Australian Board Portal for Board & Committee Members
You have a governance obligation to turn up prepared, ask the right questions, and follow through on your commitments. Our Cat Herder puts everything you need in one place so you can focus on the work that matters at the table.
Board packs and meeting papers
Every paper for every meeting, organised by agenda item, accessible from your laptop, tablet, or phone. No more hunting through email for the latest version of the treasurer's report.
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Papers sit next to the agenda item they relate to
The finance report is attached to the finance item. The CEO update is attached to the operations item. Open the board pack and everything is where you would expect it. No separate email with six attachments and a cover note explaining which document goes with which item.
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One-click consolidated PDF
Prefer to read the whole pack in one go? One click produces a single PDF with every paper in agenda order and a clickable table of contents. Print it or scroll through it on screen — either way, it beats opening a dozen files.
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Private notes on meeting papers
Jot down questions or observations while you read the board pack. Your notes are private, saved against the paper, and still there when you open it again at the meeting. Handy when you spot something on Tuesday evening and need to raise it on Thursday night.
Meeting preparation and participation
Know what is coming before you walk in. The agenda, time allocations, and supporting papers are published ahead of the meeting so you can actually prepare instead of skimming the board pack in the car park.
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Agenda with time allocations
Each agenda item shows how long the chair expects to spend on it. You can see at a glance which items are the meaty ones and where the board will want proper discussion. Useful for deciding where to focus your preparation time.
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Background papers built into the agenda
Each agenda item can have a background paper attached that explains the context and recommendation. You read the paper before the meeting and arrive knowing what you are being asked to decide and why.
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Everything through one link
When the secretary sends out the board pack, the link takes you straight to the portal where the agenda and papers are waiting. No attachments to download, no shared drive to navigate. You always have the latest version.
Actions and accountability
If you put your hand up for something at the meeting, it gets recorded. Your personal dashboard shows what you owe and when it is due. No forgotten commitments.
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Personal action dashboard
Log in and see your open actions front and centre. Each one shows the due date, which meeting it came from, and any notes. You can check what you owe without waiting for the secretary to send a list around.
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Outstanding actions carry forward
Anything not marked done rolls onto the next meeting's agenda under Matters Arising. It stays visible until it is closed off. If your board meets every two months, this is the difference between things getting done and things quietly disappearing.
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Action status and comments
Update the status of your actions between meetings and add a comment if something is delayed or needs input from someone else. The chair and secretary can see progress without having to chase you by email.
Governance and compliance
Board members have legal duties under the Corporations Act, ACNC governance standards, and state Associations Incorporation Acts. Our Cat Herder puts your conflict of interest declarations, governance documents, and decision audit trail in one place instead of scattered across email and shared drives.
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Governance document library
Your constitution, rules of association, policies, and strategic plan live in a central document library with folder-level permissions. When you need to check the quorum rules or the delegation policy mid-meeting, you find it yourself instead of asking the secretary to dig it out.
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Decision audit trail
Every resolution, vote, and circular resolution is recorded with timestamps. Minutes are locked after sign-off and can only be unlocked with a full change log. If a regulator or member asks how a decision was made, you can point them to the exact minute, the vote count, and who was in the room.
“OCH has provided us with better document control and greater transparency by allowing board members easy access to important documents, minutes and agendas. The agenda, minute taking and action setting function is excellent and allows for timely recording and dispatch of information.”
Everything else a board member needs
Voting, discussions, onboarding, and security
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- Circular resolutions between meetings
- When a decision cannot wait until the next meeting, the secretary sends a circular resolution through the portal. You vote with one click, the system records your response, and non-voters get a reminder before the deadline.
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- Board discussion threads
- Raise a question or flag an issue between meetings without starting a messy email chain. Discussion groups keep the conversation visible to the right people and searchable later when someone needs to find out what was said.
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- New member onboarding
- Joining a board mid-term? The portal gives you access to past meeting minutes, policies, and the action register so you can get up to speed before your first meeting. You can acknowledge key governance documents through the decisions feature.
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- Multiple committees in one portal
- If you sit on the main board and a subcommittee, both run from the same portal. Each group has its own meetings and access controls. You see the boards you belong to and nothing else, unless permissions say otherwise.
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- Works on phones and tablets
- Review papers on the train, check your actions from your phone, or pull up a policy document on a tablet mid-meeting. It works in any modern browser — no app to install.
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- Security and Australian data hosting
- Board papers often contain sensitive financial and personnel information. All data is hosted on AWS in Sydney, penetration tested annually. Your organisation owns its data and can export it at any time.
Action register
Agenda builder
Discussion groups
Australian-built for Australian boards
Why Australian board members choose Our Cat Herder
- Your board papers stay in Australia. Hosted on AWS in Sydney. Board papers with sensitive financial or personnel information never leave the country.
- Built around Australian governance. Minutes sign-off, decision audit trails, and conflict of interest tracking work the way the Corporations Act, ACNC standards, and Associations Incorporation Acts expect.
- No per-user fees. Boards grow and shrink. Committee members rotate. You should not pay more because you added two people to a subcommittee. Unlimited users, unlimited meetings, unlimited subcommittees.
- 45-day free trial, no credit card. Set up a portal in under five minutes and try it with your actual board. Full access to every feature during the trial, with the same support you get as a paying customer.
- Simple enough for volunteer boards. Most of our customers are NFPs and associations where board members are volunteers. The portal is designed to be picked up without training, so nobody has an excuse not to use it.
Ready to be a better prepared board member? Start your free 45-day trial.
Full access to all features. No credit card required. Set up in under 5 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- What should a board member look for in a board portal?
- You want your board pack and meeting papers accessible from any device so you can actually prepare. You want an action register that tracks what you committed to and nudges you before the next meeting. And you want governance documents — your constitution, policies, conflict of interest declarations — somewhere you can find them without emailing the secretary. Our Cat Herder does all of that, plus circular resolutions, discussion groups, and attendance tracking.
- How do I access board packs before meetings?
- When the secretary sends out the board pack, the link takes you straight into the portal. The upcoming meeting is on your dashboard with the agenda and all attached papers. You can read them online, download the consolidated PDF, or open individual documents. Everything is organised by agenda item, so you always know which paper relates to which discussion.
- Can I use Our Cat Herder on my phone or tablet?
- Yes. The portal works in any modern browser on phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. There is no app to install. You can read the board pack on the train, check your actions from your phone, or pull up the agenda on a tablet at the meeting. The layout adjusts to your screen size.
- How does a board portal help with governance obligations?
- You have a duty to act with care and diligence, which starts with actually reading the papers and making informed decisions. A portal puts the meeting materials, voting, and governance documents where you can get to them. The audit trail of decisions and signed-off minutes also helps if the ACNC or a regulator ever asks how a decision was made.
- Is Our Cat Herder suitable for volunteer board members?
- That is who it was built for. Most of our customers are NFPs, incorporated associations, and registered charities where board members volunteer their time. The portal is designed to be picked up without training. Pricing has no per-user fees, so adding a new committee member does not cost the organisation anything extra. You get a 45-day free trial with full access to every feature.
Resources for board members
Guides and templates to help you prepare for meetings and meet your governance obligations.
Guide
Managing Conflicts of Interest in Non-Profits
How to identify, declare, and manage conflicts of interest on your board. Covers actual, potential, and perceived conflicts.
Guide
Effective Board Packs: The Complete Guide
What should be in a board pack, how to structure it, and how to make sure members actually read it before the meeting.
Template
Free Consent Agenda Template
Bundle routine items into one motion so the board can spend its time on the decisions that actually need discussion.
Template
Free Action Register Template
Track every action item from every meeting with columns for assignee, due date, status, and notes. Word format.