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Recommendation 40: Updating and strengthening governance documents

Category
Governance and accountability
Owners
Ambulance Victoria Board
CEO
Status
Implemented to a moderate extent

The recommendation

Ambulance Victoria should review key corporate documents to ensure explicit, consistent and strong statements of commitment to and shared responsibility for workplace equality and safety that underpins other corporate priorities (see Recommendation 10). Priority should be given to updating:

  1. the Board charter and/or governance policy
  2. Board committee terms of reference
  3. core corporate governance frameworks and policies.

Such statements should be included in the new Strategic Plan and future annual reports.

What we are doing

  • Identify and amend key governance documents to ensure strong statements of commitment to workplace equality and communicate changes to the organisation, once Board has endorsed
  • Capture the requirement to reflect the statements in future Strategic Plans, in appropriate planning documents and in future annual reports

Where we are up to

16/02/2023

  • AV’s Board is committed to overseeing the implementation of the recommendations made by the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission in its Independent review into workplace equality in Ambulance Victoria. The review provides the pathway to transform AV’s culture.
  • The Board established an Equality & Workplace Reform Committee to support its governance by providing regular and detailed oversight of the implementation of the recommendations of the review. The Committee’s role is to ensure that AV is taking appropriate and timely action to implement the recommendations and to ensure a safe, fair and inclusive organisation. As this work is fundamental to the best interests of AV’s workforce and patients, the Committee works collaboratively and in alignment with all other committees of the Board, particularly the People & Culture and Quality & Safety committees. There is also a clear understanding that the creation and work of the Committee does not absolve the Board of its responsibility to oversee the review, to understand its impact across the organisation, and to ensure its full implementation.
  • Other committees of the Board have reviewed their Terms of Reference in light of the establishment of the Committee and considered how they might integrate and reflect their role and responsibilities in relation to the creation a safe, fair and inclusive AV.
  • The Your AV roadmap, released on 28 July 2022, includes statements of commitment to the creation of a safe, fair and inclusive organisation from the Board, the Chief Executive and each member of the Executive Committee. The Board continues to explore this commitment as part of engaging in regular reflective practice workshops, in line with the recommendations of the Commission.

29/07/2022

  • On 28 July 2022, AV will release Safe Fair Inclusive: Your AV Roadmap 2022-27 – our official response to the final report of the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission and our roadmap for the future. The roadmap includes statements of commitment to the creation of a safe, fair and inclusive organisation from the Board, the CEO and each member of the Executive Committee.
  • AV has begun initial work to identify key governance documents that should be amended to ensure strong statements of commitment to creating a safe, fair and inclusive organisation, aligned with each of these statements.

Timeframe

To be confirmed

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