Choosing your governance model

Welcome to Tips from the Toolkit, where we share insights from the Indigenous Governance Toolkit to support your governance journey.???

This newsletter expands on our previous edition on types of governance models, and explores what you may want to consider in choosing the right governance model when building or rebuilding your group’s governance.?

What is a governance model?

To recap, a governance model is a framework used by organisations, communities and nations to create order within their group. It ties together the rules, relationships, systems and processes that influence how authority is organised. There are many types of governance models.?

How to choose the right governance model

With the right model, your group is more able to carry out its activities and achieve its goals. It allows you to align your cultural values with legal requirements. Choosing the right model enables you to collectively achieve the things that matter most.?

The model your group chooses has immediate implications and consequences for the future. For example, it can affect:?

• what your group can do?

• where you can operate?

• how you integrate cultural ways of governing?

• how easy it is to establish and operate?

• what reporting you have to do?

• how much external intervention there is?

• your funding?

• what costs you have to pay?

• how easy it is to make changes to the model.?

External conditions can influence what model you choose, and whether you need the flexibility to change your model in the future. For example, some funders do not allow auspicing arrangements. Some only give grants to?incorporated?groups or to groups with a tax-deductible gift recipient (DGR) status, such as?charities or not-for-profit organisations.

Fit for purpose?

Having a clear purpose for your group makes it easier to choose the right governance model. This is the critical factor when deciding whether a proposed model is fit for purpose for your group. This means that it’s equipped to achieve your vision, purpose, activities and goals.?

For more information on identifying your group’s purpose and vision, see?Assess your purpose and vision.?

There are many innovative ways that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups adapt, customise and combine governance models so they’re fit for purpose.?

For example, you can see this in:?

• groups that have a network of relationships and affiliations – or accommodate new members, communities and groups – to better align with their cultural values. For example,?West Arnhem Regional Council?or?Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly.?

• small local groups where the governance model reflects kin, family, or land ownership connections. For example,?Thamarrurr Development Corporation Limited.?

• peak bodies that service large regional networks of communities and groups, or represent a diverse mix of different types of organisations. For example,?Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory.?

• an alliance between several non-incorporated groups and an incorporated organisation – for example, where the incorporated organisation auspices the financial and administrative aspects of the group’s operations. For example, the?Yiriman Project.?

• a ‘parent’ or host organisation mentoring an emerging organisation. For example,?Yarnteen Limited.?

Even when you choose a governance model that fits your purpose, it may need adjusting. For example, when priorities change, or the external environment changes. It’s important to consider whether a model is flexible enough to make refinements and, if needed, major changes later.?

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Winners and finalists of the 2022 Indigenous Governance Awards share how their governance has grown and changed over time.?

Integrating cultural legitimacy?

Being fit for purpose also includes integrating cultural legitimacy into your model.?

Cultural legitimacy is the idea that your governance model aligns with your group’s core values and cultural governance. It’s about matching the rules by which things are being done and how your group believes things should be done.?

For example, your group might choose to adopt a non-Indigenous model because it better supports your group’s governance objectives. Non-Indigenous governance principles can also be used effectively in both the traditional and contemporary governance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies.?

To learn more about placing culture at the heart of your governance, see?cultural legitimacy.?

AIGI Webinar Series 2025?

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Join AIGI for an online deep dive into two-way Indigenous governance and discover how Indigenous cultural values can be integrated with non-Indigenous frameworks.?

• Date: 19 February 2025?
• Time: 12 pm – 2 pm AEDT?
• Tickets and more information?

Keep an eye out?for further AIGI-led Indigenous governance webinars in 2025, which will explore topics such as?Indigenous Women in Governance,?Assessing Your Governance,?Roles and Responsibilities,?and more.?

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