Associations Forum has released its 2022 Association Board Survey Report, which surveyed nearly 3,000 associations across Australia.

The report found an increased number of Association Boards have committed to recent constitution reviews and increased funding for directors’ professional development, indicating a positive shift towards a commitment to improve governance structures.

Within the last two years, 59.1 percent of associations have reviewed their constitution within the last 2 years, up from 58.3 percent in 2021, while 56.5 percent allocated funds for the professional development of their directors, up from 51 percent on the previous year.

The number of organisations that pay directors fees has also begun to stabilise with 16.3 percent of organisations paying directors fees in 2021, compared with 16.5 percent in 2021 and 17.1 percent in 2020.

The report also showed the number of female directors on boards continues to increase with Boards comprising of 42.8 percent female Directors, up from 40.1 percent from the previous year.

Another key finding showed that boards are adopting hybrid methods of meeting. The average number of face-to-face Board meetings scheduled this year increased to 3.8 (up from 3.4 in 2021), while the average number of online meetings also increased to 5.4 (up from 4.4).

Associations Forum is Australia’s leading and largest broad-based network of associations with more than 600 members.