A Board meeting of the Lowitja Institute was held at Graduate House, Melbourne on 21 September 2011. Directors who attended were Ms Pat Anderson (Chair), Ms Stephanie Bell, Dr Louise Morauta, Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, Dr Sanchia Shibasaki and Mr Robin Lonergan.
In the interests of transparency and accountability the Board has decided that it will issue a notice following each of its meetings. The following is the first of these notices and provides a summary of some of the matters discussed at the meeting.
Recruitment of Chief Executive
The Board placed a high priority on this item. The Board discussed the recruitment of the new Chief Executive. Directors were advised that three quotes had been received from recruitment consultant firms to carry out the recruitment process. The Board is pleased to announce that the Carlyle Young Group, a Melbourne-based firm, has been appointed to handle the process. It is anticipated that a Chief Executive appointment will be made within six months.
Intellectual Property Policy and Knowledge and Cultural Protocols
Approval was granted for new Intellectual Property Policy and Knowledge and Cultural Protocols for the Institute. The Board welcomed the finalisation of the policy development process and agreed that an Intellectual Property Committee be established as an Executive Committee to oversee the policy’s implementation. The Board agreed that these two policies will be publicly available on our website, noting that there had already been interest from those outside the Institute as well as our research partners in these policies.
2011 Audited Annual Financial Statements and Directors Report
The 2011 Audited Annual Financial Statements and Directors Report were tabled and an Audit Partner from Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu, who participated via teleconference, advised the Board that an unqualified audit opinion had been issued. The Board was pleased with this result and passed on their thanks to all staff involved in the annual audit. The Annual Financial Report has now been approved for presentation to members at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 23rd November in Adelaide. The statement will be placed on our website in the near future
Board Meeting Calendar for 2012
The calendar for 2012 was presented by the Company Secretary and the dates approved by the Directors. The Board will meet every two months during 2012.
Business Plan
A revision of the Business Plan was tabled and approved by the Board. It was agreed that more work be undertaken to establish the impact and measurement process for each of the identified projects on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. A request was made for Project Leaders to make a formal annual presentation on the Business Plan to the Board.
Research Innovation and Research Productivity Agendas
The Research Innovation and Research Productivity Agendas, papers prepared by Professor Ian Anderson, were tabled and noted by the Board. The agendas outline the strategies currently being developed in the research innovation and productivity processes.
Financial Activities
A revision of the 2010–2014 Budget was tabled for discussion and formal approval by the Board. The Board was happy to approve the revised operational budgets and asked that further revisions of the Budget be submitted at least six monthly. The Board also discussed the membership of the Finance and Audit Committee and agreement was reached on a skill set to be used to assess applicants for the vacant committee position.