planning meeting on July 20th and 21st in Wellington to consider the transition arrangements. The following proposals were developed.
Board Terms of Office and Elections
Board members will serve a two year term of office (they may be re-elected) and elections will be held in the following cycle:
| Even years | Odd years |
| Branches elect one member of the Board on a one vote per branch basis | Roopu elect one member of the Board on a one vote per roopu basis through a national Tangata Whenua Hui |
| The Kaiwhakahaere is elected by the National Tangata Whenua Hui. | |
| A general member postal ballot is held for two members of the Board | A general member postal ballot is held for two members of the Board |
| One member of the Board is co-opted by the elected Board members | One member of the Board is co-opted by the elected Board members |
As part of the transition arrangements the Tangata Whenua caucus was asked to recommend a member to be co-opted by the Board for a term of office to end in November 2008, in order to ensure that the current Board has a balance of Tangata Whenua and Tau Iwi members. It is anticipated that this will take place at the National Tangata Whenua Hui in September 2007. The following elections will then be held and the outcome confirmed at the Annual General Meeting in November 2007:
| Board Position | Name | Term Conclusion |
| Kaiwhakahaere | As elected | November 2009 |
| Roopu Vote | As elected | November 2009 |
| General Vote 3 | As elected | November 2009 |
| General Vote 4 | As elected | November 2009 |
Following the AGM the elected members of the Board will then co-opt one further member who will serve a term of office that ends in November 2009. In summary the members of the Board until November 2007 will be Rose Henderson (President), Rawinia Hape (Kaiwhakahaere), Leland Ruwhiu, Christine Menzies, Hanny Naus and one further member to be recommended by the Tangata Whenua Caucus. The members of the Board following the November 2007 AGM will then be as follows:
| Board Position | Name | Term Conclusion |
| President | Rose Henderson | November 2008 |
| General Vote 1 | Christine Menzies | November 2008 |
| General Vote 2 | Hanny Naus | November 2008 |
| Co-opted 1 | As co-opted | November 2008 |
| Kaiwhakahaere | As elected | November 2009 |
| Roopu Vote | As elected | November 2009 |
| General Vote 3 | As elected | November 2009 |
| General Vote 4 | As elected | November 2009 |
| Co-opted 2 | As co-opted | November 2009 |
For the elections to be held in November 2007 the following processes will be used:Kaiwhakahaere Elections:
- The current process used by the Tangata Whenua caucus will continue to be used. This provides a mechanism for input from all Roopu and for a final appointment to be made based on a consensus from a National Tangata Whenua Hui. In addition the Tangata Whenua caucus will ‘rank’ any candidates who are not elected as the Kaiwhakahaere in case a replacement is required during the term of office. The election of a Kaiwhakahare will be confirmed at the AGM.
Roopu Elections:
- The current process used by the Tangata Whenua caucus will continue to be used. This provides a mechanism for input from all Roopu and for a final appointment to be made based on a consensus from a National Tangata Whenua Caucus. In addition the Tangata Whenua caucus will ‘rank’ any candidates who are not elected by the Roopu in case a replacement is required during the term of office. The election of one Board member on a one vote per Roopu basis will be confirmed at the AGM.
General Member Elections:
- The Executive Officer will call for nominations for Board members nine weeks prior to the AGM (September edition of Notice Board). A position description and person specification will be circulated to assist potential candidates to decide if they wish to stand for election. Members who were nominated for the Kaiwhakahaere position or for the Roopu or Branch vote but were not elected, may be nominated for the general member elections. Nominations must be received a minimum of five weeks prior to the AGM.
- Candidates must be seconded by a member of the Association and they should provide a brief C.V and biography including details of what they can contribute to the Board.
- Candidate’s information will be circulated to members four weeks prior to the AGM and a postal ballot held of all members.
- Members will rank all candidates on their voting paper (i.e. 1-10) and return their vote no later than five days prior to the AGM.
- National Office staff will confirm the eligibility of all voting
papers and total the votes. - To ensure that four members of the Board are Tangata Whenua and four are Tau Iwi, it may be necessary for the appointment to take into account the candidate’s ethnicity. Therefore, if the appointment can be either Tangata Whenua or Tau Iwi then the candidate with the most votes will be appointed; if they must be Tangata Whenua then the candidate with the most votes who is also Tangata Whenua will be appointed and if they must be Tau Iwi then the candidate with the most votes who is also Tau Iwi will be appointed.
- The election of two Board members from a general member vote will be confirmed at the AGM each year.
Branch Elections:
- Prior to the Congress meeting in November 2007, the Board will circulate possible models for the election of a member on a one vote per Branch basis. These options will then be discussed at the Congress meeting and an election process agreed that will be used in time for the AGM in November 2008.
Committee StructureFollowing consultation with members at the June 2007 National Council meeting and subsequently with current Standing Committees, the Board proposes the following Committee structure for the Association.
| Name of Committee | Chair |
| Tikanga Committee | Christine Menzies |
| Governance Scope/Focus of Committee: | Standing Committees being replaced: |
| Membership regulationsEthics and ValuesProfessional StandardsScopes of PracticeComplaints ResolutionConstitution | Membership CommitteeEthics CommitteeJudicial CommitteeProfessional Standards CommitteeConstitution Committee |
| Name of Committee | Chair |
| Membership Support Committee | Hanny Naus |
| Governance Scope/Focus of Committee: | Standing Committees being replaced: |
| Membership promotionMarketing of ANZASWBranch/Roopu support & developmentAdvocacy |
| Name of Committee | Chair |
| Communications Committee | Rose Henderson |
| Governance Scope/Focus of Committee: | Standing Committees being replaced: |
| Public and media relationsPublic questionsPublications – paper and electronic | Publications CommitteePublic Questions Committee |
| Name of Committee | Chair |
| Social Concerns Committee | Leland Ruwhiu |
| Governance Scope/Focus of Committee: | Standing Committees being replaced: |
| Human RightsSocial JusticeInternational Issues | International Committee |
| Name of Committee | Chair |
| Professional Development Committee | Rawinia Hape |
| Governance Scope/Focus of Committee: | Standing Committees being replaced: |
| Social Work educationCourse approvalCompetency ServiceCPD ServiceSupervisionResearch | Course Approvals BoardBoard of CompetencyEducation and Training CommitteeResearch Committee |
Current Standing Committees are being consulted about the proposed Committee structure so that a final structure can be agreed and hopefully take effect in September. The Board is aware that the proposed names of the Committees may not be the most appropriate. The suggested names will be subject to further consultation and approval and the Board would welcome any suggestions from members for alternative titles. It is proposed that once the Board is at full strength that there will be two members of the Board on all Committees. All members who are interested in joining one of these Committees should contact Dominic Chilvers, Executive Officer at National Office.
Advisory Groups
The role of the new Committees will be focused on the Governance issues that relate to their scope or area of concern. The Board recognises that the current Standing Committees also have responsibility for certain management functions and these will in future be the responsibility of the paid staff. The Committees will have responsibility for setting the policies within which the paid staff must operate. However, the Board recognises that with a small team of paid staff it is important to provide advisors to assist the staff in the consistent application of governance policy and to identify policy gaps. For this reason it is proposed that a number of Advisory Groups will be established who will work with the Executive Officer and other staff on management related tasks. At this stage the following Advisory Groups are proposed although these may be increased in the future. Membership Advisory Group (2 members)Competency Service Advisory Group (2 members)
