ACNC Recruits High Profile NFP Lawyer Sue Woodward

Sue Woodward has accepted a position with the newly established ACNC.

It has been revealed that one of the major leadership roles in the newly established Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has gone to the Director of PilchConnect, Lawyer Sue Woodward, who has been appointed Director – Policy & Education.

The ACNC will be based in Melbourne and opening for business in July.

Pro Bono Australia News contacted Sue Woodward after tweets on social networking site Twitter revealed her PilchConnect position was being advertised.

Woodward confirmed that she has accepted the ACNC position after almost 6 years with PILCH, a specialist legal and training service for the Not for Profit sector.

Woodward said: “This is the only job that would entice me away from the fabulous PILCH, especially the superb PilchConnect team”.

“When I did my Melbourne Uni research I thought there were two things that could really make a difference – a support service for small Not for Profits and an independent national regulator.

“I have had the privilege of being involved in scoping and successfully rolling out the former, via PilchConnect. Now I have a chance to help shape the latter, via the ACNC.”

“PilchConnect makes a direct and practical difference for 1000s of people who are trying to understand their regulatory obligations so they can run effective Not for Profit groups,” Woodward said.

PilchConnect covers the common legal issues that arise during the life cycle of a community group – incorporation, taxation, volunteer liability, contracts, OHS, winding up and everything in between.

“The Commission won’t change the need for this help but I hope, if I can do my bit properly, there won't be 1000s of calls to PilchConnect asking what is this new Commission trying to do,” she said.

Woodward takes up her new position at the Commission on March 5.

Susan Pascoe, the Interim Commissioner and Head of ACNC Implementation Taskforce, has previously described the Director roles in the ACNC as “important leadership roles in the areas of policy and education, compliance monitoring and assurance, legal, registration, advice and business services and communications and we have been gratified by the very strong fields of candidates”.

“We are also very grateful for the support from the NFP sector as we have a representative from the sector on each interview panel,” Pascoe said.

The recruitment is happening in four phases for the 95 staff in the new regulator.

There is a separate recruitment drive for the positions of Commissioner for the ACNC and members of the Advisory Board. These roles will be independently managed by Treasury, and were advertised in the national press in at the weekend.

Read Pro Bono Australia's coverage of the ACNC here.