Message from the UNGCNA Chair

In June 2010 we began with the inaugural Annual Meeting which followed a period of development by a working group reflecting on feedback from existing signatories and their own activities in support of the UN Global Compact. At this meeting a Steering Committee was elected from within the existing signatories to take the GCNA forward to an aspiration of becoming a sustainable network in Australia to enable signatories to engage with each other. 

Financial support provided by members through the agreed annual contribution has helped this development and with the support of one-off voluntary payments from our Foundation Members (Accenture Australia, Allens Arthur Robinson, Australia Post, KPMG Australia, Nestle Australia, St James Ethics Centre & Westpac Banking Corporation) a good financial base was established. 

The Steering Committee subsequently resolved to incorporate the GCNA, as a company limited by guarantee, following advice from our pro bono lawyers, Allens Arthur Robinson, the first Australian signatory to the UNGC. The initial Steering Committee became the initial Board with each of the members they were representing becoming the inaugural members of the company upon incorporation on 3 February 2011. 

I was honoured to be elected Chair supported by vice-Chairs, Catherine Hunter (KPMG) and Professor Malcolm McIntosh (Griffith University). Greg Welsh (Sebel Furniture) agreed to become Treasurer and Rosemary Sainty (St James Ethics Centre) as Company Secretary. 

A considerable amount of effort has been invested in getting the correct governance in place for the future, as is the case in most start-up ventures, but this should enable the Board in future to focus its energy on activity supporting members and engagement around the UN Global Compact themes and principles. The culmination of some of this work has been brought to the 2011 Annual general meeting with the revised Constitution focussing on continuity and future sustainability. 

I would like at this point to recognise the considerable voluntary efforts and input from my fellow Board members and in particular Greg Welsh who took on extra responsibilities including as Treasurer. I am grateful to Greg for agreeing to continue in this role for a further year. 

There are two other people that deserve to be singled out for their contribution to the development of the GCNA to date. Firstly through the efforts of Rosemary Sainty, the representative of our Foundation Member, St. James Ethics Centre, it has developed from a concept to where it is today with over 30 full paid-up members and 3 reciprocal members. Her contribution over almost three years concluded last June when her employment contract with the Centre came to an end. Rosemary continues to speak out in support of the GCNA and hopefully one day she will get involved again through another member. The Secretariat function has since been assumed by Sarah Davidson, also with the support of St. James Ethics Centre, to continue the vital support to the Board and members of the GCNA.

Matthew Tukaki, elected as Australian network representative at the inaugural Annual Meeting has put significant effort into the GCNA including through communication to existing and potential members and the UNGC New York Office. I am also pleased to see that Matthew has agreed to continue in this role for a further twelve months. 

A number of events to engage both GCNA members and UNGC signatories alike have been held including the Human Rights Working Group led by Vanessa Zimmerman who has previously been supporting John Ruggie in his development of the Business and Human Rights work for the UN Global Compact. Vanessa has been a strong advocate and contributor for the GCNA over the full year and as an Observer to the initial Steering Committee. 

With the focus on activity in the year ahead we expect to see Leadership groups focus on key theme areas of Human Rights and Labour, Anti-Corruption and Environment in line with the UNGC key theme areas. A sub-committee of the Board recently met for a planning day to develop a forward plan to incorporate these activities together with others across Australia as a way to engage and provide benefits to GCNA members. It is proposed the activities will have priority access for members with some opportunities for signatories and potentially other business to get involved. 

Our key aim is to value-add for members and encourage other entities to get involved through becoming signatories to the UN Global Compact and hopefully members of the GCNA. At present over ninety Australia businesses and other entities are signatories and we sincerely hope we can encourage them all to join and help establish a truly sustainable GCNA for the future. Growth of our membership base is the highest priority for the Board in the year ahead. 

I would like to thank all GCNA members for their contributions which have included provision of in-kind (hosting) support, membership fees and attendance at events. I would further encourage you all to continue your engagement and provide feedback to the Board or Secretary on any ideas for activities, tools or support you would like to see from the network.