User:Fletcher/ENC-2017/CAP0 Rationale

This document is intended to collate the changes proposed by the Emergency National Congress Constitutional Amendment Proposal. The proposal consists of updating our current constitution with a new document. An updated document (as opposed to the regular amendments of previous years) is required in order to better legitimise the updated Constitution in the eyes of the Associations Incorporation Act 2009.

The changes listed below were endorsed by the current National Council on October 7 2017.

Changes to membership categories

 * Associate Membership (4.2.2) has been removed since it has been superseded by By-law 2015-01.

Procedural clarifications
These changes have been included to clarify how the party functions in practice, or to better reflect DRC determinations.


 * Include a clarification that Constitutional Amendments can be modified on the floor in order to clarify intent. This is done by a formal motion and requires the consent of the submitter(s).
 * Exact wording: "Once the National Congress has begun amendments may be modified by a formal motion on the floor in order to correct errors or better reflect the intent of the submitter. Unanimous consent of the submitter(s) is required."
 * Include a clarification that there are no term limits for NC members. We are required by the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 to specify whether Committee Members (which we refer to as Councillors) are limited in the number of years they can serve on the council. The current Constitution does not specify a limit.
 * Rename Party Secretary to Secretary. This just updates the Constitution to reflect what the position is called in practice. The Deputy Party Secretary has been renamed to match.

Procedural changes

 * The majority required to pass Constitutional Amendments has been upped from 2/3 to 3/4 so that it's in line with the requirements specified by the Associations Incorporation Act 2009. In practice we've never had an amendment that would be affected by this change.
 * Exact wording: "The Constitution may only be amended during the National Congress. Amendments require a three-quarters majority vote with a quorum of twenty (20) percent of Members at the time the amendment was proposed."

Changes to the National Council
From the 2018 Annual National Congress update the National Council as noted below. Changes have been highlighted. Positions that aren't listed here have not been changed.

President
Old responsibilities:


 * Lead the Party.
 * Chair the National Congress, and meetings of the National Council.
 * Co-ordinate the activities of the National Council.

New responsibilities:


 * Act as the coordinator for providing direction of the Party;
 * Take an active role in advocating on behalf of the Party in the public sphere;
 * Default as the chair of the National Congress, and meetings of the National Council; and
 * Co-ordinate the activities of the National Council.

Secretary
The responsibilities of the Registered Officer have been combined with those of the Secretary.

Old responsibilites and roles:


 * The Party Secretary fulfils the requirements and obligations of the position of the same name defined in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
 * Provide notice in advance to members of all official meetings, and of the National Congress.
 * Prepare schedules, agenda, and correspondence from members for submission to the meeting or National Congress, and record attendance of persons present, and arrange for minutes or logs to be recorded.
 * Co-ordinate official correspondence of the National Council.
 * Maintain the party register, in accordance with Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
 * Maintain custody of all documents, statements and records of the Party, and except for those documents that are otherwise accounted for in this Constitution, by other officers.
 * Briefly minute, or delegate responsibility for minuting, listing the decisions of meetings of the National Congress and National Council and ensure publication at the earliest possible convenience.

New responsibilities and roles:


 * The Secretary fulfills the requirements and obligations of the position of Party Secretary as defined in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
 * The Secretary fulfills the requirements and obligations of the position of Registered Officer as defined in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
 * Provide notice in advance to members of all official meetings, and of the National Congress;
 * Prepare schedules, agenda, and correspondence from members for submission to the meeting or National Congress, and record attendance of persons present, and arrange for minutes or logs to be recorded;
 * Co-ordinate official correspondence of the National Council;
 * Maintain the party register, in accordance with Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918;
 * Maintain custody of all documents, statements and records of the Party, and except for those documents that are otherwise accounted for in this Constitution, by other officers; and
 * Briefly minute, or delegate responsibility for minuting, listing the decisions of meetings of the National Congress and National Council and ensure publication at the earliest possible convenience.

Treasurer
The responsibilities of Party Agent have been combined with those of the Treasurer. In the past this position was appointed by the National Council.

Old responsibilites and roles:


 * The receipt of all monies paid to the Party, the issuing of all receipts and the deposit of such monies into accounts determined by the National Council.
 * Develop and ensure security and accountability measures for all receipts and payments are followed.
 * Submit an Annual Financial Report to the National Congress, detailing balance sheets, financial statements and relevant particulars.
 * Maintain adequate controls over Party finances and all financial records, documents, securities ensuring smooth transition when position is transferred.
 * Ensure that all book keeping is conducted by an appropriately skilled person, and all documents conform to relevant legislation and regulations and this Constitution.

New responsibilites and roles:


 * The Treasurer fulfills the requirements and obligations of the Party Agent as defined in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
 * Develop and ensure security and accountability measures for all receipts and payments are followed;
 * Submit an Annual Financial Report to the National Congress, detailing balance sheets, financial statements and relevant particulars;
 * Maintain adequate controls over Party finances and all financial records, documents, securities ensuring smooth transition when position is transferred; and
 * Ensure that all book keeping is conducted by an appropriately skilled person, and all documents conform to relevant legislation and regulations and this Constitution.
 * The receipt of all monies paid to the Party, the issuing of all receipts and the deposit of such monies into accounts determined by the National Council.

Registered Officer
The responsibilities of this role have been transferred to the Secretary and the position has been converted to a third general purpose Councillor.

Councillor
There are now three general Councillors instead of two.