At the 4th meeting, it was decided that the Education Committee and
Organisation Group needed to meet to discuss their individual issues
before we had another meeting. Those meetings were supposed to happen
in the last two weeks. So, now I call on the people on both committees
- when shall we meet?
Education Committee:
pfctdayelise
Nathan Carter
Confusing Manifestation
bainer
Organisation Group:
EuropracBHIT
Angela
Cartman02au
bainer
Sarah Ewart
For the EC people, I'm good on weekends at most times, weekdays at
nights are mostly ok.
CM
Hi WMA,
Notwithstanding questions on the legality of internet meetings for
associations incorporated in the state of NSW, I've started on a draft
constitution based on the model rules of the state of NSW. It does
not yet provide for internet meetings. I will be away for a week from
tomorrow night, but I hope to work on that soon.
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Australia/Draft_Constitution_based…
-John
Just a reminder - the 4th IRC meeting about Wikimedia Australia is
planned for this Sunday at 7pm (AEST).
The meeting, which ought to be under two hours, will take place in the
#wikimedia-au IRC channel on freenode. If you don't have an IRC
client, you can access the channel via http://irc.wikia.com/wp/
Please add to the draft agenda at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Australia/Meeting_4
Angela.
Hi,
I just had an idea about how we could go about drafting the final
constitution. To be able to draft the constitution effectively, we
need to head in a common direction on the drafting process and that
common direction can be achieved by way of first stating a number of
guiding principles.
The guiding principles I'd like to put forward are:
* Functional - it needs to be able to function for the next few years
and allow for the evolution of the constitution for the years beyond
that.
* Minimal - it needs to avoid anything that can't be added later.
* Specific - it needs to rule out the flexibility to operate in
alternative ways to avoid unintended consequences.
* Coverage - it needs to cover every aspect required by the model
rules/legislation.
* Concrete - it needs to be framed for a specific state.
The reason I put forward these principles is because:
* The constitution can be drafted in a more timely manner. We won't
all be pulling in different directions.
* The constitution can be easily verified to function as intended.
* The constitution would not prematurely decide the direction the
organisation will take. A lot of these decisions can be made
post-incorporation as demand for them arises.
More information here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Australia/Constitution_planning
-John
The /Associations Incorporation Act 1984/ (the Act) does not place any
restrictions on how meetings of an incorproated association are held.
The rules of an incorporated association should deal with such matters.
You may wish to obtain legal advce on whether internet or
teleconferencing is considered to constitute a meeting.
However, it should be noted in the case of passing a special resolution,
the manner set out in Section 5 of the Act specifies that such a
resolution is passed by a majority comprising three-quarters of such
members entitled to vote, who vote *in person,* or by proxy, *at a
general meeting* etc... (copy attached). Once again you may wish to
obtain legal advice as to whether "in person" could apply to a
teleconference or internet "meeting".
For your information there is set of information sheets dealing with a
variety of matters realating to incorproated associations on our
website:
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/business/associations/aboutincorproatedas…
I note you intend to have members from all over Australia. It is
suggested that you access the following website to determine, once the
body is incorporated, if it needs to apply for registration as a
"Registrable Australian Body" with the Australian Securities and
Investment Commission.
http://www.asc.gov.au/asic/ASIC_PUB.NSF/byid/CA256AF60076AF11CA256AF60077FC…
Hoping this information is of assistance.
Hi all,
I have just been working on the rules again and have been thinking about
how we can make general meetings inclusive. I would like to see that all
meetings held in person be also broadcast via the Internet for those who
can not attend where they can also vote, etc but this could be
impractical (at least in the short term).
Business at a general meeting should be specified well in advance of the
meeting so that members can do their own research and generally think
about their position before the meeting. This brings us to another
issue - should we allow proxy votes or should we allow mail votes for
people who can not be there in person.
I am sure we all understand proxy votes, but mail voting can occur in
many ways. The idea I had is this:
1) The committee endorses a returning officer to look after the mail
voting system. This person may vote but only by the mail voting
procedure, whether or not they will be at the meeting.
2) The secretary gives notice of the general meeting, business to be
transacted and the procedure for mail voting to each and every member
well in advance of the meeting.
3) Those who wish to cast a vote via mail must send their votes to the
returning officer no more than 3 days before the meeting.
4) The returning officer counts the ballots. The results are then
securely recorded and are only viewable by the chairperson of the
meeting when the vote is being conducted.
5) The actual ballots are stored somehow should disputes arise
Regardsm
Nathan Carter.
Dear all,
Because I believe in consensus decision making, and because I didn't
want to frustrate the list with lots of tiny ammendments, I decided to
draft an alternative constitution based on consensus decision making
to demonstrate what it might look like:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Australia/Draft_Constitution_based…
I take the idea of consensus decision making seriously because I've
seen for myself that it works. A large organisation built upon
consensus decision making exists. It continues to grow, and
effectively pursues its aims. When writing this constitution, I drew
inspiration from the constitution of such an organisation.
-John
http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Australia%2FDraft_Rul…
I have made some changes to the draft rules, but have hit my head
against a brick wall with the voting procedures.
Are we having open voting (that is everyone else can see what everyone
is doing - like a show of hands) or secret ballots?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Cheers,
Nathan.