Comments from auDA

["Chris Disspain" <ceo@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings,

I make the following comments on behalf of auDA the ccTLD manager of the 
Australian country code. My apologies for the lateness of the posting.

I am delighted to see a formal and comprehensive review of the Nominating 
Committee (NomCom) is planned.

I acknowledge that the draft terms of reference set out to achieve the scope 
of the review as defined by the bylaws. However, it is critical, in my view, 
that the review also consider what purpose in the ICANN structure the NomCom 
is supposed to fulfil. The current purpose of the NomCom is far from clear 
and I am not aware of a definitive explanation of it. The draft Terms of 
Reference evidence this by stating that the purpose 'has been described as 
follows'.

As to the specific 'key questions' set out in the Terms of Reference I echo 
some of the points raised by Lesley Cowley in the Nominet submission. There 
is a danger that the more specific or detailed the key questions are the 
more limited the review will be. I would prefer to see a series of general 
headings setting out the current factual situation, followed by some example 
topics/questions without suggested solutions. Many of the questions already 
meet this criteria but a number of them do not.

For example question 5 could be amended to ask 'Is the provision of a slate 
of candidates by the NomCom effective in achieving its purpose and are there 
other approaches that the NomCom could take that would be equally or more 
effective?' and question 31 which asks 'What is the ultimate aim of 
outreach, more candidates or quality candidates, candidates known in the 
ICANN community versus "new blood"?', could be amended to 'What is the 
ultimate aim of outreach?'.

Regards,
Chris Disspain
CEO - auDA
Australia's Domain Name Administrator