Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Governance and Other Measures) Bill 2021 acts on the advice of Dr Mal Washer, chair of the Organ and Tissue Authority board, to enable the board to have a more strategic and advisory focus. The current governance structure, where the governance board is the accountable entity, is unusual and has apparently not delivered effective and efficient governance to the authority. That is why the entire board has agreed with the chair's recommendation to return to a more common governance structure with the CEO being the accountable entity and the board playing a strategic advisory role. It is not clear to Labor why the government chose the current governance structure in 2017. It is not the usual governance structure employed by non-corporate Commonwealth entities like the Organ and Tissue Authority. This decision resulted in the Organ and Tissue Authority becoming the first non-corporate Commonwealth entity to have a governance board as the accountable entity. Again, the reasons for this decision remain unclear to Labor.

However, it is good that the government is now choosing to act on the board's view about the governance of the Organ and Tissue Authority, as represented by advice provided by the chair. This advice conforms with Labor's view that non-corporate Commonwealth entities like the Organ and Tissue Authority should have a governance structure that allows for the CEO, who actually runs the organisation and is accountable for its functioning, to be the accountable entity in the legal sense, all the while being guided by an advisory board that focuses on the strategic direction of the authority. This conforms to the governance structure of almost all other non-corporate Commonwealth entities. This bill will transition the role of accountable authority from the board back to the CEO and replace the existing governance board with an advisory board under the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008. These governance changes will revert the Organ and Tissue Authority to the approach first implemented by Labor in 2008. It is a sensible change, one that indicates that, unusually, the government has acknowledged that Labor got it right, and one that Labor supports.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority manages the implementation of the government's national reform program on organ and tissue donation and transplantation. In July 2020 the Organ and Tissue Authority governance board undertook an internal review, as required under the board's charter. The results indicated a clear consensus from board members on the need for increased time and capacity to contribute to the organisation's strategic direction and to provide advice and support to the chief executive officer. The board was established on 1 July 2017, following a review of the implementation of the national reform agenda on organ and tissue donation and transplantation conducted by Ernst & Young in 2016. Following the review, legislative changes established the board as the accountable authority of the Organ and Tissue Authority under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. This resulted in the Organ and Tissue Authority becoming the first non-corporate Commonwealth entity to have a governance board as the accountable authority under the PGPA Act.

The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Governance and Other Measures) Bill 2021 will transition the role of accountable authority from the board back to the CEO and replace the existing governance board with an advisory board under the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008. There are no changes to the existing functions of the Organ and Tissue Authority. These governance changes will align the Organ and Tissue Authority with the governance structures of most other non-corporate Commonwealth entities. This bill will amend the functions of the CEO to include all functions of the accountable authority under the PGPA Act and establish the advisory board to provide advice and expertise to the CEO on organ and tissue donation and transplantation matters. The advisory board will have a skills based membership, harnessing expertise, experience and knowledge from a broad range of areas from within the organ and tissue sector. All advisory board members, except the chair, will be appointed by the minister responsible for organ and tissue donation and transplantation matters, in consultation with the jurisdictions. The chair will be appointed directly by the minister, without the requirement to consult.

These changes to the governance structure of the Organ and Tissue Authority will allow the board a greater strategic focus to provide expertise and advice to the work of the Organ and Tissue Authority. This will support the Organ and Tissue Authority to set the priorities for the future to improve organ and tissue donation, retrieval and transplantation outcomes. This will better support the authority to more effectively achieve its strategic goals: saving lives and improving the quality of lives for more Australians. I thank members for their contribution to the debate on this bill and commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.