THE MOST IMPORTANT REFORM ISSUE OF ALL IS FINALLY ON THE TABLE

Several days ago we expressed disappointment with the PMSA’s announcement on Friday 14 September about the outcome of its AICD - assisted reform process. The announcement did contain details of positive decisions on necessary reform, but in Beyond PMSA’s view, it missed the most important issue of all. What it failed to address was whether the PMSA would commit to a review of the basis of the PMSA’s incorporation under Letters Patent.

We told the community to expect a big announcement from Beyond PMSA this week. It seems our announcement has been tempered for the time being by a welcome announcement from the PMSA in the last 24 hours.

Over the last few days, community feedback to the PMSA’s announcement last Friday has been swift. The new PMSA Board, to its credit, has moved swiftly to respond to the tone of that concern. As a result, we were very pleased to see the PMSA publicly announce yesterday, finally, and after almost 12 months of continuous public pressure, that they will now undertake a genuine review to determine whether continuing under a Letters Patent structure is in the best interests of our schools. (See the PMSA announcement here: PMSA Facebook Announcement)

This issue is too important to be left unresolved because the most fundamental problem that is perpetuated under the current structure is the additional RISK that is superimposed upon our schools by the absence of a single unified point of accountability in the governing body. That makes the PMSA different from most other organisations operating under Letters Patent. This is vitally important to understand, because what this means is that effectively, “the buck stops with no-one”. If there is ANY truth which emerges from the disastrous events of 2017, it is that statement.

Whilst other reforms of the PMSA’s governance are important, their effectiveness can only be impeded if our governance model continues to struggle under the cloud of its current Letters Patent structure. In an increasingly demanding and competitive educational sector in 21st century Australia, this WILL hold our schools back from achieving their full potential. The landscape is shifting and the basis of the PMSA’s incorporation is vitally important to get right because it goes to the heart of TRUST, ACCOUNTABILITY, SAFETY and to the future FINANCIAL SUCCESS of our schools. This is not trivial reform, and all of us should care deeply about it for these reasons.

Naturally, we hope that the PMSA undertakes a truly balanced review that looks at the needs of our schools across a range of indicators (financial, child safety, trust, accountability, and legal risk). But it must not simply be an inward analysis of the impact on the PMSA itself, and so we urge it to elevate the debate on this matter to an intellectual and practical analysis.

We welcome the PMSA’s public commitment to communicate with the community before, during and after this process. Reporting to the community on the reasons for its decision in a fullsome manner, and within a reasonable and not unduly protracted timescale, will be a fundamental ‘test point’ for community respect. And so, despite the PMSA’s obvious eagerness to progress the reforms it announced on Friday, we will be actively advocating for it not to be pushed down the priority list. A timely decision on this is the only responsible course in order to position our schools for the best possible start in 2019. Everyone is waiting for it.

The non-structural reforms announced on Friday are a welcome start and we will be commenting on these further in coming days, but in our view, there is significant scope for these to go further. A good example of this is that the Chairperson of the respective school councils should not necessarily have to be a PMSA Board member. It should simply go to the best candidate on the respective school councils.

Prior to our upcoming Town Hall meeting on 9 October 2018 (yes, we have recently changed the date), Beyond PMSA will be producing a white paper that canvasses our opinions as to the pros and cons of Letters Patent. We are confident that the white paper will result in any reasonable person to conclude that the PMSA should take the decision to modernise by re-incorporating under the Associations Incorporation Act.

Clearly it is paramount that Beyond maintains pressure on the PMSA to ensure this occurs. Based on the PMSA of the past it is easy to be skeptical. Let’s hope that they prove us all wrong! We are very much looking forward to seeing you all at our upcoming Town hall meeting on 9 October 2018. A further update on that event will be published in coming weeks.

Thank you for your continued support. We are not going away.

NB: The Beyond PMSA Town Hall meeting will now be held on the 9th of October