I've spent the last few weeks articulating several concerns within surf lifesaving through its income, expenditure and governance at a higher level. During this period I've had multiple individuals express similar concerns throughout Australia. I do not have the capacity to dive into every little detail or issue; while defining the problem is important, there does come a time where options to rectify issues need to be identified. I assess there are several options to improve the organisation financially and operationally include:
- Divorce competition from lifesaving. These are two distinctly different activities and given our analysis consistently indicated that 5-10% were the beneficiaries of at least 22%, sometimes 60%, of a clubs expenditure with no outcome consistent with the core mission, this would only serve to bolster resources for essential services, decrease costs to volunteers, and create a more sustainable environment in terms of resource use within clubs. No other sporting association has such an opportunity for financial exploitation of a charity and this needs to cease.
- Radical financial transparency. I noted in my 3rd analysis it became increasingly difficult to gauge where income and expenditure was flowing to consistently throughout the clubs. This is not just an issue for Surf Life Saving but for another 2-3 charities colleagues asked me to analyse. In one instance it became apparent a "save the children" foundation saw 70% of its income flow to an affluent individual for "marketing and management" of social fundraisers instead of the core mission. This also needs to be coupled with financial literacy that enable pragmatic evaluation of income and expenditure to inform decisions.
- Evaluate long term options for structure. The approach of clubs made sense when Sydney was still very much a "tribal" city and travelling one kilometer found you in a drastically different social environment. Clubs also became local ecosystems and could perform their lifesaving functions independently. With an interconnected city and even an integrated approach to lifesaving functions, this system is inefficient and breeds opportunity for exploitation. In contrast, other civil volunteer & emergency groups are better at regimentation and organisation to enable their core mission and it is something the movement needs to reflect on. I assess a concentration of resources may also enhance the full time professional cadre to manage and develop the organisation.
- Identify opportunities for improved corporate governance and leadership. At the initial level, the measure of a "leader" in Surf Life Saving is someone who has done the equivalent of 2 weeks work experience, and around 18 hours of training as a patrol captain. Club presidents and boards do not have any requirement for leadership or qualification, and for many it will often be their first foray into running organisations. Alternate pathways, including professionalisation of board positions, will aid substantially in future occurrences.
I call these options over solutions as to talk in solutions is dangerous; the word solution implies that everything will be fixed. Beyond these opportunities to improve, there is the need for constant review, reflection and identifying whats next.
For those that missed my earlier analysis, please review the links below:
Practical Management Consulting and Project Support
4 个月A very interesting series of articles, thanks for putting them together!
Snr Security Consultant and Risk Mgr. MNC Compliance reporting across multi-divisional facets of cybersecurity governance. Wide experience of GRC tools. Director, IRAP Assessor, ex PCI-QSA
7 个月Thank you Edward for giving your time to write this series. It shows how important accountability and transparency is when delivering a service. Simply doing "what's always been done before" or using procedural optimisations to minimise or even remove governance activities has become all too common. Congratulations to those clubs that are being transparent, as this allows others to lend a helping hand if required.