Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations of New South Wales

Ph: 1300 885 982 Fax: 1800 655 866

Suggested Rules

1. These rules are made under the constitution of ................................................... Parents and Citizens'

Association.

2. The association is formed for the benefit of the pupils of the school and to that end it will:

(a) participate as much as possible in the activities of the school and communicate with all members of the school community;

(b) co-operate in the activities of the Federation of Parents & Citizens' Associations of New South Wales and District and Regional Councils; and

3. The financial year of the association shall close on ... (31 December) ... each year.

4. The annual general meeting of the association shall be held in .... (February) ... of each year, in conjunction with and preceding the ordinary general meeting for that month. The agenda of the annual general meeting shall include setting the membership fee of the association for the ensuing year.

NOTE: Federation has limits on eligibility to serve consecutive terms in the same (Federation Executive) office. Associations can decide whether such a rule is appropriate for their needs. SAMPLE RULE: No person shall serve more than .... ` (three consecutive years) .... in the same office.

5. A general meeting of the association shall be held .... (on the third Tuesday of each month during term time) .... (at 8 pm.)

6. Any person eligible for membership may become a member or renew membership by paying the required membership fee of $.... to the Treasurer or nominee of the Treasurer after any general meeting. Membership shall remain current until the close of the annual general meeting in the following year... [(The Secretary)/(An Assistant Secretary)]... shall be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date register of membership. NOTE: The provisions of this rule are to do with membership. For insurance purposes the categories of "member" and "volunteer" are distinct. A list of members is a legal necessity. For insurance purposes each association is strongly advised to maintain a list of occasions on which there are volunteers working on its behalf. It is preferable that there be a list of names of volunteers, who need not be members, associated with each occasion.

7. At a general meeting the quorum shall be in accord with Rule 10 of the constitution. Where that rule does not specify a number the number shall be ... (one plus one-tenth of the number of members).

8. If a meeting for which due notice has been given does not achieve a quorum .... (within 15 minutes of the advertised starting time) the Secretary shall, or in the absence of a Secretary remaining members of the Executive shall... and failing that any five members of the Association may call a further meeting .... (with a lapse of not more than 28 days of term time) ... to carry on the business of the association.

9. In the absence of the Secretary the remaining members of the Executive or any five members of the association may call any meeting that is required, giving due notice of the business proposed for the meeting.

10. All meetings of the association shall be conducted in accordance with the appropriate By-laws of Federation "Standing Orders for the Conduct of All Meetings". (NOTE: The By-Laws of Federation specifically provide for reference where necessary to N. E. Renton's Guide for Meetings and Organisations.) Associations will find it convenient to keep the Federation handbook and Renton’s handy. The Standing Orders, forming part of the By-Laws of Federation, provide for a particular order of business for some meetings. Associations may wish to adopt a standard rule about the order of business. A special provision may be necessary in a busy association to ensure that any unfinished business of one meeting is taken up early in the next.

SAMPLE RULE: The order of business shall follow that for Federation Council, Standing Order IC. Unfinished business on notice at the previous meeting shall be dealt as "IC(c) Matters arising from the Minutes".

NOTE: Some associations have considered it necessary to have some protection against a meeting being "stacked". It is probably sufficient protection if a quorum of the membership has the power to require that any particular item of new business introduced without prior notice at a meeting be placed on notice for a further meeting.

SAMPLE RULE: As well as the provisions of Federation Standing Order 6 "Notices of Motion", a group of members of the association equal to the quorum for the meeting may require that particular items of new business without notice be placed on notice for the next meeting.

NOTE: Associations may appoint persons to represent them. There should then be provision for such representatives to report on these activities at meetings of the association.

SAMPLE RULE: The association may elect representatives who will be responsible to the association in the same way that Federation representatives are responsible to Federation under Section 413 of Federation Policy. The association may decide at the time of election what form of reporting is required.

NOTE: Federation provides that the seat of any Officer absent for three consecutive meetings without cause shall be declared vacant. If an association adopts such a rule it should be stated to create a "Casual Vacancy" to be dealt with under Rule 6 of the constitution.

SAMPLE RULE: A general meeting of the association may declare any officer who has been absent for three successive meetings, as set out in Federation By-Law 4 (r) (iii), to have vacated their position and to have created a casual vacancy to be dealt with by means of rule 6 of the constitution.

NOTE: Associations must ensure that important and irregular financial decisions are brought to the attention of members and all expenditure, beyond normal running costs, receives majority support from members at a general or special meeting.

SAMPLE RULE: Any motion to expend association monies must be placed on notice for the meeting at which it is to be considered. The provisions of such a sample rule should not hamper subcommittees from expending those monies necessary for normal running costs. In fact, a subcommittee's powers to expend monies should be defined by the association when the subcommittee is set up, e.g, an auxiliary may need to buy materials for fundraising activities. Under the guidelines for incorporation, all funds belong to the association, and expenditure must be authorised by the association. A subcommittee must not expend funds for any purpose outside those allowed by the association. There is nothing, however, to prevent an association setting up a subcommittee to raise funds for some particular goal, or a subcommittee recommending a particular use for the funds it has raised.

11. The association may confer the honour of Life Membership on a member who has made an outstanding contribution to the work of the association. Life Members may attend and speak at meetings but are not entitled to vote or to hold office unless they are also ordinary members in terms of Rule 4 in these rules.