By MARG APPLEBEE CENTRAL WEST LACHLAN LANDCARE This week Landcare members from across the Central West gathered for Governance Training in Parkes. Governance is incredibly important for Landcare groups, particularly when many of our regional groups are also employers, run events and projects. Good governance is crucial to the effective operations of community organisations and to gaining and retaining the confidence of the community, funding bodies, sponsors, volunteers and project partners. As part of the roll out of The Landcare Enabling Program, Landcare NSW have engaged long term Landcarer and friend to NSW, Kim Boswell from The Forever Agenda (in conjunction with the legal team) to provide assistance to the Landcare Regions to assess their current governance compliance, to workshop improvements and move forward with confidence and a mindset of continuous improvement. Governance is a practice, and this package is designed to meet you where you are at and simplify what is often a complex and confusing, yet vital area of the work that we do. Essentially, good governance means that structures, activities and operations of the Landcare organisation are conducted in accordance with the principles of legal compliance, probity, transparency, accountability and respect for people within the organisation and for other stakeholders. The critical component of good governance is that all people involved in the direction and control of the organisation are aware of and comply with their legal roles and responsibilities. However, the legal aspects that make us compliant with our legal responsibilities are just one half of the equation. Governance also has a human element. Real humans with lives and families are affected by the way we run our organisations. Whether we look at organisational culture, the way in which staff are managed and held accountable for their performance or how we facilitate tricky dynamics or our meeting practices, the impacts of how we conduct business within our organisations can have far reaching impacts on the people involved. These facilitated workshops provide an opportunity for the committee to gather together and dive deeper into the key areas of governance for the organisation and to address any key areas that require collective action. It was a pleasure to host Kim Boswell and Shared Services Hub Manager for Landcare NSW, Olivia Meredith with representatives from Dunedoo/Coolah, Weddin, Coonamble, Condobolin and Parkes/Forbes and Wellington in Parkes for the governance workshop. For further information on this article, please go to www.centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, twitter, facebook or Instagram @cwllandcare
