Dental Industry’s Peak Body Adopts New Legal Structure

The peak business organisation representing manufacturers and suppliers of quality dental products, the Australian Dental Industry Association (ADIA), has completed a transition to a new national legal structure.

Previously legally established in Victoria under that state's incorporated associations legislation, ADIA is now a company limited by guarantee under provisions within the Corporations Act (Cth) 2001.

"The new framework mandates higher standards of governance and diligence on the part of Directors which is entirely appropriate for a growing organisation of ADIA's size," said Troy Williams, ADIA Chief Executive Officer.

Over the past three years the ADIA Board committed to a review of governance arrangements which saw a reduction in the number of Directors, the voluntary early adoption of revised national accounting standards and a restructure of Board subcommittees that are focused on high-level strategic and administrative issues rather than operational matters.

"The transition to a company limited by guarantee was a straight-forward one given that ADIA operates nationally and has enjoyed considerable expansion. Over the past four years, ADIA has seen the number of members grow by 40%, membership income increase by 290% and net assets increase by 60%. The changes make perfect sense in this context," Mr Williams said.

The change in ADIA's governance framework was staged and the first step was to reduce the size of the ADIA Board, with Directors recognising their role was not to manage the organisation but set high-level strategy and provide appropriate levels of administrative and financial oversight. The major change was to state branch representation, with these now collectively represented by a single branch president appointed by their peers. Previously, all state branch presidents served as Directors.

"Rather than reducing member engagement in ADIA direction setting, this series of reforms elevated the role of members in determining our policies and project priorities. By strengthening the role of ADIA's national committees, a greater number of members now have the opportunity to make a contribution in determining policy projects and priorities across areas including business taxation, product regulation, dental industry trade shows and programs that upskill the dental industry's workforce," Mr Williams said.

ADIA was established in 1925 as the Dental Manufacturers and Traders Club of Australia, soon after becoming the Australian Dental Traders Association, with adoption of the current name coming during 1987.