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Chapter 3: Structure12.Composition Of The ACT Greens !!!12.1The ACT Greens shall operate within the following forums: 12.1.1General Meeting; 12.1.2Special General Meeting 12.1.3Annual General Meeting; 12.1.4Coordinating Group; 12.1.5Working Groups. 12.2The ACT Greens may hold other non-decision-making meetings as required for such purposes as discussion of issues and public outreach. 13.General Meeting !!!13.1A General Meeting shall be held at least once every 2 months. 13.2A General Meeting may be called by a General Meeting, the Coordinating Group or the Quick Decision Making Group. 13.3Members shall be given at least seven days notice of a General Meeting. 13.3.1If extraordinary circumstances require decisions by the Party to be made urgently, a General Meeting may be called with shorter notice, but attempts should be made to notify all members of the meeting. 13.4A quorum for a General Meeting shall consist of whichever is the lesser of 10% of the membership of the Party or 10 members. 13.4.1The meeting will not be cancelled for lack of a quorum until at least 20 minutes have elapsed since the advertised starting time. 13.5The General Meeting is empowered to: 13.5.1make decisions regarding the strategies and activities of the Party within the bounds of this Constitution, the Charter of the Australian Greens, and the Party’s policies; 13.5.2ratify or overturn any decisions made by the Coordinating Group; 13.5.3establish Working Groups in accordance with section 17; 13.5.4call a Special General Meeting and delegate specific decision-making powers to this meeting; 13.5.5appoint delegates to national Working Groups as requested by the Australian Greens 13.5.6create temporary offices that are not already defined in this Constitution and elect an officebearer; 13.5.7approve the employment of persons by the ACT Greens and the terms and conditions of this. employment; 13.5.8appoint at least 3 members who are authorised to sign cheques on behalf of the ACT Greens; 13.5.9appoint at least three members who are authorised to attest the fixing of the common seal on behalf of the ACT Greens; 13.5.10approve expenditure of Party funds either to meet specific costs or as a budget for a particular project, purpose or period; 13.5.11invite people to address the Meeting who are not members of the Greens. 14.Special General Meeting !!!14.1A Special General Meeting may be called for in either of the following ways: 14.1.1a resolution agreed to by a General Meeting or Coordinating Group meeting; 14.1.2a petition signed by the lesser of 20 members or 20% of the membership. 14.2At least 21 days notice of the meeting shall be given to members unless an urgent situation, as decided by the Coordinating Group or Quick Decision Making Group, demands shorter notification time. The notice shall include details of all of the business of the meeting that deal with decisions that only a Special General Meeting can take. 14.3In addition to the powers of a General Meeting, the Special General Meeting is empowered to: 14.3.1adopt policies of the ACT Greens; 14.3.2endorse candidates for elections; 14.3.3suspend office-bearers and appoint interim office-bearers until the next Annual General Meeting; 14.3.4ratify or overturn any decision made by a General Meeting; 14.3.5expel members in accordance with section 11;
14.4A quorum for the Meeting shall consist of whichever is the lesser of 20% of the membership of the Party or 20 members. 14.4.1If the quorum for a Special General Meeting is not present, but there are sufficient members present to constitute a quorum for an ordinary General Meeting, then the meeting may proceed as an ordinary General Meeting, that is without the powers that are limited to a Special General Meeting. Such powers will become available to the meeting if the required quorum is reached before the meeting is closed. 14.4.2The meeting will not be cancelled for lack of a quorum to conduct the business of an ordinary General Meeting until at least 20 minutes have elapsed since the advertised start of the meeting. 15.Annual General Meeting !!!15.1An Annual General Meeting shall be held not more than two months after the close of the financial year. 15.2At least 21 days notice of the meeting shall be given to members. The notice shall include details of the business to be discussed at the Meeting and any decisions that need to be made at the Meeting. 15.3In addition to the powers of a General Meeting, the Annual General Meeting is empowered to: 15.3.1receive the Annual Report by the Convenor; 15.3.2receive the audited financial statements for the previous year by the Treasurer; 15.3.3elect Office-Bearers for the period until the next Annual General Meeting; 15.3.4elect the Registered Officer for the period until the next Annual General Meeting; 15.3.5elect the Public Officer for the period until the next Annual General Meeting; 15.3.6 elect spokespersons for the period until the next Annual General Meeting. 15.3.7determine the schedule of membership fees; 15.3.8determine the minimum donation amount that requires acceptance by a General Meeting; 15.3.9determine the minimum donation amount that may be publicly disclosed. 15.4A quorum for the Meeting shall consist of whichever is the lesser of 20% of the membership of the Party or 20 members. 15.5Notwithstanding clause 15.1, if a quorum is not present at the Annual General Meeting as called, the Meeting shall be adjourned by as near as practicable to one calendar month, with the exact date, time and venue determined by the Quick Decision Making Group and notified to members at least 14 days prior to the resumed meeting 16.Coordinating Group !!!16.1The Coordinating Group shall organise and coordinate the day-to-day activities and administration of the Party in order to implement decisions taken by previous General Meetings and to undertake the tasks necessary to implement this Constitution. 16.2The Coordinating Group shall consist of all office-bearers of the Party, representatives of Working Groups, endorsed candidates, and any member who wishes to participate. 16.3The Coordinating Group shall meet at least once every 2 months.
17.Working Groups !!!17.1A General Meeting may establish Working Groups for specific purposes and in so doing shall determine their terms of reference and duration. 17.2Working Groups may also be delegated specific decision-making powers by a General Meeting, and shall not make any decisions outside of this delegation that commit the ACT Greens as a whole. 17.3Except in situations where clause 17.4 applies, an interim convenor to establish a Working Group shall be elected by the General Meeting. Once a Working Group is established, the Group may elect its own convenor. Participation in Working Groups is open to all members. 17.4In special circumstances, a General meeting may determine the membership of a Working Group and elect its convenor. In this case, the membership of the Working Group and its convenor shall only be changed by a decision of a General Meeting. Other members may attend Working Group meetings and, with the consent of the Group, participate in its discussions. 17.5Working Groups shall decide on their own meeting times and places. 18.Office-Bearers !!!18.1The Office-Bearers of the ACT Greens shall be the Convenor, Deputy Convenor, Secretary, Minute Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Spokespersons, the Principal Delegate to meetings of the Australian Greens ie National Conferences and Council Meetings, plus a panel of up to 5 Alternative Delegates to meetings of the Australian Greens. 18.2Office-bearers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting by consensus, or failing consensus, be elected by secret ballot using the optional preferential voting system. 18.3If approved by an Annual General Meeting, office-bearers may hold more than one office. 18.4Office-Bearers who have served two consecutive terms in the same position shall not be eligible for a third consecutive term in the same position. Office-bearers who have served three consecutive terms in any position shall not be eligible for re-election to any position at the next election, but shall be eligible for subsequent elections. These provisions can be waived if there is a consensus of an Annual General Meeting to do so. 18.5Members nominated to be office-bearers must have consented in writing or in person to stand. 18.6From time to time other office bearers may be appointed by a General Meeting to fill temporary offices. The need for such offices shall be reviewed at the Annual General Meeting and, if still necessary, the Annual General Meeting shall elect new office-bearers. 18.7Office-bearers may be suspended by a Special General Meeting if they are unable or refuse to fulfil their designated responsibilities. If an office-bearer is suspended or resigns from the position in writing or ceases to be a member of the Party, a Special General Meeting shall appoint an interim office-bearer until the next Annual General Meeting. 18.8Office-bearers shall keep records of all written material relevant to their office and transfer all records to the incoming office-bearer when a change of office occurs. 18.9A General Meeting may decide to give office-bearers additional duties to those set out in this Constitution. 19.Affirmative Action !!!19.1The ACT Greens are committed to men and women having equal status within the Party and the wider community, and shall practice affirmative action. The ACT Greens shall seek equal representation of women and men in elected offices or, if the total number of offices is an uneven number, to have a maximum gender imbalance of one. 19.2If sufficient numbers of either gender are not proposed or elected to fill offices at an Annual or Special General Meeting, the meeting must agree to waive this provision before confirming the acceptance of all elected office-bearers. 20. Convenor !!!20.1 The duties of the Party Convenor comprise: 20.1.1the overall coordination of the activities of the Party; 20.1.2ensuring that the decisions of these meetings are acted upon; 20.1.3reporting on quick decisions that are made, as set out in section 31; 20.1.4presenting an annual report to the Annual General Meeting. 21.Deputy Convenor !!!21.1The Duties of the Deputy Convenor are to assist the Convenor in her/ his duties and to act as Convenor or for other office-bearers during temporary absences. If the Convenor resigns from the office or is suspended, the Deputy Convenor shall act as Convenor until a new Convenor is elected. 22.Secretary !!!22.1The duties of the Secretary comprise: 22.1.1preparing notices of all meetings of the ACT Greens for distribution in good time to all members; 22.1.2coordinating the correspondence of the ACT Greens and tabling correspondence at meetings as necessary; 22.1.3keeping a register of by-laws made under this Constitution. 22.1.4ensuring that items of business that need to be addressed by a General Meeting or Coordinating Group Meeting are placed on its agenda. 23.Minutes Secretary !!!23.1The duties of the Minutes Secretary are to keep a record of the agenda of General and Coordinating Group meetings, keep minutes of the proceedings of these meetings, and record the attendance of all persons present. 24.Membership Secretary !!!24.1The duty of the Membership Secretary is to maintain the Party register of members and associates, and a register of the skills and resources of all Party members, associates and supporters. 25.Treasurer !!!25.1The duties of the Treasurer comprise: 25.1.1receiving all monies paid to the ACT Greens, issuing receipts and depositing these monies in accounts as determined from time to time by the Coordinating Group; 25.1.2ensuring that money is paid out by the ACT Greens only in accordance with decisions taken by the ACT Greens and this Constitution; 25.1.3ensuring that all cheques are signed by two authorised members of the ACT Greens; 25.1.4the submission to the Annual General Meeting of a report, balance sheets and financial statement, and the submission of those particulars to the Coordinating Group, General Meeting and Auditor when requested; 25.1.5performing the duties of the Party Agent under the Commonwealth and ACT Electoral Acts. 26.Newsletter Editor !!!26.1The duties of the Newsletter Editor will be to produce and circulate a Newsletter to be published not less than 4 times a year at regular intervals. The Newsletter shall be the medium for communication amongst members for the purpose of information, notification of meetings and for encouraging open debate. 27.Spokespersons !!!27.1The following persons shall have general authority to make public statements to the media on behalf of the ACT Greens:
27.2Spokespersons may also be elected at General Meetings to make media statements on specific issues as directed by the General Meeting. 27.3Gender balance shall be sought if more then one spokesperson is appointed. 27.4Public statements shall be consistent with ACT Greens’ policies and decisions. 27.5If no ACT Greens’ policy or decision exists on an issue on which a Spokesperson wishes to make a public statement, then the Quick Decision Making Group shall be consulted for direction on the stance to be taken. 27.6If Spokespersons make public statements on behalf of the ACT Greens without prior consultation they must report on their statement to the Coordinating Group or a General Meeting at the first opportunity. 28.Delegates To Meetings And Working Groups Of The Australian Greens !!!28.1The duties of Delegates are to represent the views of the ACT Greens in those national bodies and to report back to the ACT Greens on the deliberations of the national bodies. 28.2Delegates shall seek instruction from ACT Greens members via General Meetings or via one or more specially-convened meetings that are open to all members, as to positions to be taken on issues to be decided by a National body. 28.3If time does not permit consultation as in clause 28.2 then the Coordinating Group or Quick Decision Making Group shall be consulted. 28.4When a meeting of the Australian Greens is convened the Principal Delegate and the Alternative Delegates will decide which of them shall attend the meeting. No more delegates shall be chosen than the number of delegates allowed by the Australian Greens, unless it is at no extra cost to the ACT Greens, except with the approval of a General Meeting. If there is no consensus amongst the Delegates as to who should attend then the Principal Delegate shall decide. 28.5If of the Principal Delegate and Alternative Delegates there are not sufficient persons available to meet the entitlement of the ACT Greens at a national meeting, then a General Meeting may appoint sufficient substitute delegates to satisfy the entitlement. 29.Returning Officer !!!29.1The duty of the Returning Officer is to conduct ballots in a proper manner as necessary to fulfil the provisions of this Constitution. The Returning Officer cannot be a candidate of any office for which a ballot is being held. If the Returning Officer is a candidate then a substitute Returning Officer shall be appointed by a General Meeting to conduct the ballot. |