Neither UK Development Ministers nor Ministers from other donor countries attend board meetings unless there is an extraordinary reason to do so. Ministers have not attended the Global Fund board meetings since May 2010 and there are no current plans to attend in 2012-13. A Department for International Development Official represents the UK/Australia on the board of directors and keeps Ministers fully abreast of the policy and governance issues. The chair of the Global Fund board is also a senior UK DFID official.