Constitution - LSV Club Support Manual

The Club Constitution contains rules and procedures that normally can only be changed by an AGM. For this reason, the constitution must be kept basically simple and should contain very little, other than the normal unchanging elements of the Club.

Club Regulations (sometimes called the rules or by-laws) have more of an operational focus and are easier to change, usually through a Club Executive or Management Meeting.

Specific elements of Club policy and procedure that are more likely to change are usually written into Club regulations, policies, or by-laws, as these can be altered more easily, usually through an Executive/Management Meeting.

The Constitution should run concurrently with the LSV and SLSA Constitutions. Clubs should not have conflicting rules.

a) References for inclusion

The following should be referred to in your Club Constitution, with a link to Surf Life Saving Australia Regulations:

Membership Categories and their powers – to be the same as SLSA.
Grievance Procedures
Judiciary Matters
Membership Clearance and Transfer
Patrol Obligation
Dual Membership
Restriction on Membership

Please refer to the suggested Model Rules (or Club Constitution template) below.

b) Constitutional Changes

The main steps to changing the rules of an association are to:

determine what amendments are going to be made;
draft a new copy of the rules and ensure the amendments comply with the Act;
send notice to all members stating in full all proposed special resolutions to be voted on at a general meeting;
convene general meeting of members to consider the amendments;
pass the amendments by one or more special resolutions; and
notify CAV / ACNC of the changes within one month of the meeting.

Following the acceptance of any constitutional changes, the updated/new Constitution should be lodged with:

Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)
Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission (ACNC)
LSV

Please refer to the LSV “Governance Guide to Changing Constitutions” for additional details (link included in references below).

c) Regulations

The rules, procedures and guidelines that allow your Club to function on a day-to-day basis are the Regulations. The Regulations should complement the Constitution and be specific to your Club.

(i) What constitutes a regulation?

Information that does not form part of the Constitution should be placed in the Regulations. Club Regulations must be consistent with the Constitution and any policy directives of the Club Board/Management. A copy of the Regulations should be updated regularly by the Director of Administration.

Your Club may wish to group these into different categories for easy administration.
Possible categories for your Club Regulations may be:

Administration

Member recognition and Club awards
Duties of office bearers
Rules regarding standing committees
Standing orders at meetings

Beach Operations

Patrol rules and regulations
Board and ski rules and regulations
Surf boat rules and regulations
First aid rules and regulations
IRB rules and regulations
Beach vehicle rules and regulations

Competition

Club competition rules, including eligibility
Interclub competition, including selection committee

(ii) Altering Regulations

The procedure for changing your Club’s regulations should be simpler than the changing of the Constitution, as they are everyday rules that are likely to change regularly. The method of altering should be clearly stated in terms of notice given, Executive/Management or General Meetings being popular forums for amendments.

d) Policy Statement

Policy statements are concise descriptions of whole policies. Policies should be specific to an issue or area of concern and should be readily available to all members. Policies are rules by which members should abide and should run concurrently with the policies and SOP’s established by LSV and SLSA.