What are the outcomes from the Chesterman Review?

While the PMSA has been conducting forums at the different schools on governance issues, a joint statement was issued by the Moderators of the Uniting and Presbyterian Churches in relation to the ‘conversations’ held with Hon Richard Chesterman and interested parties at Somerville House.

This was “in order to promote a genuine environment of discussion, healing and reconciliation and to ensure that the best interests of the students and staff at Somerville House were upheld. “

Mr Chesterman said that he believed that all parties were deeply committed to working together for the good of the school.

The joint statement (click here to read the full statement) states that:

Ancillary to his work, Mr Chesterman made a number of observations in relation to the governance of the PMSA.

1. The restriction in the by-laws and constitution of the PMSA which limits membership of the council to members of the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod or Presbyterian Church of Queensland should be removed or reduced in scope: a). Generally; or b). With respect to the councillors appointed by the PMSA itself.

2. The number of PMSA councillors should be reduced to nine; three appointed by each church and three by the councillors.

3. The maximum term which PMSA councillors may be permitted to serve should be ten years.

4. Appointments to the PMSA and to individual school councils should be advertised and suitable candidates actively sought out and encouraged to nominate.

5. Parents’ organisations should be consulted and involved in the selection of community (school) councillors.

6. All but the most junior staff employed by the PMSA should be appointed after advertisement and external recruitment.

These observations will be provided to the Australian Institute of Company Directors for it to take into account in the context of its review.

Beyond PMSA would like to congratulate the Church Moderators for making this statement, and particularly the Uniting Church, for publishing this statement on its website. The statement is in accordance with the views of Beyond PMSA in a number of respects. The moderators are also to be congratulated for having the wisdom to provide this information to the Australian Institute of Company Directors which is currently involved in a governance review for the PMSA. To read more about Beyond PMSA’s concerns about the Governance Review process follow this link. (Beyond PMSA's concerns about the AICD review)

While the PMSA has not acknowledged this statement publicly, Beyond PMSA is looking forward to understanding how the PMSA plans to implement these areas of reform and in what time frame, although we expect this question to be taken ‘on notice’ given the current AICD review. We can hope that the AICD takes this statement very seriously, given the author, and the fact that it has been endorsed by both the Presbyterian and Uniting Church Moderators.

Clearly, to discount or water down these important areas of reform would be going against the joint recommendations of the Church bodies.

Our earlier blog on the Governance Review Process and statement about the related stakeholder forums (Governance Forums) highlighted a number of areas of concern including the limitations in the scope of the Terms of Reference and also spells out what else needs to be done.

We hope that this strongly worded statement from the Church Moderators will guide the AICD review to cover the Constitution of the PMSA, or if not, that the PMSA itself, will take on board this statement and accept the recommendation of one of Australia’s most eminent jurists.

We view the Churches joint statement post Chesterman Review as, Phase 1. Phase 2 would include an examination of and implementation of a strong skills matrix (and a broader pool from which to draw Councilors), clarity of roles for the PMSA and members of School Councils, (and independence of School Councils and the devolution of real decision making to the School Councils).

Phase 3 most importantly, will involve the redesign of the ownership model and revocation of the Letters Patent. There are a number of options for ownership - retention of an ownership entity (PMSA) with devolved control to individual schools and contemporary redesign under both Churches; Independence under a single Church; or Independence under the Minister.

Without a full and transparent review leading to best practice governance, any changes that are implemented now can simply be pared back by the PMSA at a later date.

You can read more in the Beyond PMSA submission to the Chesterman Review here; (Beyond PMSA submission to the Chesterman Review)

On a final note we would like to thank the Uniting Church in particular for the appointment of new Councillors to the PMSA - in particular Mr Con Graves, Ms Margaret Berry and Mr Morgan Parker, who together hold a broad mix of current skills in education, strategic management and governance. It is also pleasing to see that Morgan is a key stakeholder of our four beloved schools, being both an old boy of BBC and a current parent of Somerville House.