Winners and finalists of the 2022 Indigenous Governance Awards talk about the importance of developing the next generation of leaders and how succession planning takes place in their organisation...
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Home
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01 Understanding governance
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02 Culture and governance
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03 Getting Started
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04 Leadership
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05 Governing the organisation
- 5.0 Governing the organisation
- 5.1 Roles, responsibilities and rights of a governing body
- 5.2 Accountability: what is it, to whom and how?
- 5.3 Decision making by the governing body
- 5.4 Governing finances and resources
- 5.5 Communicating
- 5.6 Future planning
- 5.7 Building capacity and confidence for governing bodies
- 5.8 Case Studies
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06 Rules and policies
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07 Management and staff
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08 Disputes and complaints
- 8.0 Disputes and complaints
- 8.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous approaches
- 8.2 Core principles and skills for dispute and complaint resolution
- 8.3 Disputes and complaints about governance
- 8.4 Your members: Dealing with disputes and complaints
- 8.5 Organisations: dealing with internal disputes and complaints
- 8.6 Practical guidelines and approaches
- 8.7 Case Studies
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09 Governance for nation rebuilding
- Governance Stories
- Glossary
- Useful links
- Acknowledgements
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8.4 Your members: Dealing with disputes and complaints
Some disputes and complaints will arise from within the members of a community or nation, while others will arise from within organisations.
Many of the leaders and organisations involved in the Indigenous Governance Awards see complaints from their members as a positive means of improving their governance and services. Others pride themselves on receiving very few.
8.4.1 Recurrent sources of conflict and complaint from members
Common grievances coming from the members of nations and communities have to do with:
- determining exactly who is and is not a member—this is the problem of identifying the ‘self’ in self-governance and self-determination
- the negative impact of family factions and dominant families overruling others
- the representativeness, legitimacy, effectiveness, honesty and authority of leaders
- the legitimacy and fairness of decisions
- contested rights and interests in land ownership
- the distribution of resources, funding and benefits
- access to and quality of services
- lack of participation and a voice in governance arrangements
- poor communication and consultation.
When disputes and complaints occur about these matters, it is essential that governing bodies, leaders and organisations have clear, well-known mechanisms and procedures for fair dispute resolution that are locally supported and effective.
8.4.2 Common better-practice approaches
The legitimacy of governance is directly linked to having a strong mandate from the members of your community or nation.
That means being able to engage with and support them in resolving internal tensions, differences of opinion and outright conflicts.
Many of the organisations applying to the Indigenous Governance Awards have developed specific approaches for dealing with their members’ grievances. As seen below, they often share the same common steps.
- Have a written complaints and dispute resolution policy and procedure. Complaints are usually handled first by a designated officer, and if needed they can go to the top manager or the governing body as the ultimate decision maker.
- Approach the person or people directly involved. This can clarify the issues and then, if needed, the grievance can be put in writing or documented through a translator.
- Use a phased approach for resolution and keep a register or file. This can help people to see that the situation is being taken seriously and the process can be tracked through its different stages.
- Use traditional mechanisms as relevant, such as referral to a council of elders, or invoking the positive influence of particular kinship, ceremonial or gender-based institutions of authority.
- Use external mechanisms. If the dispute or grievance remains unresolved, external mechanisms—such as an agreed mediator, independent arbitrator, or referral to the services of representative bodies or non-government organisations with dispute resolution expertise—can help.
- Maintain good communication with the parties involved, including communication about their issues, rights, interests and options.
- Develop broader governance policy frameworks and charters that set out the codes of conduct, roles, responsibilities and rights of the governing body, management and staff in relation to members—and vice versa.
Today, organisations are aware of the importance of responding with care to complaints and grievances from their members and wider stakeholders.
Overwhelmingly, people name communication, fairness and cross-cultural sensitivity as critical factors in doing this.
“For all complaints (internal or external) all staff involved in the resolution process should ensure the principles of natural justice are followed, including:
- the opportunity of all individuals involved to put their points of view forward
- handling of the procedures in an unbiased manner
- protection of the rights of all parties concerned
- clear communication in sufficient detail as to the basis on which decisions have been made
- matters [being] dealt with by staff as sensitively as possible.”
(ANKAA Application to the Indigenous Governance Awards, 2012)
8.4.3 Conditions that help or hinder
It is important to recognise the limitations of formal processes and policies for dealing with disputes and grievances when the underlying issues are long-term, politicised and bitter.
There may also simply be a lack of time, resources and capacity to take on the heavy workload associated with resolving entrenched disputes about governance.
If the community or group itself is split with factionalised interest groups, apathy, nepotism or poor self-determination, then:
- there may be a high level of complaint, conflict and misunderstandings which will be difficult to successfully resolve in the short term
- leaders who do what some members want will be viewed as a friend and ‘good leader’, while those who don’t will be abused and the object of complaint
- leaders may become defensive and resentful of being treated as a complaints department, and so dismiss valid criticism
- misinformation and rumours can spread fast and may poison efforts to explain the facts or settle conflicts
- some members may feel reluctant to criticise or complain for fear of offending others or suffering repercussions.
Economic success itself may increase disputes, as disadvantaged people compete for scarce resources, feel entitled to certain things, and make greater demands on their organisations.
In these circumstances, trust in the decisions of leaders and governing bodies can quickly diminish, and the good of the whole nation or community (and future generations) may take a back seat.
On the other hand, your members will be more capable of resolving their own disputes and will demand excellence and a high standard of conduct from their leaders if they:
- have a resilient collective identify
- have a confident sense of self-determination which they try to put into practice
- are clearly informed about their options, risks and rights
- can access local capacity-building and incentives
- have practically effective and legitimate rules and processes.
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