AusSchol awarded three scholarships in 2008 as part of its initiative to help managers and financial officers of charitable organisations enhance their knowledge and skills, and to improving the management and accountability of charitable not-for-profit organisations.

The winners of the ICAA Business Forum Scholarships are Elizabeth Jarque and Ted Starc. The scholarships allowed Elizabeth and Ted to attend the ICAA Business Forum held in Sydney on 12 - 15 May 2008.

Being the first qualified accountant to take on the role of Financial Controller in the 86 years of CWA of NSW, my challenge is to evaluate existing systems, structures and procedures to ensure efficiency, compliance and the optimum provision of relevant, reliable, timely information.

Ted has been Chief Financial Officer of the Cancer Council of NSW for more than 9 years. As Ted saw it, the benefits for the Cancer Council of him attending the Business Forum would be in improving personal productivity, staff loyalty and retention, return on investment, and company performance. In addition, tenure of the scholarship allowed the course fee to be devoted to the Council’s mission to ‘defeat cancer’. After the event, he reported as follows -

I found that my attendance for the four days was intensive and very fruitful. I have gained a great deal of worthwhile information which will be utilised personally and in the operations of The Cancer Council NSW. My exposure to the Forum will be used to help meet the growing challenges with smarter systems to improve productivity and effectiveness; adopting best practice; and creating better management for organisational leadership.

Alex Richards was awarded the 2008 ICAA Chartered Accountants Scholarship. This scholarship gives Alex the opportunity to take part in the Chartered Accountants Program, the two-year postgraduate program undertaken part-time while employed in a relevant role under the supervision of a CA mentor.

Alex is the Finance Manager of the Hunter Medical Research Institute. Alex believes that admission to the Chartered Accountants Program will allow her to offer a more informed and strategic contribution to the HMRI team as HMRI continues its growth.