Committee meetings

Meetings must be held regularly at a date and time to be decided by the Chairperson.

No meeting of the S355 committee will be held unless notice of such meeting has been given to all members and Council as follows:

• Special meeting – three clear days notice.
• General meeting – seven clear days notice.
• Annual General meeting – fourteen clear days notice in writing.

The S355 committee is required to meet a minimum of once in each quarter of the year. Logically the S355 committees should meet as often as is necessary to effectively discharge business and consider decisions affecting the facility and meet the requirements of S355 committee under it delegation.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) should be held within three (3) months of the close of the financial year. An invitation will be made to Council for a Council officer to attend.

AGM should be held within three months of the close of the financial year (between 30 June and 30 September).

At every AGM, all current executive or S355 committee members have to stand down and fresh nominations must be called. The current S355 committee can offer themselves for re-election, together with other nominations received provided they have not already served in the position for 3 years.

Minutes of the AGM must also include the name of the officers and S355 committee nominated. Updated Nomination forms will be submitted for each officer role including non-official officer positions.

At the commencement of each meeting each member must declare any interest, whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary in nature. This includes any interest in bookings or other agreements/contracts since the last meeting. The conflict of interest form must be completed if an interest is declared.

There are two types of interest that should be declared: pecuniary and non-pecuniary.

• Pecuniary Interest - If a committee member has a pecuniary interest in a matter, he/she must physically leave the room during discussion or voting on the matter. The minutes must reflect all disclosures of interest under this section.

Pecuniary interest means there is a reasonable chance of financial loss or gain to a committee member or his/ her relative.

• Non-pecuniary - If the interest is non-pecuniary in nature, the member may discuss and depending on the nature of the interest, also vote.

Non-pecuniary interest means there is a personal or private interest and this also includes the interest of a friend, neighbour or family member.

The Secretary is to forward a copy of any completed declaration form to the Council immediately after the meeting. It is important the same form is also completed by the Chairperson who must decide how the declared interest to be managed and this decision must be recorded in the space described as “Manager”

The quorum of the committee will be fifty percent of the members plus one. At least two Executive Office Bearers and a quorum (which is fifty percent plus one) should be present at meetings.

The format of meetings should follow an approved agenda template.

All resolutions of the meeting should be moved formally and seconded and then placed before the meeting for adoption.

It is preferable to have an odd number of committee members to ensure that a vote is not tied. In the case of a tied vote, the Chairperson has a casting vote.

At all meetings of the committee, each elected member who is present will have one vote, except:

1. The Chairperson, who will have a casting vote.
2. Councillors or Council Officers may be authorised to participate and have voting rights.
3. Any member who has an interest (pecuniary or non-pecuniary) will declare such interest.
   1. The member may participate in discussion, but if the interest is pecuniary in nature, the member may not vote and must leave the room until the item is dealt with.

A copy of the minutes must be signed by the Chairperson and Secretary at the next meeting.

A copy is to be sent to the Council at communityvenues@ssc.nsw.gov.au.

All committee meetings are minuted and all expenditure authorised by the committee. Minutes of meetings are considered accurate and fully disclose all actions taken by the committee.

The committees minute all meetings including records of any expenditure. The Secretary records the meeting in the form of minutes.

Minutes of the meeting are recorded in the agenda template format and submitted to Council within 14 days of the meeting.

The minutes record the mover and seconder of all motions, payments, maintenance activity, nomination of committee members and resignations, or other matters arising related to operation of the venue.

A member of the committee may ask for a division in which case the voting of all present is recorded in the minutes. Similarly, a member may request that their name be recorded in the minutes as voting against the motion.

Any financial irregularity in accounts is reported in the minutes and corrective action taken to remedy the irregularity.

A copy of the minutes is kept on record with the committee. The minutes of the AGM are also forwarded to Council within fourteen (14) days of the meeting together with any officer nominations.

The Chairperson and Secretary certify the minutes are an accurate record of the meeting before forwarding to Council.