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Audit handbook: The governing body dataset

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Overview

Each row in this dataset represents one governing body member at your organisation, as at the end of the audit reporting period.

A governing body is the most senior group of people governing the operations of an organisation, such as the board or elected councillors (for local government).

For local government, the governing body of your organisation will be the elected councillors of your local government area.

If your organisation has no governing body, you should:

  1. Leave the Governing body dataset empty, and
  2. Use the Governing body data availability field(opens in a new window) in the organisation dataset to inform the Commissioner that you don’t have a governing body.

Governing body member type

This field is required for each governing body member.

  • This field must be populated meaningfully for every governing body member record.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Use this field to indicate which member of your governing body is the chair.

For local government, the chair of your organisation's governing body is the mayor of your local government area.

  • Chair (A)
  • Member (B)

Gender

This field is required for each governing body member.

  • This field must be populated meaningfully for every governing body member record.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Gender is part of how someone understands who they are and how they interact with other people. Many people identify their gender as being 'woman' or 'man'. Some people understand their gender as a combination of these or neither. Gender can be expressed in different ways, such as through behaviour or physical appearance. A person’s gender does not necessarily mean they have particular sex characteristics or a particular sexuality, or vice versa.

The Commissioner recommends allowing an option for self-described gender with a free text option, in addition to 'woman' and 'man' when collecting gender data. For those people who identify with a self-described gender, their gender should be recorded in relevant systems using the term(s) provided by the employee. An individual with a self-described gender may identify as non-binary, trans, gender diverse, agender, genderqueer, genderfluid or using any other term.

For the purposes of the audit, the Commissioner will collect data within three gender groups – women, men and self-described gender.

Use the value ‘Prefer not to say’ for people who chose not to disclose their identity to your organisation.

  • Woman (W)
  • Man (M)
  • Self-described (S)
  • Prefer not to say (P)

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

This field is recommended for each governing body member.

  • If you have available data for this field, we recommend you populate it for every governing body member record.
  • If you do not have available data for this field, you must still populate it with an acceptable value.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Use this field to indicate whether each person is Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Use the value 'Prefer not to say' for people who chose not to disclose their identity to your organisation.

Use the value 'Data unavailable' if your organisation can't provide this information at this time.

  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (B)
  • Non Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (A)
  • Prefer not to say (P)
  • Data unavailable (DU)

Age

This field is recommended for for each governing body member.

  • If you have available data for this field, we recommend you populate it for every governing body member record.
  • If you do not have available data for this field, you must still populate it with an acceptable value.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Use this field to indicate the person's age range, as at the last day of the audit reporting period.

Use the value 'Data unavailable' if your organisation cannot provide this information at this time.

  • 15–24 years (A)
  • 25–34 years (B)
  • 35–44 years (C)
  • 45–54 years (D)
  • 55–64 years (E)
  • 65+ years (F)
  • Data unavailable (DU)

Cultural identity

This field is recommended for each governing body member.

  • If you have available data for this field, we recommend you populate it for every governing body member record.
  • If you do not have available data for this field, you must still populate it with an acceptable value.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Cultural identity is the group to which a person feels they belong. This might be based on ancestry, tradition, language, geography and/or individual experience.

Where possible, multiple responses should be collected for this data item to ensure respondents are able to list all groups with which they identify. If an employee has selected multiple cultural identities, format the selections as a list delimited with vertical bars like this: A|B|C

Use the value 'Prefer not to say' for people who chose not to disclose their identity to your organisation.

Use the value 'Data unavailable' if your organisation can't provide this information at this time.

  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (A)
  • African (including Central, West, Southern and East African) (B)
  • Australian (C)
  • Central and/or South American (D)
  • Central Asian (E)
  • East and/or South-East Asian (F)
  • English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh (G)
  • European (including Western, Eastern and South-Eastern European, and Scandinavian) (H)
  • Maori (I)
  • Middle Eastern and/or North African (J)
  • New Zealander (K)
  • North American (L)
  • Pacific Islander (M)
  • South Asian (N)
  • Other (O)
  • Prefer not to say (P)
  • Data unavailable (DU)

Disability status

This field is recommended for each governing body member.

  • If you have available data for this field, we recommend you populate it for every governing body member record.
  • If you do not have available data for this field, you must still populate it with an acceptable value.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Use this field to indicate each person's disability status.

Use the value 'Prefer not to say' for people who chose not to disclose their disability status to your organisation.

Use the value 'Data unavailable' if your organisation can't provide this information at this time.

  • No disability (A)
  • With disability (B)
  • Prefer not to say (C)
  • Data unavailable (DU)

Religion

This field is recommended for each governing body member.

  • If you have available data for this field, we recommend you populate it for every governing body member record.
  • If you do not have available data for this field, you must still populate it with an acceptable value.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Use this field to indicate each person's religion.

Use the value 'Prefer not to say' for people who chose not to disclose their religion to your organisation.

Use the value 'Data unavailable' if your organisation can't provide this information at this time.

  • Buddhism (A)
  • Christianity (B)
  • Hinduism (C)
  • Islam (D)
  • Judaism (E)
  • No religion (F)
  • Sikhism (G)
  • Other (H)
  • Prefer not to say (I)
  • Data unavailable (DU)

Sexual orientation

This field is recommended for each governing body member.

  • If you have available data for this field, we recommend you populate it for every governing body member record.
  • If you do not have available data for this field, you must still populate it with an acceptable value.
  • Refer to the requirements and acceptable values for this field below for how to populate this field.
DefinitionRequirements and acceptable values

Use this field to indicate each person's sexual orientation.

Use the value 'Prefer not to say' for people who chose not to disclose their sexual orientation to your organisation.

Use the value 'Data unavailable' if your organisation can't provide this information at this time.

  • Asexual (A)
  • Bisexual (B)
  • Don't know (C)
  • Gay or lesbian (D)
  • Pansexual (E)
  • Self-described (F)
  • Straight (heterosexual) (G)
  • Prefer not to say (H)
  • Data unavailable (DU)

Updated

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