Quaker Service Australia is a signatory to the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Code of Conduct.The key benefit of being a member of ACFID is being part of a network of Australian non government organisations (NGO)s that share a commitment to poverty reduction and the promotion of human rights. This enables QSA to link with other NGOs and be engaged in and informed by dialogue on emerging issues that affect our sector.
ACFID provides training courses on core subjects such as monitoring and evaluation, child protection, changes to regulations from various government departments as well as training in how to prepare annual reports which meet the high standards of the ACFID Code of Conduct. It provides regular bulletins on information that is relevant to the sector, statistical information about the work of NGOs, lobbies government ministers’ on behalf of NGOs and also provides them with factual information about the work of NGOs.
The Code of Conduct is a voluntary, self regulatory industry code and sets out standards and requirements to which signatories to the Code are bound and against which complaints and compliance is assessed. It covers aspects of financial control, personnel management and governance, communicating with the public, the application of fundraising and charitable institutions legislation, and other legislation from relevant departments. Both ACFID and the Code committees are there to offer assistance to NGOs as well as providing assurance to the public that funds donated are used appropriately and projects undertaken are handled with integrity and effectiveness.