Good-governance scholarships offer training for leadership

A range of scholarships from AICD, the Governance Institute and others offer training opportunities for leadership roles.

Matthew Hansen says he is hoping to help Aboriginal people ‘run their corporate governance a bit better’. Picture: Colin Murty

Learning how to run a corporation can be a challenge for many young people. Progressing up the corporate ladder can seem easy to some, but managing an organisation or taking on a directorship or an executive role can be extraordinarily complicated.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Victorian state manager Paul Geyer says the need for governance training is important regardless of an organisation’s size, turnover or function.

“Our mission is to improve the quality of governance in Australia,” Geyer says. “We see that as an opportunity to reach out to women or indigenous groups or the not-for-profit sector, who may not be able to afford, or recognise the importance of, governance training.”

He says the principles are the same, whether for parents volunteering for school or community sporting club boards or for those making decisions about multi-million-dollar deals.

“You can focus on it from a legal perspective, and you can look at it if you want to sustain good governance,” he says. “There are thousands of boards out there and that’s why we partner with the government and other organisations to provide scholarships.”

The AICD is among several organisations offering scholarships to diverse groups, including indigenous scholarships, and training programs to increase gender diversity on boards.

The federal government has contributed $650,000 to the latest round of the AICD’s national board diversity scholarship, and there are several programs in which the organisation partners with state governments.

A program in Western Australia last year offered 26 partial scholarships for completing the company directors course for indigenous business leaders, and the South Australian government sponsored 25 scholarships for women in regional areas, indigenous women, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and women with a disability. The Victorian government also provided 34 scholarships to women on not-for-profit boards last year.

The Governance Institute of Australia, established by royal charter in 1902, provides scholarships for postgraduate study in governance. This year it awarded five Leonard Watson Chant Legacy postgraduate governance scholarships worth $12,600.

Chief executive Tim Sheehy says Chant left a significant amount of money to be used for postgraduate studies, targeting corporate secretaries and people who often did not have access to training. “Our mission is to promote good governance, but for a purpose,” Sheehy says.

“Whether you’re a chief executive or a private secretary, if you make better decisions you should have better performance. It’s not good governance for the sake of it, it’s for better decision-making.”

Sheehy says 26 people applied for this year’s scholarships, with the successful applicants including a federal government policy worker, an energy company fin­ancial supervisor, a team leader at Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, and a policy officer at Victoria’s Ethnic Communities Council.

Sheehy says his role at the GIA is to ensure people can improve their skills and become better managers. The scholarships also provide access to those who may not have funding, including non-profit sector workers.

Various other scholarships are available in the leadership and management sector.

The Australian Scholarships Foundation offers scholarships in partnership with the AICD, Bankwest Foundation, the University of Melbourne, Leadership Victoria, CPA and Pro Bono Australia. The Victorian government runs a Women’s Governance Scholarship program, as does the AICD.

There is a recognised need for governance training, and scholarships ensure it can be made available to those most in need.

Young lawyer gives indigenous firms a helping hand

Matthew Hansen is planning to put his governance training to good use working with indigenous organisations.

Hansen, 39, had been progressing up the ladder at Coles a decade ago when a Kakadu tour guide told him he should consider undertaking a university degree. Knowing it could take five years, Hansen thought the investment of his time would be worth it, and began studying law.

Then based in Melbourne, Hansen was quickly picked up by Holding Redlich before he decided he wanted to better understand his Aboriginal background.

“They were supportive of me doing something different,” Hansen says. “I worked with a lawyer who had done a lot of work in Stolen Generations. I wanted to go to Western Australia to learn about my heritage.”

He then spent 2½ years working as a native title claims lawyer before working as an in-house counsel for an onshore oil and gas producer managing indigenous affairs.

After taking a redundancy package, he began working for himself and acting for indigenous corporations.

This year Hansen will undertake a scholarship with the Governance Institute, allowing him to study for a graduate diploma of applied corporate governance.

He has seen how indigenous corporations struggle with governance and managing a business without training. Directors often have inherited their role from older family members.

“When Aboriginal people become directors they don’t often have the experience to run a company,” he says. “As a lawyer you’re trained in corporate governance. I’m hoping to help them run their corporate governance a bit better and be that conduit on how to work in the corporate world.”

Hansen became aware of his Aboriginal heritage only later in life, and this has helped to connect him to indigenous groups and breaks down barriers. “It’s been good to reconnect,” he says. “Some indigenous people before you speak to them get a feeling that you are indigenous.”