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Working with governing council subcommittees

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    All governing councils will have at least one subcommittee, sometimes called a committee they will need to work with.

    Subcommittees are central to how most council’s work. The number of subcommittees a governing council has depends on what services and facilities are available at your site (school/preschool), which will often vary from site to site. However, there are some subcommittees that are mandatory

    Mandatory subcommittees

    There are some subcommittees that must be established; these are referred to as mandatory subcommittees.

    Every school governing council must have a finance advisory committee. However, for preschool governing council’s this subcommittee is optional.

    If your site has any of these services, there must also be a subcommittee for each one:

    Other types of committees

    You might need to work closely with other subcommittees or just need to be aware of the different subcommittees that your council has. You won’t need to be involved in all of them, and the site leader or the chairperson will let you know who can do what.

    The need for these different subcommittees is driven by what’s happening locally at your site and by the governing council. Subcommittees can help when the council and school wants to focus on a specific event and might be for a set amount of time. They can help you with:

    • closing or amalgamating a school
    • school dress code or uniform
    • fundraising
    • special events, like 50 year celebrations, parent engagement opportunities etc.

    As well, you might be working with a site’s affiliated committee. These are not subcommittees of the council. They are independent and have their own constitution, but still work with your council.

    Terms of reference

    Your governing council needs to make sure the work of each subcommittee is set out in an approved terms of reference. It could include information on:

    • tenure
    • membership
    • functions
    • operational responsibilities
    • information sharing
    • reporting.

    Some suggested templates are available:

    A generic terms of reference template (DOCX 25 KB) is also available for councils to use.

    Site Governance, Schools and Preschools

    Phone: 8226 9617
    Email: Education.sitegovernance [at] sa.gov.au

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