INTHEBLACK February 2022 - Magazine - Page 37
OPEN VIDEO IN A NEW WINDOW
Trust and respect play an integral part in the professional
relationship between Mel Yates FCPA and Shelley Hicks ASA.
AS TOLD TO CHRISTOPHER NIESCHE PHOTOGRAPHY JARROD BARNES
MEL YATES FCPA
DIRECTOR REPORTING, RED TAPE REDUCTION
AND CORPORATE SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN
CHARITIES AND NOT-FOR-PROFITS
COMMISSION (ACNC)
I’m a director at the ACNC, responsible for
overseeing the collection of reporting from
59,000 registered charities across Australia.
I also oversee our corporate services as an
organisation, and that’s how I know Shelley.
I started working with Shelley in 2018,
when I took on corporate services.
Shelley is very bubbly, very vivacious. She’s
always happy, always got a smile on her face.
Shelley is someone I respect because she’s
got a very varied work history – she used
to be a music teacher.
Shelley has got so much life experience,
and that’s the thing that I really love about
working with her – she’s very pragmatic.
She’s raised four kids, and now she’s doing
her studies to become a CPA.
There are always new and varied things
that we’ve got to think about in government.
We’ve got to be transparent, and we’ve
made sure that we set a high bar for
ourselves in terms of that accountability
and use of public funds.
Shelley will just have a go at anything. If
something new comes in – a return or a new
report or some new obligations that we’ve
got to meet – Shelley will go and research
and put together a draft. The majority of
times it is really on point.
Shelley doesn’t necessarily have the
background – the context – but when a task
is given to her, she might ask a couple of
questions, and she just goes away and gets
it done. It’s to a high standard and it exceeds
the bar.
She will work with different people across
the organisation to get the best outcome for
the organisation.
This may not necessarily be the best
outcome for her, but she’s very considerate
and very aware that we are a team.
Shelley tends to doubt herself or not back
herself. I encourage Shelley to really back
intheblack.com February 2022 37