Hunt on for new auDA board

Australia's top-level country code domain name administrator, auDA, has begun recruiting a new board comprising a chair and five independent non-executive directors.

A nomination committee at auDA will recommend board candidates; a separate process will be set in motion to identify candidates for election by associate auDA members as well.

Board members are expected to meet once a month in Melbourne, and will be remunerated for attendances with "reasonable travel expenses" reimbursed.

The board reconstitution follows a review of auDA published in April last year by the federal government, which demanded reform or face being stripped of its role.

In its review, the Department of Communications found that "the current management and governance framework for auDA is no longer fit-for-purpose and that reform is necessary if the company is to perform effectively and meet the needs of Australia’s internet community.”

auDA has been riven by years of infighting by its members, and the government placed a senior officer on the agency's board to oversee the reform process.

Last year, Victorian police were called in by the new chairman of auDA, Chris Leptos, over allegations of expense account misuse and lavish spending by former directors and employees.

Former auDA director Josh Rowe was forced to publicly retract and apologise for alleging that the domain administrator and some of its officers and staff had engaged in criminal cartel conduct over membership applications.

Leptos resigned with immediate effect as the auDA chair in June this year.