BOARD STRUCTURE AND ACCOUNTABILITY - A Not-for-Profit Governance Perspective

Not-for-Profit (NFP) entities in Australia play a significant role in the economy in relation to GDP and employment (ABS 2002). This paper explores the governance mechanisms used to monitor and control these entities. The question explored is how much control is exercised by mainly voluntary directors and what monitoring takes place in a sector dominated by time and budgetary constraints? NFP entities were analysed for their corporate governance in accountability, the board of directors, the use of independent directors and dual roles of chairperson and CEO. It is concluded many more NFP entities need to voluntarily embrace governance recommendations.