On 22 March 2024, the national body voted for NECA to become a fully centralised organisation limiting state independence and impeding our local members.
NECA National claims that this is simply a governance and structure change, but the reality of what is written in the proposed rules severely impacts the autonomy of the NECA SA/NT branch and members.
As a state-run organisation, we fear our local voice becomes the minority attributable to local money no longer going back into local initiatives, state-based decision-making being compromised, and an overall drop in community engagement.
Centralisation often fails to recognise unique community needs and causes a disconnect with local state nuances, expertise, and regulation.
Under the new model, decisions around how your membership fees would be used to support local member interests would be shifted to NECA National.
Despite our best efforts and objection, together with our Victorian colleagues, the majority of the National Council unfortunately decided to proceed. As a result, NECA National will be submitting a version of the amended rules for approval to Fair Work Australia.
As representatives of South Australian and Northern Territory interests of our members, we are deeply concerned about this action. We plan to challenge the proposed changes at Fair Work Australia.
We will keep you updated on any further developments and actions we plan to take. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns you may have on neca@necasa.asn.au.
Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we are here to listen.