Governance in Australian Not-For-Profit Sporting Organisations.

Demands for the Australian not-for-profit sporting sector to become more "accountable" have resulted in governance structures that have received little research attention. This paper seeks to discover what the not-for-profit sporting organisations understand by governance and the associated need for a suitable governance structure and identifying what structures they are using. A sample of five sporting organisations in an Australian state was studied to ascertain their governance structures. Using interviews with key persons in each of the organisations, governance was found to be "direction and leadership", not "control" as implied by formal governance structures found in the forprofit sector. This finding reflects their volunteer member-base and the need to maintain good relationships between members. Governance structures were a mix of legal requirements and informal structures reflecting the nature of their sport. The informality reflects their reliance on volunteers who are integral to these not-for-profit sporting organisations. Their impact on corporate governance is significant. Board members emerge from these volunteers and their interest in the sport. Despite having no so-called governance skills, board members were able to discharge their primary accountability of running their particular sport. The paper notes that the role of volunteers in organisations is little researched but deserving of attention as they play a significant role in the not-for-profit sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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