The AICD and BHP are partnering to support the development of a First Nations director pipeline. The Board Governance Prescribed Body Corporate and Indigenous Community Organisation Scholarship Program will provide in-classroom board governance education to 250 First Nations executives and aspiring board directors from Traditional Owner groups and Indigenous community organisations in regional locations in South Australia and Western Australia.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a national not-for-profit member organisation whose purpose is to strengthen society through world-class governance. This Program furthers that purpose by:

• Helping leaders to run their organisations better via education
• Improving capacities of Australia’s boards to deliver long-term and sustainable outcomes for the communities in which they operate, which are greatly enhanced where principles of governance excellence apply
• Maintaining currency of knowledge in areas such as director duties and responsibilities, financial literacy, risk management and oversight, compliance, organisational performance and leadership are critical for all governing bodies in the context of today's economic climate and the complexities of social and economic reform;
• Facilitating two-way learning between First Nations leaders and organisations, and conventional concepts of governance in our formal governance education offerings.

The AICD has partnered with First Nations leaders and organisations to continue to deliver on the ambitious commitments under their Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan. As such, the AICD First Nations Sector Lead, Justin Agale, has established a First Nations Governance Advisory Forum with members from the NFP, ASX and public sectors.

The Program consists of two parts: foundational governance training, with an additional leadership training component to support the in-classroom learning. In addition to the AICD course, scholarship participants will have access to continued learning through a leadership workshop and virtual coaching sessions, and inclusion in the AICD’s Community of Practice sessions to support boards on their governance journey.