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What does the executive committee do?
How many executive committee members are required?
Who can be a member of the executive committee?
Can a member of the executive committee be paid?
Can a member of the executive committee be resident outside Tasmania?
How do casual vacancies of the committee occur?
How are casual vacancies of the committee filled?
Complaints involving the executive committee
Public officer
Principal role of public officer
The affairs of an incorporated association are managed by the executive committee, which may exercise the powers and functions of the association, subject to the Associations Incorporation Act 1964, the regulations and the rules of the association.
The committee is required to appoint a Public Officer, who is the main point of contact between the association and Consumer Affairs. The Public Officer must be at least 18 years old and reside in Tasmania.
The executive committee manages or oversees the affairs of the incorporated association and ensures its statutory obligations are met.
The rules of an incorporated association must set out the powers of the committee, quorum and procedure at meetings, election and terms of office of committee members, and grounds on which an office of a committee member becomes vacant.
The rules of the association will determine the membership of the executive committee. If the association has adopted the model rules, the executive committee will consist of a president, two vice presidents, a treasurer, a secretary.
Unless the rules of an association provide otherwise, a committee member may also hold the position of public officer.
The association’s legislation does not set out specific qualifications for persons who can become an executive committee member.
Under the model rules, any member of an association can be elected as an executive committee member. An association's rules may also set out additional qualifications for membership of the committee.
The association's legislation does not prohibit persons under the age of 18 (minors) becoming a member of the executive committee. However, care should be taken in this regard as questions about the legal capacity of minors can be complex. An association that wishes to allow persons under the age of 18 years of age to be executive members of the committee should obtain its own legal advice in relation to this issue.
There is no prohibition in the legislation on the payment of committee members, provided that the payment is a bona fide payment of remuneration. However, if it is intended that committee members be paid, it is advisable to provide for this in the rules of the association, to avoid potential disputes regarding this issue.
The Act expressly requires that the public officer be a resident of Tasmania. There is no express requirement that members of the management committee be resident in Tasmania.
However, the model rules state that a vacation of office occurs when a member ceases to be ordinarily resident in Tasmania.
The rules of an association are required to set out the circumstances in which a casual vacancy may occur. Model rule 25 provides for casually vacancy on the executive committee will occur if the committee member:
The rules of the association will determine how a casual vacancy of the executive committee is to be filled. If the rules of an incorporated association do not deal with this issue, the relevant provisions of the model rules will apply. Model rule 22(5) provides that the committee may appoint a member of the association to fill a casual vacancy. The appointed member holds office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting following the date of his or her appointment.
We have no power to intervene in disputes between the public and the executive committee, or between association members and the executive committee. The executive committee is responsible for interpreting the rules of the association.
It is a breach of the Act for an association to be without a Public Officer for a period longer than 14 days. The public officer’s name and current address must at all times be registered with Consumer Affairs.
A person is not eligible to be appointed as a public officer unless the person has attained the age of eighteen years and is resident in this State.
The role of public officer is in some instances misunderstood. The public officer has a number of statutory roles to fulfil. The principal role is that of being the official of the association on whom notice is required to be served in the legal sense. For example a summons to appear in a Court has to be served on the public officer.
The public officer also must:
The rules of an association may also give the public officer further duties to fulfil.
In some instances it is apparent that public officers have regarded themselves as the principal official of the association to whom all other officials are subservient. This is not the case. The public officer is the servant of the committee. He or she is appointed by the committee and may be dismissed and replaced by the committee. An association's rule which purports to provide a different method of appointment or dismissal is invalid and is overridden by the provisions of the Act which are set out fully in Section 14.
