Constitution – Canberra Game Fishing Club

CANBERRA GAME FISHING CLUB INC

NAME

The Name of the Club shall be “Canberra Game Fishing Club Incorporated” abbreviated to “CGFC”.

OBJECTS

The objects for which the Club is formed are:

To participate in and promote the sport of Salt Water Game Fishing.
To endeavour to ensure that all members of this Club obey the rules as determined herein, both in the letter and spirit, and to maintain the highest ethical standards at all times.
To affiliate with the NSWGFA, GFAA and agree to fish in accordance with the rules of GFAA.
To keep and maintain records of Fish Captures and to submit to the proper authorities on behalf of Members, claims for record fish captures.
To promote and engage in competitions within our own Club and with other clubs etc.
To promote, enhance and advance the sport of Salt Water Game Fishing.
To provide social intercourse for the Members.
To assist members to become proficient in the following: navigation, seamanship, safety at sea and radio communications, either through expertise of our own members or by the appointment of advisors.
To promote the scientific study of salt water game fish species.

MEMBERSHIP
The Club shall consist of Honorary Life Members, Ordinary Members (male and female), Junior Members, Introductory Members and Honorary Members.
Every candidate for admission as a Member shall make written application on the Club’s application form, be proposed by one Member and seconded by another Member. The application form shall contain the candidate’s full name, address, phone number and any other such particulars as the Club may require.
Applications for membership shall be forwarded to the Secretary accompanied by the requisite monies being (a) a joining fee (b) annual subscription fee as set in the By-Laws.
The Committee shall have the right to refuse applications for membership and it shall not be required to give any reason for so doing.
The new member shall be provided with a copy of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Club and the GFAA Rules and Equipment Regulations.
The President, after consultation with the Vice Presidents, shall be empowered to grant Honorary Membership to a person or persons, for a period to be determined by the Committee, but not exceeding one month. Honorary Membership shall not carry the right to vote nor the right to any share or interest in the assets or property of the Club, nor shall an Honorary Member be eligible to win a Club trophy. The Club will pay the GFAA and NSWGFA affiliation fees, where necessary, of a person granted Honorary Membership.
The Committee may submit the name of any Member to an Annual General Meeting to receive by vote of simple majority, the honour of Honorary Life Member. A minimum requirement for such an honour shall be that the Member has rendered outstanding service to this Club and to the sport of Game Fishing for a minimum of seven years. Honorary Life Members shall have the right to attend all Committee, General and other Club Meetings and to have a voice and vote at all meetings. No more than one submission may be made in any one year.
Any Member may resign his membership by giving to the Secretary notice in writing to that effect. As amended at the AGM 19 July 1986.
Any Member whose actions are considered by the Committee as likely to bring discredit to the Club, the sport of Game Fishing or the Members of the Club, after the member has had the opportunity to be heard by the Committee in the member’s defence, then may be expelled by the Committee from the Club and shall be notified accordingly in writing.
Any Member who has been expelled by the Committee shall have the right to appeal to a Special General Meeting called for that purpose within 30 days.
A boat owner Club member shall be empowered to allow a potential new Club member to fish on his/her boat as an “Introductory Member” to enable that potential new member to “try game fishing”. This membership can be accessed by an individual on one occasion only. Introductory membership shall not carry the right to vote nor the right to any share or interest in the assets or property of the Club, nor shall an Honorary Member be eligible to win a Club trophy.

CLASSIFICATION OF MEMBERS
An Honorary Life Member shall be conferred by Annual General Meeting in terms of 3(g) of this Constitution. An Ordinary Member shall be a person sixteen (16) years or over. A Junior Member shall be a person fifteen (15) years or under. An Honorary Member shall be provided for in 3(f) of this Constitution.
Junior Members are not entitled to vote at meetings of the Club.

SUBSCRIPTION
Entrance fees, annual subscriptions and levies shall be as determined from time to time by the Committee.
Members whose fees and/or levies and/or other charges are three (3) months in arrears shall be deemed unfinancial and no longer Members of the Club, and shall be notified accordingly. Special extenuating circumstances may be left to the discretion of the Committee.
Notwithstanding the above, no member shall be allowed to cast his vote at any meeting unless his fees and/or levies and/or charges have been paid in full.
Any person ceasing to be a Member of the Club shall cease to have any right, title or interest in any assets of the Club.

MANAGEMENT
The entire management of the Club shall be entrusted to a Management Committee consisting of the President, two (2) Vice Presidents, previous past President, Secretary, Treasurer or Secretary/Treasurer, Assistant Secretary, all Honorary Life Members and usually not less than five (5) and not more than eight (8) ordinary Members of the Club, all of whom except Honorary Life Members, shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting in each year, and shall hold office until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.
The Committee shall not proceed to any business unless a quorum of five (5) Committee Members is in attendance.
The President, if present shall take the Chair at all meetings, both Committee and General, and if he/she is not present then a Vice President, if present shall take the Chair and if the President or a Vice President is not present at a meeting, or being present is unable or unwilling to preside, then a Chairman shall be elected by a resolution of the meeting.
Casual vacancies on the Committee or of any of the Offices of the Club may be filled by resolution of the Committee.
The Committee shall have power to appoint sub-committees for special purposes. All sub-committees must have a majority of members who are also members of the Management Committee.
The Committee is empowered to make, alter and revoke By-Laws consistent with the Constitution. All such By-Laws until revoked shall be binding on all Members of the Club as if they were contained in the Constitution.
A meeting of the Committee shall be held every three (3) months. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Committee meetings may be waived providing that no two (2) consecutive Committee meetings are so waived. Special Committee Meetings shall be held as and when required by the President and Secretary, or by any four (4) other Committee Members. All meetings of the Committee shall be convened by notice to be given to Members by the Secretary at least seven (7) clear days before such meeting.
A Committee member may resign from office upon giving fourteen (14) days notice in writing to the Secretary of his/her intention to do so. Such resignation shall take effect upon expiration of such notice or its earlier acceptance by the Committee.
The office of a Committee Member shall be vacated :
- If he/she becomes bankrupt or suspend payment or compound with his creditors or convicted of a felony.
- If he/she is found lunatic or becomes of unsound mind or incapable of performing his/her duties.
- If he/she ceases to become a Member of the Club
- If he/she is absent from the meetings of the Committee during a continuous period of six (6) calendar months without special leave of absence from the Committee and the Committee resolve that his/her office is vacated.
- If he/she by notice in writing resigns his/her appointment.
The President may not over rule the Committee.
The procedure to be followed at Committee meetings is apologies, minutes of previous meeting, business arising from the minutes, Treasurers report, correspondence, business arising from correspondence and general business.

DUTIES OF OFFICE BEARERS
The President shall direct the executives in all matters appertaining to the well being of the Club. He/she shall be the senior executive officer and subject to Clause 6(c) of this Constitution, shall preside at all monthly General Meetings, Committee Meetings, Annual General Meetings and such Special meetings as are convened consonant with Clause 6(g). He/she shall have the right to vote in the case of an equality of voting, a casting vote which he/she must exercise.
Vice President’s duties shall be to carry out administrative duties as directed by the President.
The Secretary, assisted by the Assistant Secretary, shall be the principal administrative officer of the Club, subject to the direction of the President and the Committee. Their duties shall be:

To keep the books of the Club in good order.
To record accurately the Minutes of the Club.
To conduct the correspondence of the Club under the direction of the President and Committee and to keep copies of all correspondence.
To keep Club records relating to capture and tag and release of fish by members and to ensure that timely advice of these records are available and conveyed to GFAA, NSWGFA and NSWGFA Southern Zone in accordance with their required schedules.
To produce to the President on request, any books or papers in his/her possession and to give such information as may be required of him/her, and to produce the books of the Club at a general meeting for inspection when requested by a member to do so.
To record receipts of all subscriptions and to pay the sum over to the Treasurer and to take a receipt therefore.
To make annually for the president and Committee a full report on the Club’s activities.
To keep a proper register of all Members.
To keep a proper boat register.
To maintain register of Club assets showing location.

d) The Treasurer’s duties shall be:

To receive from the Secretary all monies and subscriptions paid to the Club and to deposit them in such bank or banks as may from time to time be determined by the Committee, within seven (7) days of receipt.
To keep proper books of accounts and enter therein all monies received and disbursed.
To certify and submit accounts for payment at each General Meeting and to obtain vouchers and receipts for all monies paid.
At each regular Committee meeting to have for inspection, bank statements and bank deposit books written up to date and a statement of receipts and expenditure with opening and closing balances.
To prepare a Balance Sheet at the close of each financial year and, after audit, submit it to the Annual General meeting of the Club.
And generally do such things necessary for the proper control, administration and recording of the Club’s financial transactions and position.
The Publicity Officer shall endeavour to perform his/her duties in accordance with Clause 2(f) of this Constitution.

AUDITOR
The Committee shall appoint an Auditor who is not an officer of the Club or a person who has prepared or assisted in the preparation of the accounts.
The Auditor shall report to the Club on the financial affairs of the Club prior to the Annual General Meeting of the Club. In that report the Auditor shall state whether in his/her opinion :

He/she has obtained the information required by him/her;
The accounts are properly drawn up so as to exhibit a true and fair view of the financial position of the Club according to the information at his/her disposal and the explanation given to him/her and shown by the books of account; and
The rules relating to the administration of the funds of the Club have been observed.

The Treasurer shall cause to be delivered to the Auditor a list of all accounts, books and records of the financial

affairs of the Club and give the Auditor access to those accounts, books and records and provide the Auditor with any explanation he/she may require of the Treasurer as any other delegate, officer of the Club, Executive or employee shall also do if and when called upon by the Auditor to provide any explanation.

The Club shall invest monies held in it only in investments that are authorised trustee investments within the meaning of the Trustee Ordinance, 1957.

PUBLIC OFFICER
The Committee shall appoint a person, who may be a member of the Club, resident in the Australian Capital Territory, as a Public Officer.
The Public Officer may hold any other office in the Club.
The Committee shall appoint a Public Officer within fourteen (14) days of the incorporation of the Club, or within fourteen (14) days of the position of Public Officer becoming vacant.
Within fourteen (14) days of his/her appointment, the Public Officer shall give written notice of his/her full name and address to the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS).
Within fourteen (14) days of changing his/her address, the Public Officer shall give written notice of that change to the ORS.
Within one (1) month after an alteration of:

(i) The objects of the Club

(ii) The Constitution of the Club; or

(iii) Any trusts relating to the Club

The Public Officer shall file with the ORS:

Notice of the change;
A copy of the minutes or instrument evidencing the change;
A statutory declaration by the Public Officer that the copy is a true copy, and
If the objects are changed, a statutory declaration stating that the change is allowed by and made in accordance with the Constitution.

g) The office of Public Officer of the Club becomes vacant if the person holding the office:

Dies;
Becomes bankrupt, applies to take benefit of the law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors or compounds with his/her creditors;
Becomes of unsound mind;
Resigns his/her office in writing under his/her hand addressed to the Committee of the Club or
Ceases to be a resident in the Australian Capital Territory.

SEAL
The Club shall have a Seal which shall contain in legible print the name of the Club and the word “Seal”.
The Seal shall be affixed with the authority of the Committee and shall be witnessed by the signatures of two (2) members of the Committee, one such signature being the President or Secretary.

DISCLOSUE OF INTEREST
Any member who has an interest in any contract or financial transaction made or proposed to be made with the Club shall disclose his/her interest forthwith to the Club after he/she becomes so interested.
If a member becomes interested in a contract or financial arrangement after it is made or entered into by the club, he/she shall disclose his interest forthwith to the Club after he/she becomes so interested.
A member shall not vote in respect of a motion at any meeting concerning a contract or financial arrangement in which he/she is interested.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE CLUB

The headquarters of the Club shall be in Canberra, ACT

GENERAL MEETINGS
A meeting to be known as the Annual General Meeting shall be held once in every calendar year. A General Meeting shall be held each calendar month. Other general meetings being Special General meeting’s may be convened from time to time by the President or Secretary or shall be summoned if a petition in that behalf signed by at least ten (10) per cent of the financial members of the Club is lodged with the Honorary Secretary. Such last mentioned meetings shall be held within twenty-eight (28) days of lodgement of the petition.
At least fourteen (14) days notice of every Special General Meeting shall be given in writing to the Members at their addresses shown in the register of members.
At every Annual General Meeting the Committee shall present a report on the affairs of the Club, a Statement of Accounts for the preceding financial year and a report from the Auditor. Such Annual General Meeting shall elect the Executive and the Members of the Committee for the ensuing year. A nomination of any candidate as an officer or member of the Committee shall be signed by two (2) members and the candidate or by some Member authorised on his/her behalf, all of whom are financial members. Any Honorary Life Member is eligible to be nominated and elected as an officer of the Club. At any such Annual General Meeting appointment of Auditor shall be made for the ensuing year. No business except such as arises out of such reports and accounts shall be discussed unless previous notice in writing shall have been given to the Secretary not later than twenty-one (21) days before the time appointed for such meeting.
The only business to be transacted at a Special General Meeting shall be indicated in the notice convening such meeting.
A quorum at a General Meeting, other than a Special General Meeting called to consider winding up the affairs of the Club, shall be twelve (12) financial members.
The procedure to be followed at General Meetings is apologies, minutes of previous meeting, business arising from minutes, Treasurers report, correspondence, business arising from correspondence and general business.
Only financial members of the Club present at the meetings of the Club are entitled to vote. There is no provision for proxy voting.

FINANCE
The Club shall open an account or accounts with such bank or banks as may be determined by the Committee. All accounts shall be submitted to the General Meeting and when passed for payment shall be paid by cheque signed by any two of the President, Secretary, Treasurer or such other person that may be authorised by the Committee.
A record of receipts and disbursements shall be kept and audited each year and a properly audited and certified balance sheet shall be submitted at the Annual General Meeting each year.
The financial year for the Club is 1 July to 30 June the following year.
Sources of funds for the Club are membership fees, proceeds from Club tournaments, outings and activities, and from raffles and other fund raising activities consistent with the objectives of the Club.
The assets and income of the Canberra Game Fishing Club shall be applied solely in furtherance of its mentioned objectives and no portion shall be distributed directly or indirectly to the members of the Club except as bona fide compensation for services rendered or expenses incurred on behalf of the Club.

NOTICES

Notices required to be given under the Constitution shall be in writing and shall be served on the Members either

personally or by post, to the address as shown in the Register of Members.

WINDING UP
a) Dissolution may be instigated by a Special General Meeting convened for that purpose, the quorum for which shall

be not less than one half (1) of the financial Members being present in person.

b) A motion for a full vote to dissolve shall be by a seventy-five percent (75%) majority of all Members present and

entitled to vote.

c) Subsequent to a vote to dissolve being successful a Special General Meeting shall be held.
d) This Special General Meeting may recommend the disposition of the Club’s assets, disposition being limited to a

club or association with similar objects and purposes. Should no agreement on disposition of the Club’s assets be

reached, recommended disposition will be to the New South Wales Game Fishing Association Incorporated.

ALTERATION TO CONSTITUTION AND RULES
a) Alteration and/or additions or deletions to this Constitution shall be determined by a seventy-five percent (75%) majority of financial members present at a properly constituted Special General Meeting of the Club convened for

that purpose upon due notice or an Annual General Meeting.

b) Any submission for alteration, addition and/or deletion to this Constitution if rejected by a properly constituted

General Meeting shall not be eligible for resubmission within twelve (12) months from such rejection.

An alteration to the Constitution is of no effect until Section 9(f) has been complied with.

LIABILITY OF MEMBERS

Members shall not be liable for debts and liabilities of the Club or the costs, charges and expenses of winding up the

Club. As amended at the AGM 3 July 1988.

Amended 09.08.2014