Constitution

Each SLSC has its own ‘SLSC Constitution’, which governs the make-up of the CMT and the SLSC’s decision-making processes.

Only at an Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting can the SLSC Constitution change. For this reason, the Constitution in organisations such as SLSCs should be kept relatively simple. It should contain only the usual unchanging elements of the SLSC. It should not extend to cover operational aspects of the SLSC. These are best covered by Regulations or Policies which the Board of Directors can vary at their discretion without going to a full general meeting of the club. This allows for more flexibility and a contemporary approach to club management. SLSNSW has produced a SLSC Constitution Template for SLSCs to use to make life easier for SLS members. This template is reflective of the requirements of the Act as well as SLSNSW’s own Constitution.

The SLSC’s Constitution must be consistent with the SLSNSW and SLSA Constitutions. The SLSC must have aligned purposes. It cannot have conflicting rules such as minimum ages, membership categories etc. SLSC members should consult the current SLSNSW Constitution and regulations and Club Constitution template before writing or changing an SLSC Constitution.

Suppose your SLSC needs to make changes to the Constitution to support new best practice or improve governance structures. In that case, the SLSC Public Officer must lodge any updated or new Constitution within 28 days of its approval date to the following organisations for the changes to take effect:

• NSW Fair Trading
• Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
• SLSNSW
• Their local SLSNSW branch

!SLSCs must also advise NSW Fair Trading of any change to their Public Officer within 28 days of a change of individual.

*CMT members should refer to the” Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission”:https://www.acnc.gov.au/tools/topic-guides/constitution and “Fair Trading NSW”:https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/associations-and-co-operatives/associations/starting-an-association/about-the-constitution to learn more about the change process during any time of constitutional change.