Bicycle Network: Board & Governance

History of our constitution

Bicycle Network Victoria was originally established in 1975 under the name, ‘Bicycle Institute of Victoria Inc’.

It was subsequently incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Vic) on 20 March 1986 (T3-51 of No 2010/1721).

The constitution was amended seven times and at the Annual General Meeting of 7 November 2005, Members at the AGM passed the name change to Bicycle Victoria Incorporated, and adopted a new Constitution, which has been amended three times (see below).

2011

At the Annual General Meeting on 14th November 2011, a Special Resolution was passed to amend the Constitution to make it possible for the Board to directly co-opt Board members with appropriate expertise in order to strengthen the governance and decision making of the Board.

2010

At the Annual General Meeting of 15 November 2010, rule 63.4 was renumbered to 63.5 and a new rule 63.4 was added. In December the Department of Justice approved the change and the amendments are effective from 9 December 2010

2009

At the Annual General Meeting of 16 November 2009, the statement of purpose was expanded to include - The purpose of the association is to promote the health of the community through the prevention and control of disease by “More People Cycling More Often” .

- and by the insertion of clause 63.3 (d) is endorsed by the Commissioner of Taxation as a Deductible Gift Recipient.”.

- and by inserting a new clause 63.4, requiring consent of the Commissioner of Taxation to amend the Constitution.

2005

At the Annual General Meeting of 7 November 2005, members at the AGM passed the name change (Special Resolution 1), and adopted a new Constitution (Special Resolution 2). See below.

In December 2005 Consumer Affairs Victoria approved the new Constitution.

Under this constitution, a voluntary group of nine Members (the Board) are elected by other Members to represent them in the highest positions of responsibility in the organisation. The election is usually held via an online voting system. Every year, three Board positions come up for election.

Although it is not compulsory, it is an important Membership responsibility to vote in the election.

The Board make collective decisions in the best interests of the organisation and the Members. Its main roles are to set the strategic direction of the organisation and to supervise the senior staff who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

The Board prepares for the 2005 AGM

In December 2005 Consumer Affairs Victoria approved the proposed Constitution, which is now the new Bicycle Network Victoria Constitution.

Special Resolutions 1 and 2

Members at the AGM passed the name change (Special Resolution 1), and adopted the Constitution (Special Resolution 2).

Be the first to know

Register to receive updates on this page (see 'Email me updates on this subject' at right) to find out the latest on the new Constitution, as well as draft minutes from the 2005 AGM.

Background

For several years Bicycle Network Victoria's Council has been working on a new Constitution.

In February 2005, a sub-committee was formed to prepare a draft Constitution. (See below for details of the sub-committee.)

Rationale

The current Bicycle Network Victoria Constitution was written 22 years ago. The proposed Constitution includes a number of changes:

1. Since the existing Constitution was written, the world inside Bicycle Network Victoria has changed. For example, in the current Constitution the Treasurer needs to sign all cheques. This is clearly inappropriate in a number of ways.

2. Since the current Constitution was written, the outside world has changed:

• There are new expectations from both state and federal governments
• There have been governance and legislative changes, including those following the collapse of HIH in 2001
• There have been changes in technology (e.g. capability of electronic meetings and voting).

3. The desire for a plain English, accessible and concise Constitution.

The proposed Constitution maintains many features of the existing Constitution, including:

• The number of councillors
• The terms of office (years) of each councillor.

A detailed list of the principal features of the proposed Constitution can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum on the proposed Constitution (PDF at right).

Read the proposed Constitution

At the right of the screen are PDF versions of:

• The current Constitution
• The proposed Constitution
• The Explanatory Memorandum on the proposed Constitution.