Chair / President

The role of the chair is to provide the principle leadership and responsibility for the
organisation’s administration. At the operational level, the chair is responsible for
facilitating and ensuring efficient and effective committee meetings. A chairperson should:

• be informed of all organisation activities
• be aware of future direction
• have a good working knowledge of committee constitution, rules and duties of the office holders
• ensure that planning and budgeting for the future is carried out in accordance with the wishes of the members
• represent the committee in other forums

Vice Chair / Vice President

The vice chair’s role shadows that of the chair. The vice chair should be able to stand in
for the chair at short notice.

Secretary

The secretary is the primary administration officer of the committee and provides the links
between the committee, members and outside agencies. The secretary should be a good
communicator, maintain confidentiality on relevant matters and have the ability to delegate
tasks and supervise others. The secretary’s tasks are to prepare agendas, ensure
minutes are distributed, receive and disseminate correspondence to and from the club etc.

Treasurer

The treasurer is the chief financial management officer of the organisation. The
treasurer’s tasks include the preparation of annual budgets, planning for the organisation’s
financial future and monitoring the organisation’s revenue (income) and expenditure. It is
desirable that the treasurer is well organised, possess a level of financial expertise and is
aware of the information required for annual reporting. (See Finance Section for further
assistance.)

Successful meetings are the secret of a successful committee. The ability to engage the
committee members and ensure that their valuable time is well utilised, is a skill only
achieved by considerable planning.

Agenda
The agenda provides the meeting framework. It highlights issues to be addressed and
notes ongoing administrative reports to be presented to the committee. The agenda
should be prepared and disseminated early to ensure that committee members have
adequate preparation time.

Minutes
Minutes provide the historical record of committee actions and discussions. Their accurate
noting is essential in providing the rationale for future decision-making. Minutes are
normally taken by the club secretary and later distributed to members.

Motions
A motion is a positive statement of action put forward by a committee member. A motion
is needed whenever the committee is:

• deciding to spend money in a particular way
• adopting a policy about the way it will deal with a topic or issue
• making a decision of a lasting nature

The motion must be proposed and seconded and then discussed by the committee. A
vote is carried out to decide if the motion is accepted or defeated.

Quorum
This refers to the minimum number of committee members required to hold a meeting. The
quorum will be defined in the committee’s terms of reference or constitution.

AGM
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a meeting for all club / association members and is
normally held every 12 months. The aim of the meeting is to report on the activities of the
club during that period and to elect office bearers for the forthcoming 12 months.

Elections
The term of committee members is defined in the committee constitution. The election
process is usually tied into the AGM process where committee members step down from
their positions and nominations are called for. Many committee constitutions will define
where the membership is to be drawn from and committees may choose to “head hunt”
new committee members where specialist skills are required.

Special Meetings
The purpose of a special meeting other than the AGM, is to address a pressing issue,
which requires committee action prior to the next scheduled meeting.