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ROTARY DISTRICT 9520 Amendments to Club Constitutions and Bylaws
Following the 2004 Rotary International Council on Legislation, revised standard Rotary Club Constitutions and Bylaws have been available on the RI website since December, 2004. Every Rotary Club is required to adopt the Club Constitution and should also adopt revised Club Bylaws. Materials have been prepared by the District to assist clubs to undertake this task. It is highly desirable that all clubs attend to this matter this year.
For clubs in South Australia, the Office of Business and Consumer Affairs has approved the revised documents (as submitted by one club), provided the Bylaws include the additional article 17 referred to below. Please note that no legal advice has been obtained or is provided in this document. If a club wants legal advice it should seek it independently.
1. Constitution The only amendments the club can make to the standard Rotary club constitution are the name and/or the locality of the club and then only subject to approval by the Board of Rotary International. If the club does not wish to modify either, no further amendment is required, but the club must adopt the revised constitution (to retain membership in RI) and report that to the relevant government agency for incorporated bodies. Of particular note is the substantially revamped Article 15 on Arbitration and Mediation.
2. Bylaws The club can (and may have in the past) amend(ed) the standard club bylaws approved by RI, provided such amendments are not in conflict with the constitution and bylaws of RI and the constitution of the Club.
In the proposed new club bylaws a club has much more freedom to determine for itself what committee structure it would prefer to operate under, as provided for in new bylaw 9, but subject to the provisions of bylaw 8 regarding participation in the four avenues of service. RI would like clubs to give particular attention to the matters listed as worthy of committee focus, eg Membership, Club Public Relations, Club Administration, Service Projects (but more than one committee in larger clubs) and The Rotary Foundation. A club may seek assistance from their Assistant Governor in regard to appropriate committee structures.
A new article 17 on Compliance with State Law has been added to meet the minimum requirements of the Act in South Australia – Victoria and New South Wales have similar requirements obtainable from their websites below, or contact Group 1 AG Max Robinson.
3. Procedure The following documents are available on this website to assist clubs to update their Constitution and Bylaws – all documents are in Microsoft Word format to facilitate amendments to meet club requirements (but do NOT change anything in the constitution except in articles 2 and 3). Add to or vary the Bylaws and Club Meeting Notice to give effect to any club-specific variations of the Bylaws. Click on the document name to view the document. Right click and save-as to download.
Obligations of an Incorporated Association:
A copy of any revised Constitution and Bylaws of an incorporated association must be lodged with the relevant state authority (the Office of Business and Consumer Affairs in South Australia), and the appropriate fees paid, within one month of the date of amendment. (cost $45.50 in SA). Check on other requirements, fees etc at the appropriate office or website
In South Australia go to: www.ocba.sa.gov.au and then click on Associations under For Business or on Forms under Corporate Info. Form 6 must be completed and instructions followed to lodge the new Club Constitution and ByLaws. Ensure the club name is the same as recorded on the Certificate of Registration as an association.
In Victoria go to: www.consumer.vic.gov.au and then click on Business Names and Business Structures and then on Associations.
In New South Wales go to: www.fairtrading.nsw.com.au/business/associations and then click on Legislation and Forms (on left side of screen).
For the District Management Committee, D9520
Robert S. Northcote District Governor Elect 27 September, 2005
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