Rules and Guidelines for Meetings
Members of Committees and Boards should be aware of the following rules and expected procedure with regard to committee meetings. Ignorance is not a satisfactory defence.
Frequency of Meetings
According to the Associations Incorporation Act, meetings of the management committee should be held at least once in every 4 calendar months. However, the Act also states that meetings should be held "as often as may be necessary for properly conducting the business and operations of the incorporated association".
Notice of Meeting
Generally, committee meetings occur on a once per month basis. The committee can decide for itself how each member of the committee is notified of forthcoming meetings.
Quorum
For a committee meeting to be lawful, "a Quorum" must exist. A quorum occurs when there are more than 50% of committee members present at the board meeting.
Recording Attendance
The secretary should keep an attendance register and ensure the names of all persons who attend the committee meeting are recorded in the minutes.
Accepting the minutes
The first item of business in any committee/board meeting is to confirm and officially accept the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record. Acceptance of the minutes of the previous meeting is carried out through a vote.
Tabling of Correspondence
It is an accepted practice that a list of correspondence, inwards
and outwards, is made available to all committee/board members.
If the amount of correspondence is small, each item may be discussed
and explained if desired. However, the amount of correspondence
may be large and therefore a list of correspondence will suffice,
affording members of the committee to ask questions where they feel
appropriate.
Financial Report
The financial report is a necessary item on the agenda of a committee/board meeting. It is a fiduciary responsibility of all committee/board members to be fully informed of the organisations financial affairs.