The proposal, which was approved at a special general meeting in Sydney last week, will see a new nine-member board replace the existing 15 member council.
The new system will see the introduction of a ‘one state, one vote’ system, where the membership of each state and territory elects its national representative. An additional two members will also be elected by the board.
These board members do not have to be working within the printing industry, but must be nominated by a registered member.
Victorian senior employee relations officer Jim Hargreaves told ProPrint no full-time jobs would be lost at the association as a result of the change, and that it does not expect any cost-saving benefits to flow from the restructure.
Printing Industries national president Jim Atkinson (pictured) said that the current regional council structure would be dismantled, but that regional offices would continue to be the focal point for members for the provision of services.
Atkinson said the new system, which is expected to be in place by January 2011, is aimed at “re-energising the management and decision-making process and creating a board environment that encourages more focused industry participation”.
“In the past we have made management too complex and the management structure too convoluted to encourage participation by the most talented executives that our industry has,” he said.
“The expertise and experience of these people in businesses of all kinds need to be attracted to help guide and focus the leadership and support Printing Industries can and should be providing, not just for today’s issues, but into the future and its many challenges.
“The approval of these important constitutional changes is a huge step in achieving that and a historic milestone in our history spanning some three centuries of industry representation,” he added.
Standing committees will be established to replace the regional council structure in dealing with local issues, though Atkinson added that policy direction would be determined by the national council.
“Good leadership must start from the top and so we must ensure that we have the best decision makers at the top working with our highly skilled staff to achieve the best outcomes for our membership,” he said.
“It has taken some two-and-a-half years of soul-searching, discussion, debate and legal opinions to arrive at this point, but I believe we have created the structure that our members deserve and our industry needs.”
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