Constitution of CAAH's legal group - COLT
Accepted on 14/09/2005
Ammended on 10/12/2005
DRAFT VERSION FOR 2007
PENDING THE 15/12/2006 AGM
Section 1 - Definitions
1.1 The name of the Collective shall be COMMUNITY ACTION AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA or CAAH
1.2 The following definitions are applicable through this document, unless otherwise stated.
(a) "Queer" - Any person who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, same sex attracted, transgender, intersex or non-heterosexually identifying.
(b) "Sexuality" - a person's queer sexual identity and/or gender.
(c) "Announcement List" - for dealing with all general announcements.
(d) "Discussion List" - for dealing with member discussion and information sharing.
(e) "Legal List" - for dealing with legal aspect, discussion, advocacy and organisation.
(f) "Mardi Gras List" - for dealing with Mardi Gras Float organising and announcements.
(g) "Drama List" - for dealing with the drama group and its productions.
(h) "General Members" - Any queer friendly community member is eligible.
(i) "Active Members" - A member that has previously attended three (3) meetings of the collective.
(j) "Paid Members" - Active or General Members that have paid their annual membership fee of fifteen dollars ($15).
(k) "Empower" - Ensuring that a collective member know that they are able to, and are encouraged to, take on the responsibility.
(l) "Grass Roots Organising" - Every community member being able to take part in decision making on campaign direction.
(m) "ILGA" - International Lesbian and Gay Association.
Section 2 - Aims and Objectives
2.1 The objects of the Collective shall be to
(a) combat homophobia by empowering Queer community members&their supporters to take action against this unjust behaviour.
(b) use a grass roots organising to achieve its aims.
(c) campaign against homophobic statements uttered by government or media officials.
(d) campaign against discriminatory laws.
(e) fight against censorship of Queer people in their lives, media and literature.
(f) unite all groups that support the collective's broad aims.
(g) Maintain a commitment to the expectations of CAAH's ILGA membership.
Section 3 - Office Bearers
3.1 The Collective shall have a Committee consisting of:
(a) Convenors (two,minimum)
(b) Secretary
(c) Treasurer
(d) Membership Officer
(e) Auditor
(f) Media Liaison Officer
(g) Mardi Gras Officer/s (two, minimum)
(h) Legal Officer
(i) ILGA Contact
(j) Arts/Social Convenor
3.2 The Office bearers shall have power to manage the Collective according to this Constitution.
3.3 At least one office bearer of the collective must be a woman.
3.4 Attendance of Office Bearers at meetings is obligatory. Any Office Bearer who does not attend four (4) consecutive meetings is automatically dismissed from their position, except with a specific simple majority resolution of Active Members.
3.5 At all times office bearers are to accept collective direction regardless of personal opinion.
3.6 Officers bearers may have two roles within the collective with the exception of the auditor and the treasurer.
3.7 All convenors must be Paid Members that are also Active Members.
Section 4 - Convenors
4.1 Shall skill shares the facilitation of Collective meetings.
4.2 Shall act as the contact point and spokesperson for the collective unless otherwise directed by the collective.
4.3 Shall ensure that meetings are called when appropriate to the constitution subject to collective meeting decisions.
4.4 Shall ensure that a report for CAAH is produced at the end of each year.
4.5 Be one of the moderators of the Announcement List and & Discussion List.
Section 5 - Secretary
5.1 Shall skill share keeping minutes of all Collective meetings by empowering a member to do this task.
5.2 Shall skill share the typing up the minutes of each CAAH meeting or empower someone at that meeting to do this task.
5.3 Shall skill share confirming the minutes and putting the minutes on the CAAH web site by empowering a member to do this task.
5.4 Shall keep a hard copy record of all meeting minutes and ensure that these records shall be ready for tabling at any given meeting.
5.5 Be one of the moderators of all the Announcement List, Discussion List, Legal List and Mardi Gras List.
Section 6 - Treasurer
6.1 Shall maintain the Collective's finances.
6.2 Shall produce a regularly updated budget for each meeting.
6.3 Present a report detailing the financial activity & state of the collective at each meeting.
6.4 Be a co-signatory of all bank accounts of the Collective.
6.5 In coordination with the treasurer keep an accurate list of members including an indication of who is a Paid Member.
6.6 Ensure that CAAH's yearly subscriptions are paid including our membership to ILGA.
Section 7 - Legal Officer
7.1 Shall be a lawyer, a law student or someone who has previously graduated from a University Law Degree.
7.2 Be one of the moderators of the Legal List.
7.3 The legal convenor shall:-
(a) Convene meetings of the legal collective of CAAH;
(b) Research, advocate and campaign on issues relevant to legal issues affection the queer community and assist other CAAH activists with the same;
(c) Collect and provide information on matters of legal nature for the rest of the collective where necessary;
(d) Provide information on the interpretation of the CAAH constitution.
Section 8 - ILGA Contact
8.1 The ILGA Contact shall:-
(a) Coordinate the work of the International Committee;
(b) Familiarise her/himself with ILGA's work and programmes;
(c) Attend ILGA conferences (in person, by phone or video link) or send CAAH apology;
(d) Facilitate an agenda item for each meeting on International Issues.
Section 9 - Membership Officer
9.1 Ensure that emails are sent to other Queer groups' email lists encouraging people to get involved and become members of CAAH.
9.2 Update fliers to be distributed at the stalls advertising CAAH as a group and encourage community members to attend meetings.
9.3 In coordination with the treasurer keep an accurate list of members including an indication of who is a Paid Member.
9.4 Be one of the moderators of all the Announcement List, Discussion List, Legal List and Mardi Gras List.
Section 10 - Arts/Social Convenor
10.1 Organise the entertainment and street theatre at rallies.
10.2 Convene the Drama group.
10.3 Organise a social events to act as dual fundraisers for CAAH and another queer friendly group.
(a) One fundraiser per year must be a fund-raising event for ILGA.
Section 11 - Financial Auditor
11.1 Review the collective's finances and be a co-signatory of all bank accounts of the Collective
Section 12 - Media Liaison Officer
12.1 Ensure the media is supplied with media statements produced by CAAH.
12.2 Maintain an accurate list of media contacts and make this list available for any meeting.
12.3 Collect quotes, with permission, from CAAH members about current issues and send the compilations to the Queer media.
Section 13 - Mardi Gras Officers
13.1 There shall be any number of Mardi Gras convenors.
13.2 Mardi Gras convenors must be assigned specific areas of the float with a specific budget for that float area.
13.3 Be one of the moderators of the Mardi Gras List.
Chapter 3 - Meetings
Section 14 - Meetings
14.1 Only Paid Members can vote at meetings.
14.2 A minimum of two (2) Office Bearers must be included when reaching the specified quorum.
14.3 If a meeting has not been called for a period of three (3) months any General Member may call a meeting.
14.4 Meetings shall be called by any Convenor or the Secretary.
14.5 Meetings will use a progressive speaking list unless there is dissent from a majority of the meeting.
Section 15 - General Meetings
15.1 The Collective shall hold a General Meeting at least once a fortnight unless otherwise decided at a Collective Meeting.
15.2 A quorum at General Meetings shall be five (5) members.
15.3 At least four (4) days notice, including the time, date and place, of any meeting must be given on the Announcement List.
15.4 The agenda for General Meetings shall be as follows:
(a) Attendance list and Round Robin Introductions.
(b) Discussion agenda items proposed by any members in attendance.
(c) Date of the next meeting decided by a majority of General Members in attendance of that meeting.
15.5 A meeting can pass motions relating to the affairs of the Collective by simple majority vote of members, including:
(a) Giving direction to the Office Bearers.
(b) Determining the use of finances of the Collective
(c) Organising the time, date and place of meetings.
(d) Repealing motions of previous General Meetings or activist meetings.
Section 16 - Activist Meetings
16.1 The Collective shall hold a minimum of one (1) activist meeting every month unless a collective meeting decides otherwise.
16.2 Quorum at ordinary meetings shall be five (5) members.
Section 17 - Annual General Meetings
17.1 The Collective shall hold an Annual General Meetings are to be held at the end of the year, after the University exams.
17.2 That the membership fees are only valid until the AGM. If membership is paid in the final three (3) months of the current membership year then the membership will be deemed to be valid until the end of the following year, with the proviso that members can't vote on the election of office bearers at the 'up and coming' Annual General Meeting (AGM).
17.3 Quorum at Annual General Meetings shall be ten (10) members.
17.4 An Annual General Meetings can pass motions relating to the affairs of the Collective including:
(a) Amending the constitution (No more than five subsections of the constitution may be change per annual general meeting).
(b) Office Bearer dismissal other than in Section 3 (No more than two office bearers may be dismissed per Annual General Meeting).
17.5 The final meeting of the year shall be one that presents a yearly report including that year's budget.
17.6 Any annual general meeting called outside of this period, at the request of 10 Active Members with thirty (30) days notice, shall be called an Extraordinary General Meetings and shall have all the powers of an Annual General Meeting, except those in Section 22.
Section 18 - Elections
18.1 Annual elections shall be held at the Annual general meeting.
18.2 The returning officer shall announce an election with a minimum of fourteen (14) days before the date of the election stating the:
(a) Day on which nominations open (at least fourteen (14) days before the day of the elections).
(b) Day and time on which nominations close (nominations must close at least one (1) hour before the election meeting).
(c) Time, date and venue of the election.
(d) Criteria and duties associated for each position and the eligibility criteria of voters.
18.3 Late nominations can only be accepted with a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of Paid Members in the election meeting.
18.4 Nominees must accept their nomination before or after the election to act with the powers of the Officer Bearer position.
18.5 Voting shall be by secret ballot. The counting shall be a preferential system of voting when more than one candidate exists.
18.6 Any Active Members (who are also Paid Members) shall be eligible to vote in an election.
Section 19 - Returning Officer
19.1 Any meeting can nominate a suitably impartial returning officer if the Collective has not adequately nominated someone.
19.2 Returning officer, or Novice, must not previously held any collective position that year or be a current candidate for election.
19.3 A Meeting shall nominate a suitable person, not being a candidate for election, to act as Returning Officer.
19.4 The Returning Officer shall be the facilitator of the election.
19.5 A suitable person/s, not being a candidate for election, is to be nominated by the meeting to be a Novice Returning Officer/s.
19.6 The Novice Returning Officer/s have the role of acting as scrutineer and pupil of the Returning Officer.
19.7 The Returning Officer must follow the constitution, especially regarding the election procedure as stated in this document.
19.8 If this is not the case the meeting may elect an alternative returning officer and continue with the election regardless.
Chapter 4 - Finances
Section 20 - Finances
20.1 The Treasurer and Auditor shall be signatories of the bank account of the Collective, but shall be limited in use of finances to motions passed at collective meetings. The bank account shall be set up with four (4) signatories required to access the account.
20.2 All financial transactions over fifty dollars ($50) must be passed through a collective meeting first with a motion specifically indicating the amount of money to be accessed and what it shall be spent on.
20.3 All financial transactions must be for a purpose that is in line with the policies of the collective as dictated by the collective meetings.
Section 21 - Properties, Money & Dissolution
21.1 All Collective property, for the period of activity of the Collective, shall dealt with as the collective at any Meeting directs.
21.2 On dissolution any monies or property same shall be transferred to a similar Queer rights activist collective as directed at the meeting.
21.3 Money raised via membership fees must be allocated to a specific regular annual expenditure as apposed to one off expenses.
Chapter 5 - Amendmnet & Dissolution
Section 22 - Alterations to the Constitution
22.1 This Constitution may be amended, excluding this section, by obtaining a majority (50% plus 1) of Active Member votes at an Annual General Meeting.
22.2 This section of the constitution may only be amended by a unanimous vote at an Annual General Meeting.
22.3 Proposed constitutional amendments shall be posted to the Announcement List within thirty (30) days of an Annual General Meeting.
22.4 A copy of the amended constitution, and minutes of the meeting at which the amendments were made shall be posted on the Announcement List fourteen (14) days after the meeting has taken place by either the previous or present secretary.
22.5 The Collective may be dissolved by resolution of two thirds of the Active Members present at an Annual General Meeting.
