APO NT Secretariat

The Secretariat for APO NT will be auspiced by a member that has been agreed to by the Governing Group and with support from the funding provider(s).

The member that has agreed to host the Secretariat is also expected to receive and administer grants from the Northern Territory and Commonwealth Governments and possibly others.

The member organisation will be expected to host the Secretariat for the term of the grant.

The Secretariat will be staffed by persons agreed to by Governing Group and priority will be given to recruit Aboriginal staff from the Northern Territory.

Secretariat staff are required to build positive relations with all representatives of the members, with Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory and their organisations, with the Coalition of Peaks and its secretariat, with public servants at officer level, and as directed Ministers. The Secretariat must implement the decisions of APO NT on policy, strategy and governance positions.

The key functions of the Secretariat are to support the Governing Group to:

• Ensure the Governing Group members and APO NT partners are up to date on developments with respect to Aboriginal Affairs in the NT.
• Undertake administrative functions including meeting invites, distributing agendas and draft reports on meeting outcomes;
  Organise meetings logistics of the APO NT Governing Group;
• Provide media support to members of the Governing Group; and
• Engage with and arrange meetings with communities and governments.

The Secretariat will comprise a Manager, Network Coordinator, Policy Officers and Administrative support person.

All APO NT Secretariat staff will be employed under the same terms and conditions of the relevant Enterprise Agreement or Award governing the auspicing organisation. Staff will undertake an annual Performance Enhancement Review and abide by the Code of Conduct and Confidentiality standards.

The CEO or Chair of the member organisation that is auspicing the Secretariat must take responsibility for the staff, ensuring they receive their entitlements, work in a safe and healthy work environment, and are treated with fairness at work and not discriminated against.

The Secretariat’s Manager will report to the Governing Group.

Additional teams may be developed where funding is secured for particular projects, for example the Generational Strategy for Children and Families, Closing the Gap projects or the partnership with Government to codesign options to replace the NT Remote Aboriginal Investment.