BCCT Constitution Changes

Changes to NSW legislation make some changes to our constitution necessary.  The following changes will be proposed to the AGM for membership approval.

Rule	Change
1.1 (c) and (d)	change to read: (c) ‘the Act’ means the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (d) ‘the Regulation’ means the Associations Incorporation Regulation 2010
6	Change the existing rule to become Rule 6.1 and then at its conclusion add: 6.2 A member may appeal to the Trust in general meeting against any decision of the Committee to discipline that member within 7 days after notice of a resolution is served on the member, by lodging with the secretary a notice to that effect. 6.3 The notice may, but need not, be accompanied by a statement of the grounds on which the member intends to rely for the purposes of the appeal. 6.4 On receipt of a notice from a member under subclause 6.2 the secretary must notify the committee which is to convene a general meeting of the Trust to be held within 28 days after the date on which the secretary received the notice. 6.5 At a general meeting of the Trust convened under subclause 6.4 (a) no other business other than the question of the appeal is to be transacted, and (b) the committee and the member must be given the opportunity to state their respective cases orally or in writing, or both, and c) the members present are to vote by secret ballot on the question of whether the resolution should be confirmed or revoked. 6.6 The appeal is to be determined by a simple majority of votes cast by members of the Trust. Rule 6A 6.1 A dispute between a member and another member (in their capacity as members) of the Trust, or a dispute between a member or members and the association, are to be referred to a community justice centre for mediation under the Community Justice Centres Act 1983. (2) If a dispute is not resolved by mediation within 3 months of the referral to a community justice centre, the dispute is to be referred to arbitration (3) The Commercial Arbitration Act 1984 applies to any such dispute referred to arbitration.
13.5	Change to read: 13.5 No postal or proxy votes shall be allowed at any general meeting of the Trust.
14.1	Change to read: 14.1 The Trust may effect and maintain insurance.
16	Add at the end of the existing Rule:  Rule 16A – Funds – Financial Year The financial year of the Trust is each period of 12 months commencing on 1 January and ending on the following 30 December.
17	Change to read: 17. Except as otherwise provided by these rules, (a) the secretary shall keep all minutes and correspondence as held by the secretary and (b) the public officer shall keep all other records, books and other documents relating to the Trust in his or her custody, or under his or her control.
19	Change to read: 19. The statement of objects and rules may be changed by special resolution. A special resolution may only be passed in accordance with section 39 of the Act.

Discussion on other proposed changes to the constitution will be deferred to a later time.