It was my great pleasure to spend some time recently visiting CA ANZ’s Asian offices. In late June, I visited member events in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong to provide an update on our strategic direction and meet local business and finance leaders.

It is always a privilege to hear directly from members. To make the most of all your talent, knowledge and experience, we must draw on the full diversity of our membership.

That is why the creation of our Overseas Regional Councils is such an exciting development. Setting up Overseas Regional Councils was among the five resolutions members passed during the recent member vote that approved changes to our governance structures and constitutional documents.

Changes to our Supplemental Royal Charter and By-laws now go to Australia’s governor-general for approval, while changes to the NZICA Rules are effective immediately and will be tabled with the New Zealand parliament.

The successful vote has opened the way to create Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and UK councils. These will sit alongside other member-based committees, including the Councils in Australia and New Zealand, Sector Committees (formerly Segment Advisory Committees) and Local Committees (formerly Local Leadership Teams).

The creation of Overseas Regional Councils was driven by member calls for our representative bodies to better reflect the diversity of our membership, and to broaden representation across our councils and committees.

Participating in councils and committees is one way to stay connected with your CA peers, along with attending courses and networking events. As with business, the personal touch is very important. Shaking hands, sharing conversations and making contacts is an essential part of the connected CA network we are working on improving.

“Shaking hands, sharing conversations and making contacts is an essential part of the connected CA network we are working on improving.”

But with CA ANZ members so geographically spread out, it is also important to be able to connect with members in other cities and countries. Luckily, we are living in a digital age.

My CA, our online community, is becoming a ‘go to’ place to share, connect, learn and collaborate, wherever you are.

Our members in public practice are jumping onto the My CA platform through the Practice, Innovation & Technology and CA Catalyst groups.

Popular discussion topics include technology, adoption of new software, and how Excel integrates with new data modelling and analytics tools such as Tableau. Members have also been helping each other out with questions.

CA Catalyst is a program designed to help CA ANZ members, particularly those in public practice, build personal and organisational capabilities by leveraging technology and innovation.

In the first year we’ve learned much. In the next year, you’ll see an acceleration in engagements and opportunities.

If you are looking to get involved, sign up to the CA Catalyst community on My CA.

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