Board briefing April 2024
It is a time of renewal and new beginnings at CHOICE – a new year, a new strategy and a new CEO.
To celebrate 2024 being a leap year, we held the first Board meeting of the year on 29 February. We've also had two workshops to develop the new three-year strategy for CHOICE, and we welcomed our new CEO Ashley de Silva on 11 March. It is an exciting time for CHOICE and to be on the Board.
The Board met at the CHOICE offices in Marrickville on 29 February, and for the first time in what feels like a very long time we had all the non-executive directors and all of the management team in the Boardroom face to face. We were also lucky enough to have Ashley attend as an observer to help with his onboarding into the CEO role.
Back row: Nic-Cola (Co-chair), Fiona Jolly, Fiona Guthrie AM, Amanda Robbins, Jamie Pride; front row: Katherine George, Anita Tang (Co-chair), Samantha Challinor, Melissa King.
The 29 February meeting was split into a half-day workshop on the development of the new strategy (read below), and a half-day formal Board meeting. The Board meeting agenda focused on:
- organisational performance
- the return of online insurance reviews
- our new Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan
- Board elections, succession planning and sub-committee composition.
Organisational performance
In late January, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced funding for CHOICE to carry out our grocery basket pricing survey every quarter in an effort to help hold the supermarkets accountable and keep pricing transparent for consumers during a period of high cost-of-living pressures. This new funding builds on our existing expertise in grocery basket surveys, enabling us to do it more frequently, which is a great outcome for consumers and for the organisation.
In terms of financial performance, the Board and management continue to keep a close eye on how we're tracking, given the challenges in the current economy and cost-of-living pressures. In total revenue terms, we are still $500,000 short of where we had budgeted to be at this point in the year. Although membership performed relatively well during our peak Boxing Day/January sale period, CHOICE Recommended is significantly behind target.
We also heard from management about how the implementation of the Technology Strategy (Evolve '27) was progressing. It is still in the 'set-up' phase but we are confident management has learned the lessons of the CMS project and we will be maintaining tight oversight of the program of work through our temporary Technology Sub-Committee, which has been set up specifically to govern and support delivery of this critical program of work.
Sadly, as part of the introduction of a new operating model under Evolve '27, a number of digital roles were made redundant and we farewelled our colleagues in late February.
Online insurance reviews
We also approved the business case for the relaunch of our general insurance reviews this month.
Towards the end of last year, ASIC granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) to ACA Insight, a newly formed subsidiary of CHOICE that allows us to publish the reviews again. In 2020 we were asked by ASIC to modify our insurance reviews until we had an AFSL and so, happily, now we will be offering insurance reviews again from April.
Management presented the plan of action, risks and opportunities, as well as the governance of the subsidiary, to make sure we are meeting all our obligations to ASIC.
Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan
We were also delighted to endorse the new Innovation Reconciliation Action Plan, which was put together by a group of committed staff.
Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs) have enabled organisations to sustainably and strategically take meaningful action to advance reconciliation. Based around the core pillars of relationships, respect and opportunities, RAPs provide tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, increasing economic equity and supporting First Nations self-determination.
The four RAP types – Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate – allow organisations to continuously develop their reconciliation commitments.
Our first Reflect RAP involved scoping and developing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders, deciding on CHOICE's vision for reconciliation, and exploring our sphere of influence before committing to certain actions and deliverables. CHOICE completed the Reflect RAP in 2023.
Our new, second plan – the Innovate RAP – extends over two years and focuses on implementing our vision for reconciliation. This means we will continue to build on our efforts and pre-established relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in order to deepen the impact we can have.
The team also asked that the Board appoint a RAP 'champion' to be the voice of the RAP in Board discussions, and Amanda Robbins agreed to take on that role.
Board governance matters
We also dealt with a number of governance matters at this meeting, including the very important decision to re-appointment us (Anita Tang and Nic Cola) as co-chairs for another term, Sarah Coombs as the Company Secretary, and Alana O'Sullivan as the Assistant Company Secretary.
With the appointment of Melissa King at the last AGM, we also reviewed the current Board Sub-Committee compositions to make the most of Melissa's considerable experience. She will be joining the Governance, Culture & Ethics Committee and the Membership Growth & Engagement Committee with immediate effect.
Strategy development
We spent the first half of the day in a strategy workshop discussing our vision for the organisation's future and the key challenges and opportunities facing us. And then a few weeks ago, we held an offsite with management to establish some strategic options and directions to address the challenges and make the most of our opportunities.
Our new three-year strategy will be in place later this year – likely between August and September. As foreshadowed in previous briefings, there are some significant issues we need to address to ensure that we are in the best shape possible to deliver our purpose for another 60 years. The last five years have been challenging, not just for CHOICE but for everyone; with the impact of COVID, global events, the fast-moving digital and consumer landscape, and the current inflation crisis. For CHOICE, our new strategy needs to enable us to continue creating benefits for consumers, and being the kind of organisation that the best and brightest want to work for, while also diversifying our offerings and revenue, so we can continue our work in ensuring that markets are fair, just and safe for consumers.
We will have more information as the strategy develops, particularly after the May and July meetings.
As always, please feel free to email us with any comments or suggestions on any of the matters raised in this briefing.
Regards,
CHOICE Co-Chairs Anita Tang and Nic Cola
CHOICE has been championing your consumer rights since 1959. Fiercely independent and proudly non-profit, your membership makes this possible. You can further support CHOICE by making a donation today or consider leaving a bequest.
See the 2023 Board member briefings.
See the 2022 Board member briefings.
See the 2021 Board member briefings.