In many countries the the concept of Staff Elected Directors is quite normal. Germany has a long history of supporting such ideas, and if you were to mention the idea of a Staff Elected Director in most countries in Europe, people would immediately know what you were talking about.
Here in Australia, however, the concept has not become the norm at all, and many people ask me what exactly the role of Staff Elected Director is. Senator Coonan, in 2006, went as far as to call the ABC’s Staff Elected Director position “an anomaly” amongst Australian Government agency boards – showing just how far from normal the position is considered to be, by some.
A Potted History
The position of Staff Elected Director, at the ABC, was originally introduced by the Whitlam Government in 1975. However, the position was not properly enshrined in legislation. It was shortly after abolished by the Fraser Government. Then, an amendment to the ABC Act by the Hawke Government in 1986 placed the position on more solid ground.
In 2006 the position of Staff Elected Director was abolished by the Howard Government. Amidst wider accusations of the Howard Government “stacking the board” this change to the law was hailed, by those who were not in favour of it, as a continued vendetta against the ABC and its staff.
In 2012 the Labor government recreated the position – at the same time increasing the term of the position to 5 years, in line with other directors’ terms. The government also saw fit to retain a clause in the new law that disallowed any Staff Elected Director who had sat in the position for 2 or more terms from running – thus making it impossible for Quentin Dempster to run in the election. In 2013 the current Staff Elected Director, Matt Peacock, was elected.
In November last year, Matt Peacock took a voluntary redundancy, leaving the position open and leading to the election that is now being run.
The Importance of the Role
The ABC’s historian, Ken Inglis, has said that the Staff Elected Director has been, at crucial periods, easily the most influential member of the board.
Previous Staff Elected Directors include Kirsten Garrett, Tom Molomby, Ramona Koval, John Cleary and Quentin Dempster. All the Staff Elected Directors have had an enormous impact on the organisation. They have argued against (and sometimes exposed) various commercial partnerships and sponsorship arrangements. They have been fearless and unrelenting in protecting the ABC’s independence.
Crikey says:
most existing staff support the notion of being able to elect someone to the board, not least because many believe those at the top have no idea how thinly resources are stretched. They want someone in a position to speak up.”
The role of Staff Elected Director is to act as another member of the Board. However, when the role is used to its greatest potential, it also brings a uniquely Staff-based perspective to the Board. The value of this role cannot be overstated. When the Board remembers to keep Staff in mind, when the decisions that the board makes are influenced by the effect those decisions will have on Staff, the ABC works more effectively. When the Staff’s perspective is taken into account the ABC can better achieve the standard of excellence our audiences have come to expect.
Please see this post for more information on what I believe to be the Staff Elected Director’s mission.
Some Issues Currently Facing the Board
- Pressure to reveal ABC pay rates
- Competitive Neutrality
- Continuing Restructures – change fatigue for Staff and Audiences
- The Path Ahead (chasing “audience gaps” / maintaining expertise and specialist programming / supporting traditional audiences and how this all relates to Competitive Neutrality)
- Funding – fighting for more support, so we can continue to fund independent excellence
- Work Intensification and Stress Levels
- Staff Engagement – making the results more transparent and dealing with the problems identified
More Reading
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Election of Staff‑elected Director) Regulation 2012
- Some inspiring words, from one ex-Staff Elected Director to another – Quentin Dempster’s words of farewell to John Cleary, May 2017
- At Arm’s Length? The ABC as a Statutory Authority.
- “We would be much poorer without the ABC and its scattering of cultural and political gems among the dross, but we could be so much richer as a humane society if it were genuinely ‘our ABC’.” — Phil Shannon, May 10, 2007.
- Appointment to the ABC and SBS Board – information about the appointment process (not Staff Elected Director)
Nicholas Gledhill for Staff Elected Director 
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