The Role
Reporting to the Chief Executive, the Company Secretary provides high-quality governance and company secretarial support to the Oxfam Australia Board of Directors and Board Committees. This role plays a critical part in ensuring strong governance practices, regulatory compliance and effective decision-making across the organisation.
You will provide effective guidance on governance processes, support the Board, Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team by coordinating Board and Committee activities, maintaining governance frameworks and overseeing statutory obligations. The role also supports Board recruitment, onboarding and induction processes, helping to ensure the Board remains effective and well-positioned to deliver on Oxfam Australia’s mission.
Key Responsibilities
- Ensure Oxfam Australia meets its statutory, regulatory and governance obligations, including compliance with relevant legislation and reporting requirements to ACNC and ASIC
- Manage governance records, policies and compliance frameworks, ensuring governance information remains accurate, accessible and up to date.
- Provide end-to-end support for Board and Committee meetings, including agendas, board papers, minutes, action tracking and meeting coordination
- Oversee governance administration, ensuring governance systems, communications, action tracking and organisational governance processes are effectively managed
- Act as a key liaison between the Board and Executive, providing governance advice and supporting Board recruitment, onboarding, induction and ongoing governance activities
For any enquiries relating to this role, please contact [email protected]
A little about you (Key Selection Criteria)
Essential:
- Demonstrated experience in a Company Secretary or governance support role, preferably within a not-for-profit context or highly regulated environment
- Working knowledge of governance obligations under relevant legislation, including the Charities Act 2013 (Cth), ACNC Act 2013 (Cth), and Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
- Demonstrated ability to support effective Board and Committee operations, including coordinating meetings, managing Board information, and ensuring timely follow-up of actions
- High level of attention to detail and accuracy in preparing governance documentation, including Board papers, minutes, and statutory records, while consistently meeting tight deadlines
Preferable:
- Tertiary qualification in law, business, commerce or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience
- Professional governance qualification (e.g. Governance Institute of Australia), or progress towards, desirable
We encourage applications from candidates who bring relevant governance, Board support and compliance experience, even if they do not meet every criterion listed
How to Apply
Complete the online application form, then, as three separate documents, upload:
- A cover letter that tells us why you want to join Oxfam Australia, and how your professional history and lived experience make you the right candidate.
- Your response to the key selection criteria outlined in the advertisement.
Candidates are encouraged not to delay submitting their application - applications will be reviewed as they are received, which may result in this advertisement being closed early
What we can offer you
- Superior leave benefits and access to a generous not-for-profit salary packaging program (up to $18,450 of your salary tax-free).
- The opportunity to use your talents and expertise to make a positive impact around the world.
- We value flexibility and seek to support our people in ways that meet their work/life commitments and support their wellbeing.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are core to who we are. We actively seek to create a workplace that reflects the communities we are a part of, where everyone feels safe, respected and able to thrive.
We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
We’re committed to making our recruitment process inclusive - please let us know if you need adjustments at any stage.
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Our culture is shaped by our values, which reinforce what we care about and how we do things, not just what we do. Our core values of Equality, Empowerment, Solidarity, Inclusiveness, Accountability and Courage drive everything we do at Oxfam.
Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct. We are committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us. Therefore, our people are required to comply with the One Oxfam Child Safeguarding and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse policies and sign the Oxfam Australia Child Safeguarding and One Oxfam Employee Codes of Conduct.
Our people are at the heart of everything we do. We care deeply about creating a safe and inclusive workplace where our people feel valued, respected and empowered. We are committed to providing equal opportunities and encourage applicants with personal experience of the forms of injustice we seek to address to apply for opportunities at Oxfam Australia.
Australian work rights
Applicants will be required to show proof of their right to work in Australia the subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, which include Police Checks and Misconduct Disclosure Scheme outcomes, before commencement. Pre-employment checks are not used by Oxfam Australia to prevent any applicant from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits.
Oxfam Australia will not recruit international candidates who do not hold visas permitting them to work in Australia. Oxfam Australia does not provide visa sponsorship.
Additional information
For ongoing roles, candidates will be required to have a minimum of 2 years' Australian work rights from the date of commencement of their employment with Oxfam Australia. For fixed-term roles, candidates will be required to have work rights for the full duration of the contract.
At Oxfam Australia, we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable culture where everyone's rights are recognised and respected. Guided by feminist principles and core values, we embrace different perspectives and work to eliminate systemic inequities that perpetuate discrimination. We centre and amplify the voices of people with lived experience and work in solidarity to build a future where no one is left behind.
Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is reflected in our actions, Oxfam Australia:
- Supports employee-led committees
- Promotes consultative ways of working and decision making
- Maintains a comprehensive enterprise agreement that prioritises employee well-being, as demonstrated through multiple leave types
- Provides ongoing awareness and training on unconscious bias, inclusion, and respectful workplace practices, ensuring alignment with Oxfam’s values
- Ensures a fair and accessible recruitment process
