New opportunities for directors seeking career advancement

As you will have read in last month’s Company Director, this year the AICD celebrates the 50th anniversary of our signature Company Directors Course (CDC). It is a real honour to lead the organisation as we celebrate this landmark milestone.

I suspect there are very few of you who aren’t familiar with the CDC and a majority would most likely have undertaken the course yourselves. You can probably vouch for the reasons it’s become the pre-eminent program of its kind, setting the global benchmark for governance education.

Over its 50-year history, the CDC has provided world-class governance education to more than 100,000 participants, including directors of Australia’s most successful organisations. Participants in the CDC represent the full breadth of Australia’s economy. From our largest listed companies, to charities, sporting organisations and private businesses — big and small.

It’s a major strength of the CDC that it can be applied across all of these sectors. Many executives credit the course with making them better in their management roles, better prepared and able to anticipate what the board wants and needs to know. The CDC is the bedrock on which the AICD is built and helped us become the world’s largest and most diverse director institute. We not only set the standards in governance, but also influence and advise governments on governance policies and practices. The CDC gives directors an in-depth look at their responsibilities and expectations. It deepens their understanding of what effective governance looks like in practice. It helps participants improve financial literacy, understand and navigate the tensions between short and long-term priorities, and diverse stakeholder interests, and enhances the strategic discussions that will improve your organisation’s performance.

It’s a remarkable thing, and I congratulate our dedicated education and delivery teams who work hand in hand with our faculty experts to deliver a globally recognised program that empowers directors with the skills, credibility and confidence to lead at the highest level. With twice-yearly reviews of the CDC curriculum, they ensure it remains up to date and incorporates the very latest in regulatory, legislative and contemporary practice developments.

As we all know, the regulatory environment has never been more complex and the level of compliance and accountability required of directors has increased exponentially. The CDC has continuously evolved to address modern governance challenges including climate governance, psychosocial risk and new and emerging technologies like cybersecurity and the brave new world of AI.

To mark the anniversary, the AICD team has put together a program that will be rolling out across the year. I encourage you to keep your eyes peeled for further coverage.

We’re also inviting everyone who’s completed the CDC to engage via the #CDC50 hashtag on social media to share your experiences and the benefits the course has delivered to you and your organisations. Graduating from the CDC is no mean feat and I applaud every one of you for achieving the prestigious GAICD post-nominal.

FAICD refresh

For those of you further advanced in your director careers, we recently conducted a thorough review of the criteria for our Fellow grade to ensure it’s representative of the full breadth of experience of directors from across all sectors. I’d like to thank our Division Councillors for their assistance with the review and we’ve now introduced a new application process to achieve the FAICD post-nominal.

The highly regarded Fellow grade is granted to seasoned directors who have demonstrated their directorship expertise throughout their leadership career and contributed significantly to governance in Australia. It recognises an exemplary level of governance expertise, and your efforts to give back to the director community to help build a lasting legacy for future leaders.

I encourage those of you who meet the criteria to consider applying for the FAICD and gain this recognition for your career achievements.

This article first appeared under the headline 'From the CEO' in the June 2025 issue of Company Director magazine.