Extracts from Vision Australia Chair's AGM Remarks

31 October 2024

Vision Australia's people make Vision Australia what it is. We are undoubtedly in a period of transitional change as we search for a new Chief Executive. Let me be very clear. Vision Australia, just like the Australian public service, and many other large enterprises, has a culture of professional development for all staff and preferred promotion from within where practicable. As a guy known as Jesus said 2000 years ago, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me." Our professional development for staff therefore continues."

So the board's decision to initially undertake an internal search process for Ron's successor as CEO was taken with confidence in the anticipated outcome and was by no means indicative of lazy governance nor an organisation having lost its way as has been publicly alleged in some quarters. Together with other board members, I clearly understand that it is natural that this issue interests many people and we respect that there are many and varied opinions about what is right for Vision Australia. However, today is a rare opportunity to highlight some realities that have been overlooked in what has regretably been a running public commentary about the future leadership of Vision Australia since July.

You should know that the board and the leadership team are confident in the unity of our organisation and the people who every day, demonstrate outstanding commitment to those who we serve. For the board, nurturing our staff in return for their hard work and commitment is among our highest priorities. We have, within obvious constraints, been as transparent as possible with ouar workforce abthe strategic decisions of the board and the reasoning behind those decisions. We are on a difficult path to sustainability and embarking on this journey would not be possible without the endorsement of our front line staff. We have every reason to believe that they are on this journey with us. For example, our low staff turnover rate of 8% in the last financial year and an extremely positive Net Promoter Score of 29% paints a picture of a workforce culture that values its people and whose people value their workplace.

I now turn to the extent that lived experience guides our decisions, culture and client engagement at Vision Australia. We proudly and confidently put our level of representation of people who are blind or have low vision at all levels of Vision Australia up against any comparable organisation in the english speaking world. Over half of our board members are either blind or have low vision or have direct family members impacted. With both their knowledge and their skills, they bring to bare being informed by their lived experience. 15% of the people who work for Vision Australia are blind or have low vision and they are present at every level of our organisation, from the leadership team to the local offices. This representation is among our biggest strengths. And their voice is amplified by a Blind and Low Vision Reference Forum established last year. We also have the Client Reference Group where people who are blind or have low vision provide feedback to the board and also grassroots commentary which keeps the board and senior staff focused.

Every single strategic decision of Vision Australia as a contemporary, purpose driven organisation, be it governance, strategic or operational matters, are informed by the views and needs of people who are blind or have low vision. That, I can assure each one of you, is something that will never change.

Finally, I can tell you why the board decided to cease the internal, merit-based recruitment process and announce that an external search for a new CEO would be carried out. There were two reasons. Firstly, a positive response to a request from the community that the search process be external and secondly, for risk management, to truncate reputational damage to Vision Australia.

An external executive search is the conventional approach that takes time and money, potentially creating an environment of prolonged uncertainty and speculation while the search is being carried out. But, we considered it a commonsense way to go.

We, as a board accept this reality, however we are equally confident in our incumbent executive leaders to manage the affairs of Vision Australia dutifully in the mean-time, until the process is concluded and a new person is appointed.

Referring to the second point, the mitigation of risk. Our public detractors use of mainstream media to question our CEO selection process was not done solely to boost their campaign for blind leadership, it was also designed to potentially injure Vision Australia's reputation. One internationally based blind leader even gloated that using the mainstream media was great because it could let donors know more about the organisation they were supporting. There would be just one loser from that endeavour, were it to succeed, blind and vision impaired people, whose services would be jeopardised if our donors walked away. What disgraceful behaviour.

Answers to Questions Submitted by UBL

Q1. We congratulate the board for listening to the community and moving to undertake a public search for vision Australia’s next CEO. United Blind Leaders is receiving enquiries from potential blind applicants, wondering when the role will be advertised, who will be managing the recruitment and how the board will ensure the process is fully accessible to applicants who are blind or vision impaired. Can the board please provide us with an update on the process?

A1. I refer to my earlier remarks to the uncertainty following the departure of our former CEO. We must carry out our day-to-day business in parallel with the recruitment of a new leader. The board's intention is to have a new CEO appointed by mid 2025, the successful candidate beginning in the role as soon as their commitments allow. As I'm sure everybody listening today would appreciate, an external search for an outstanding leader of an organisation as large and as complex as Vision Australia is no small task. We must also factor into our time-line the likelihood that the successful candidate will almost certainly be in a senior and equivalent role requiring a lengthy separation period and the meeting of contractual obligations. I can advise you that the recruitment process, including development of core competencies, selection criteria, the identification of a suitable recruitment firm and short-listing of candidates will be undertaken by a committee of the board and that committee will of course will include people with lived experience. A prospectus is being prepared and a request for proposal will be provided to a short list of potential recruitment firms. Only after we engage an appropriate recruitment provider does the search actually begin and we anticipate that that'll be in the first quarter of next year. Please be assured that this recruitment process will adhere to Vision Australia's affirmative action policy for people who are blind or have low vision. Applications for all positions at Vision Australia are accessible, including the platforms and documents we use and considerations we make to the needs of individual applicants and the recruitment process for the CEO role will be no different. Accessibility will be a priority when it comes to assessing recruitment firms and our People and Culture team will also be available to support applicants

Q2. Noting the expectation under VA policy to include a community representative on any recruitment panel, would the board be open to a representative nominated by United Blind Leaders being part of the CEO selection panel?

A2. I've just said that the Vision Australia CEO recruitment process will adhere to the Vision Australia affirmative action policy for people who are blind or have low vision. The final selection panel for the recruitment of the new CEO will be determined by the board and it will obviously include people who are blind or have low vision. The panel will, quite possibly, include someone from outside the board, from the community who has the necessary skills and kto fill that role as a outside independent person on the selection panel. Ultimately the whole board will sign off on the appointee. We understand there is ongoing interest in this process by a number of external parties and Vision Australia stakeholders. But it is the firm and not unreasonable view of the board that it is not appropriate for persons nominated by external parties to be part of the recruitment process. It is a board responsibility and the board will be accountable for the integration of the process and the decision it reaches.

Q3. How does the Chair intend to regain the trust and confidence of blind Australians as a result of the Board’s initial decision to recruit Vision Australia’s next CEO via an internal Expression of Interest process and his subsequent public statements in which he has made it clear that he does not consider the appointment of a blind CEO to be a high priority,

A3. To the extent that there is a need to regain the trust and confidence in the chair and that's an untested allegation, not a proven fact, whilst I am chair of Vision Australia, I will give highest priority to discharging my directors' duties in accordance with the law. Upper most is the feduciary duty to act, at all times in the best interest of Vision Australia. For me, this means due attention to compliance with the law, pursuing our for purpose mission through the services we provide to blind and low vision Australians and the way we do so, nurturing our prized asset, our staff and volunteers, ensuring our financial stability and resillience by the cultivation of support from our thousands of generous donors and the cultivation of our corporate partnerships. Vision Australia's performance and reputation remains strong and robust. In the past year, Vision Australia supported nearly 40,000 people who are blind or have low vision across Australia. More than any other year and many more than any other organisation. Our client satisfaction scores remain very high and our staff turnover, amidst workforce shortages everywhere in Australia are very low. 15% of our workforce are people who are blind or have low vision and they are engaged at all levels of the organisation, not just at the lower levels as has been alleged. Are those indicators of an organisation that has lost its way and lost the trust of the blind and low vision community whom it serves? I do not think so and I do not know that any of my fellow directors or key funders and partners and the cohort of collaborators we work with every day would think so either. We do not take community respect for granted and we know that there is always more we can do to improve the services and advocacy we provide. That is why we have launched multiple new services and programs in the past year and we spoke earlierb how they have been welcomed by our ever-diverging client base.

Q4. The most critical responsibility of any board is the recruitment and oversight of the organisation’s CEO. Given the concerns raised regarding the current Chair’s lack of commitment to blind leadership, how will the board effectively discharge its responsibility to ensure a productive and psychologically safe working relationship between the Board, (particularly the Chair) and the CEO in the event that a blind person is appointed?

A4. I think it's worth revisiting some of the points I made in my opening remarks, about the composition of Vision Australia's leadership and workforce and the realities of working in our organisation. If you look across the major blindness and low vision service providers in Australia, Vision Australia is the only organisation that is led by a chair or president who is blind or has low vision. The representation of people with lived experience on our board and leadership team is also greater than those organisations. Blind and low vision employees make up 15% of our workforce and are present at every level of our organisation. None of this is to say that our approach is perfect, nor is it a criticism of any of our comparable organisations, all of whom do valuable work for our community. But what it does say is that there is a raft of real world evidence that Vision Australia values the contributions of its blind and low vision workforce members and has systems and policies in place that not only create a safe and supportive environment, but one where they can succeed.

There is no reason that these same considerations and policies would not extend to whoever filled that role of CEO at Vision Australia. In return however, a new CEO must gain and retain the trust and confidence of the staff or their tenure will be a brief one. In other words, it will be the CEO's perceived capacity to lead the Vision Australia staff and meld our stakeholders together that will take highest priority over other considerations such as their standing with the stakeholder segment. We have a wonderful staff at Vision Australia and whilst their loyalty and professionalism may be factored in, these should never be taken for granted. Demonstrating capacity to do the job, leading a complex organisation through change will be paramount. We face a challenging period for our organisation and whoever fills the CEO position will be required to make difficult decisions and show strong leadership. That may mean challenging conversations with the chair or with members of the board, but I have no doubt that the structure, culture and people of our organisation can allow for those conversations while ensuring individuals involved feel safe, supported and valued.