When was the last time your club updated its constitution? Just like a game plan needs to change when the game changes, your club’s constitution might need an update as you grow or when new challenges pop up. Here are the basic steps to updating your constitution:
When it’s time to review your constitution, consider these elements
Legislation changes
Queensland’s Associations Incorporation Act 1981 was reviewed in 2020, resulting in the Associations Incorporation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020.
Does your constitution align with this latest version of the Act? Changes apply to your club even if they are not updated in your constitution – and it can be very confusing if you don’t know which clauses are out of date.
Keep up with the times
Older constitutions may stipulate that all payments over $100 must be made by cheque. If so, it’s time to replace that with a clause allowing payments by electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Some club’s constitutions now mandate gender balance on their management committee – resulting in increased female participation. This also ensures that a club meets eligibility criteria for some grants. Maybe your constitution still refers to ‘Chairman’ instead of ‘Chairperson’? Using inclusive terms within your constitution has a beneficial effect on the culture of your club, ensuring everyone feels welcome.
What about having members attend a general meeting using video conferencing? You can now do this even if your constitution doesn’t provide for it. Having it specified in your constitution reinforces that you are involving as many members as possible in the democratic running of your club.
Did you know? Some clubs struggle to fill all of the committee positions listed in their constitution. Did you know that the minimum number of committee members required by the Act is only three? Revising your constitution can remove the challenge of having to fill more committee positions than necessary.
Revision
Your constitution reflects your club’s purpose and character, which naturally evolves and changes over time. Keeping your constitution current is a practical and powerful way of identifying your club’s individuality, ethos and operations.
Did you know? Regularly reviewing your constitution is the best way to ensure that your foundation document truly represents your club’s current operations and future aspirations. The review process will often identify areas that are obsolete or reflect outdated thinking. Addressing these will help both improve your club’s governance and ensure that it remains appealing to prospective members.
UQ Sport reinvests all profits into services, facilities, and programs, and is supported by funding from the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) to benefit UQ students.
UQ Sport Ltd is a division of UQ Holdings.
