The Board of Directors oversees the business of Cancer Council SA, the business name of the Anti-Cancer Foundation of South Australia (the ‘Company’).
Key objectives
The Board’s key objectives are to:
- Set the strategic directions for Cancer Council SA and effective oversight of management.
- Optimise Cancer Council SA’s performance and stakeholder value within a framework of appropriate risk assessment and management.
- Recognise Cancer Council SA’s legal and other obligations to all legitimate stakeholders.
To achieve these objectives, the Board is committed to working towards best corporate governance practices.
Corporate governance is concerned with the way that the Directors ensure that the organisation’s systems and processes are properly controlled and functioning effectively, and that management is complying with the Board’s policies and directives.
To assist the Board to meet their statutory and fiduciary obligations, it is supported by four board committees. The role of each committee is outlined below.
- Reviews and make recommendations to the Board on the structure of remuneration packages and policies applicable to the Chief Executive, senior executives and staff. The Board utilises a company-wide process for determining remuneration. The services of an external remuneration consultant are used to conduct benchmarking.
- Reviews remuneration policy and compliance with approved policy.
- Monitors succession planning and development, company culture and implementation of and compliance with the Organisation Development Policy.
- Monitors and reviews the composition of the Board, recommends nominations to the Board, and manages the Director and Board performance evaluation process.
The primary responsibility of the Committee is to assist the Board of Directors in fulfilling its responsibilities in relation to the identification of areas of significant business risks and the monitoring of:
- Effective management of financial business risks
- Reliable management reporting
- Compliance with laws and regulations in respect to financial reporting
- Maintenance of an effective and efficient audit
- Related party transactions
- The protection of physical and financial assets.
Cancer Council SA operates within its Audit and risk policy and High level risk policy.
The role of the Investment Committee is to recommend investment policy, review the appointment and performance of fund managers, monitor compliance with investment policy and monitor risk control limits.
Management of Investments
Cancer Council SA maintains a diversified portfolio in accordance with its Investment policy. Available for sales assets are held with Macquarie Private Wealth, Warakirri Asset Management, Nikko Asset Management Limited and Maple Brown Abbott Limited, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
The role of the Cancer Research Committee is to support the strategic research targets of Cancer Council SA by monitoring and assessing investments in cancer research and making recommendations to the Board on funding options.
There is an expectation in the community that the Boards of organisations like Cancer Council SA will operate in a transparent manner using best practice standards for corporate governance.
The Board recognises that proactive management of actual conflicts of interest will significantly reduce legal risks for individual Board Members and the Board as a whole. Inadequate management of perceived conflicts of interest may damage the reputation and effectiveness of individual Board Members, the Board and Cancer Council SA.
Therefore the Board has implemented a systematic and transparent process for dealing appropriately with each case. The Board recognises that it is not possible to eliminate every possible conflict of interest that may arise and have effect on Board and Board committee members.
The Cancer Council SA’s Risk Management philosophy is as much about grasping opportunities and creating successes as it is about minimising losses. Risk is therefore as much about something good not happening as something bad happening. The goal is not to eliminate all risk but rather to ensure that risk is maintained at an acceptable level in a cost-effective manner.
Risk Management requires:
- forward thinking and a pro-active approach to management
- achieving a balance between the costs of managing risk and the anticipated benefits and
- using a formal systematic approach of identifying, analysing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and communicating risks associated with any activity, function or process.
This will facilitate decision making, ensure good governance through the performance and accountability of all employees and will also assist to ensure resources are properly allocated to manage those risks.
Cancer Council SA is committed to the management of all types of risks within its operations to assist in the achievement of its goals, programs, targets and its vision as outlined in the Strategic Management Plan.
Cancer Council SA will maintain risk management practices that provide it with a consistent, systematic view of the risk it faces in the course of its activities. These practices will be consistent with the guidelines and principles of risk management as set out in the Australian Risk Management Standard ISO 31000:2009 and business best practice.
Cancer Council SA’s Risk Management Framework and Methodology supports this Policy and will provide a formal, systematic approach to risk management which is consistent with the guidelines and principles of the Risk Management Standard.