RDNS 2009 Annual Report - Royal District Nursing Service

Corporate Governance StatementOn 31 March 2003 the Australian Stock Exchange released the ASX Corporate GovernanceCouncil’s Principles of Good Governance and Best Practice Recommendations (‘ASXPrinciples’). Those ASX Principles require major publicly listed companies to disclose in theirannual reports whether their corporate governance practices follow the ASX Principles on an‘if not, why not’ basis.RDNS is not a publicly listed company and is not subject to the ASX Principles – indeedsome of them are not applicable to the not-for-profit sector. For over ten years the Board ofDirectors of Royal District Nursing Service has worked, as a key priority, on the developmentand adoption of processes and practices which are aimed at achieving best practice in goodgovernance in the not-for-profit sector. So, whilst not technically required to comply with theASX Principles, RDNS Directors have determined to use them as the basis for continuing torevise and update their own practices.The RDNS Board Charter, originally developed in 1996 /97, sets out the basis by which theRDNS Board fulfils its role and the Charter Statement (1999) provides further guidance on theway by which the Board/management/staff interface operates.In summary, the Board is a strong advocate of good corporate governance and seeksto ensure that all officers and employees of the company fulfil their obligations and theirresponsibilities to all stakeholders.ERC 090891Royal District Nursing Service – Annual Report 2009| 25