Governance

WFOT is the global voice for occupational therapy and set the standard for its practice.

We are a federation of occupational therapy organisations that has a robust, accountable and transparent governance structure.

Each Member Organisation has an official Delegate to represent and govern the strategic decisions made by WFOT. Each delegate is supported by an Alternate Delegate and in some instances, a Second Alternate Delegate.

From this group, a leadership team is elected to form the WFOT Executive Management Team. There are four Executive Members – President, Vice President, Vice President Finance and the Executive Director in addition to Four Programme Coordinators. The Executive Management Team are responsible for the day to day operational management of the organisation.

Every two years the WFOT Executive Management Team and the official Delegates of the Member Organisations meet at a formal Council Meeting to govern the responsibilities and strategic direction of the Federation.

The Executive Management Team meets in the intervening year and immediately prior to Council to review and progress the agreed work of the Federation.

Our Governance responsibilities include:

Governance, risk management and compliance policy and practice

  • Advising directors and officers on director duties and the organisation’s constitution.
  • Advising the Council on corporate governance principles and the implementation of governance programs and risk management frameworks.
  • Developing, implementing, communicating and maintaining governance, risk and compliance policies, processes and procedures.
  • Maintaining the corporate structure.
  • Maintaining and increasing membership

Corporate strategy and board management-administration

  • Carrying out the instructions of the Council.
  • Implementing the corporate strategy (especially giving effect to Council decisions).
  • Ensuring corporate accountability by communicating with the organisation's stakeholders and broader community.
  • Ensuring effective information flows within the Council and with and between programme areas.
  • Acting as a conduit between member organisations, individual members and the Council
  • Managing Council and Programme administration.
  • Preparing meetings, agendas and minutes (for example Council, Executive and Executive Management Team meetings.

Performance, remuneration and evaluation

  • Assisting with the induction of Executive and Delegates.
  • Facilitating professional development programmes for the Executive and Council.

Human resources, legal and finance

  • Advising (where appropriate) on contractual staff updates.
  • Advising on intellectual property asset management (for example patents, trademarks, business & domain names).
  • Advising on relevant financial issues (accounting, finance, asset management)
  • Monitoring organisational investments.
  • Advising (where required) on environmental issues.
  • Advising on privacy legislation.

External adviser communication-liaison

  • Communicating with external advisers (legal, accounting etc) and corporate representatives.

General administration

  • Managing seals and document execution.
  • Undertaking general administration and asset management functions.
  • Overseeing document retention and management.