| Restructure Consulation:Information Guide 1 | ||||
| Associate and full membership | ||||
 There are three tiers of membership of the NSW SES VA.
All SES volunteers who join the VA are Associate members. If an Associate member is elected by their peers to be a Region representative or to the Zone council, they are then referred to as Members. Members on the Board are the VA's Directors.
The VA has 19 Members, including the Board of directors.
These 19 Members:
The VA has approximately 4500 Associate members, around 75 per cent of the total number of SES volunteers.
Current VA Structure
 Currently the four tier organisational structure of the NSW SES VA is:
The Board of directors is the governing body of the VA.
It makes key decisions, controls finances, ensures legal and other related obligations are met, and is responsible for policies and procedures. The President also manages the day-to-day operations of the association.
The Board is made up of Members who each chair one of the three Zone councils. The additional two Directors – the President and the Company Secretary - are elected by the other 17 Members.
The Board meets every two months and extra meetings are held if needed.
Zone Councils
Zone councils are advisers to the Board.
The three zones in NSW are Northern, Central and Southern. Each council currently has 5-7 Members. The chair of each council is also on the Board of directors. The councils are responsible for awarding VA scholarships, unit grants, volunteer support funding and sponsorships. They liaise with Unit reps and other volunteers within their respective SES regions. Zone councils are expected to meet at least four times a year.
Region Representatives
Region representatives are the Associate members' links to the Zone councils.
Each of the 17 Region reps has voting rights at their Zone council. The boundaries for the regions and the councils are currently determined by the SES. Region reps represent the views and concerns of Associate members in their respective SES region.
Unit representatives
Unit representatives are Associate members. They are the eyes and the ears of the VA Region reps and as such, the Zone councils.
This is participation at a grassroots level.
Thinking about a new Structure Following is a discussion about the NSW SES VA's current structure and questions that might be considered when thinking about ways to improve how things work.
Discussion
The current management structure of the Volunteers Association is a result of the organisation transitioning from an incorporated association to a not for profit company in 2013. It is also a result of the SES's determination of the geographic boundaries that define units and regions.
Advantages of the current model include that it offers a relatively straightforward structure for management and in theory at least, there is potential for strong grassroots representation via 250 Unit representatives.
In practice though it seems Associate member representation at a Unit level is somewhat patchy. This can mean a lack of opportunities to participate, delays in raising issues, and that vital information is not always relayed. It sees decision making about the VA largely restricted to the 19 full Members, rather than the entire membership base.
If an Associate member raises a matter, it currently might not be able to be resolved at a local level. In fact the matter might need to travel upwards through up to three more layers of management. This also means the 19 full Members are at times quite unreasonably burdened with a workload that could be more effectively and efficiently shared across the whole organisation.
The VA could benefit from having a more flexible approach to setting up representative teams that are more reflective of a business structure: executive board, departments, branch managers and units. Full members could be on the board and head the departments. Associate members could lead the branches and the units.
A key difference between this model and the current structure is that it would empower Associate members and allow more volunteer issues to be addressed at the local level as they arise.
The SES set the current boundaries of units and regions, the VA the zones. This structure though might not always suit the needs and interests of the Volunteers Association, now or in the future.
The physical boundaries of branches and units could be based on a combination of natural and built environments – rivers, mountains, roads, local government areas – as well as travel times across the said area, and the number of volunteers within it.
These boundaries could then be reviewed on an as needs basis.
Questions
The key questions to perhaps consider in coming up with a new structure for the NSW SES VA are what it might take to meet the objectives of this consultation.
So …
The NSW SES VA gives State Emergency Service volunteers the voice, resources, training and support to realise the goal of providing for the betterment of the individual volunteer, the NSW SES and the communities we serve.
Since its establishment in 1998 the VA has changed its organisational structure to keep pace with legislative demands, the needs and interests of its members, and its evolving status with the SES, State government and the wider community.
May 2013 saw it transition from an incorporated association to a not for profit company, leading to the development of its existing structure.
Proposed new Structure
Currently the VA is inviting its members to have their say on their organisation's future through the development of a new, more effective and flexible structure that aims to:
All NSW SES VA members are being invited to participate in the restructure consultation.
The planned stages for this are:
Contact If you have any questions about the consultation process itself – as opposed to the organisational restructure options – please email mysay@nswsesva.org.au
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