Annual General Meeting
Governance, Updates

Annual General Meeting 2022 (2nd notice)

The BTS Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday 5 June 2022 at the Howrah Bowls Club commencing at 2.00pm.

Attendance: Each member club of the Association is entitled to be represented by two voting delegates at the meeting.  Other bowls club members are welcome to attend and participate in discussion but are ineligible to vote.

Notices of Motions: Seven (7) motions were received by the Secretary by 13 May 2022. They are listed below for consideration by clubs prior to the meeting.

Nominations for Board and other positions are still open but must be emailed to the Secretary by 20 May 2022.  Positions to nominate for are:

  • President
  • Deputy President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • 4 ordinary members of the Board
  • Chair of Match Committee
  • 3 members of the Match Committee
  • Members of Men’s, Women’s and Junior’s Selection Committees
  • Statistician
  • Social Media Administrator

Nomination forms can also be obtained from the BTS website (under LIBRARY > FORMS).

The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting (held in May 2021) and the Special General Meeting (held in September 2021) are available to read on the website. 

Paul Matthews
Secretary
Bowls Tasmania South

Proposed changes to the BTS constitution

Proposal 1 – Board of Management

The Board proposes that, by special resolution of the members present at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Association, a new Rule 9.2 should be added to the constitution as follows:

Existing rule:

None

Proposed new rule:

9.2         The Office Bearers of the Association will comprise an Executive sub-committee with the power to decide urgent, out-of-session matters, as long as:

(a) at least three officers agree on the matter under consideration; and

(b) any decisions are ratified at the next meeting of the Board.

Rationale

The “BTS Executive” is mentioned in the BTS Disciplinary Policy (Para 11) and the BTS Delegates Meeting Protocols (Para 14).  By convention, the Office Bearers of the Association are the “BTS Executive” but this link has never been formalised in the constitution.

Proposal 2 – Membership of the Board…

The Board proposes that, by special resolution of the members present at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Association, Rule 10 of the constitution be amended as follows:

Existing rule:

The Board shall consist of the Office Bearers of the Association, the Chair of the Match Committee, a nominee from each of the Umpires and Coaching panels, the Executive Assistant and four ordinary members, each appointed as hereafter provided. (If possible, two of the four ordinary members will be male and two female.)

Proposed change:

10.1       The Board shall consist of the Office Bearers of the Association, the Chair of the Match Committee, a nominee from the Officiating Committee, a nominee from the Coaches Committee, the Executive Assistant and four ordinary members, each appointed as hereafter provided.

10.2       If possible, two of the four ordinary Board members will be male and two female.

Rationale

  1. Panels are no longer formed, so the wording has been changed to Committee.
  2. Splitting out 10.2: This change simply gives the last sentence of the existing rule a sub-paragraph of its own to better highlight the Board’s support for gender diversity.

Proposal 3 – Board Quorum

The Board proposes that, by special resolution of the members present at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Association, that Rule 15.6 of the constitution be amended as follows:

Existing rule:

15.6     A quorum for the transaction of the business of a Board meeting shall be six (6).

Proposed change:

15.6     A quorum for the transaction of the business of a Board meeting, taking into account vacancies, shall be half the number of Board members plus one.

Rationale

  1. If a full Board of 12 is formed, six members represented 50% of the Board. However, with two vacancies (that is, a Board of 10), six members represents 60% of the Board.  This year, we found ourselves with a Board of only seven members, so six members represents about 85% of the Board.  This change seeks to guard against this anomaly.
  2. It is noteworthy that this change effectively means a full Board of 12 members now requires a quorum of seven members and not six.

Proposal 4 – The Board may act…

The Board proposes that, by special resolution of the members present at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Association, Rule 17.3 of the constitution be amended as follows:

Existing rule:

17.3     The Board may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership.

Proposed change:

17.3     The Board may act, notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership, as long as a quorum is present in accordance with Rule 15.6.

Rationale

This change aligns Rule 17.3 with Rule 15.6 (as amended above) and tightens its meaning to ensure the Board may continue to make decisions that are within its purview.

Proposal 5 – Voting at an AGM

The Board proposes that, by special resolution of the members present at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Association, Rule 27.3 of the constitution be amended as follows:

Existing rule:

27.3     In the case of an equality of votes on a question at a general meeting, the presiding officer is entitled to exercise a second or casting vote.

Proposed change:

27.3     In the case of an equality of votes on a question at a general meeting, the Presiding Officer may not exercise a second or casting vote and the motion will be lost.

Rationale

A Presiding Officer should never be given the right or power to determine the outcome of a question via his/her vote alone.  This change removes the ability of the Presiding Officer to vote twice on the same matter and aligns with rule 17.2 (relating to BTS Board voting).

Proposal 6 – Vacancies

The Board proposes that, by special resolution of the members present at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Association, Rule 14 of the constitution be amended as follows:

Existing rule:

For the purposes of these rules, a casual vacancy in the office of a member of the Board occurs otherwise than is provided in Rule 11.4, if the Office Bearer:-

  • dies;
  • resigns the office;
  • becomes bankrupt or enters into a composition with their creditors;
  • is disqualified from office under the provisions of the Act;
  • is convicted of an indictable offence; or
  • is absent without the consent of the Board from three (3) consecutive meetings of the Board.

Proposed change:

For the purposes of these rules, a casual vacancy in the office of a member of the Board occurs otherwise than is provided in Rule 11.4, if the Office Bearer or member of the Board:

  • dies;
  • resigns the office;
  • becomes bankrupt or enters into a composition with their creditors;
  • is disqualified from office under the provisions of the Act;
  • is disqualified from holding office, due to non-compliance to these rules or conduct prejudicial to the interests and policies of the Association;
  • is convicted of an indictable offence; or
  • is absent without the consent of the Board from three (3) consecutive meetings of the Board.

Rationale

  1. While it could be interpreted that the current Rule 14 refers not only to “Office Bearers” but to all members of the Board, it could also be construed to relate to “Office Bearers” alone.
  2. The intent of the inclusion of “or member of the Board” is to ensure that the sub-clauses of Rule 14 that follow will apply to all members of the Board, and not just to Office Bearers.
  3. The proposal to include a new sub clause (e) is to ensure that reference is made in the Constitution to the potential of any member of Board to be disqualified from office as the result of an investigation of an alleged serious breach of the BTS Board Code of Conduct Policy. Without the inclusion of this new sub clause it could be possible for the recommendation of the independent Code of Conduct panel formed to investigate the complaint to be overturned.

Proposed changes to the BTS conditions of play

Proposal 7 – Starting times

Motion

Brighton and Orford move that Conditions of Play Rules 4.5, 5.3, and 6.6 be combined into one rule under Section 3 that covers all pennant competition as follows:

3.x  Starting Time.

(a)   The appointed time for commencing a pennant match is 11.00am. This time may be varied by mutual consent of participating Side Captains.

(b)   A compulsory lunch break of at least 30 minutes is to be taken at 12.30pm unless both Side Captains agree to play straight through.

Rationale

  • Tasmania’s UV levels are extremely high during our bowls season. By starting play at 11.00am, bowlers would be off the rinks before the hottest part of the day.
  • In the season 2021/22, Orford asked all competing Clubs in Divisions 2, 3 and 6 to commence matches at 12noon and 90% of Clubs were supportive and expressed appreciation for the early start.
  • Finishing early allow bowlers:
    1. to avoid early evening traffic (especially during the week)
    2. more time to travel home should they have functions to attend in the evening, and/or
    3. more time to spend at the club thereby taking better advantage of the club’s social benefits.
  • The option of a short lunch break will enhance collegiality and provide opportunities for all Clubs to promote various fund-raising activities which are essential to our volunteer-run organisations.
  • This motion is submitted in line with good OH&S Policy.
  • Trial ends are covered by Rule 3.10 so need not be included in the motion but they would commence at 10.45am for an 11.00am start.
  • Special arrangements for matches involving Bruny sides on Saturdays – currently Rule 4.5(b) – will no longer be required under this motion.

We ask that Clubs discuss this with players and have their delegates support the motion.