The law is changing and the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 requires us to re-incorporate and meet new requirements.
As part of that, we have to pass a new Constitution.
The Committee proposes the below new Consitution and will hold a Special General Meeting to recieve approval for it.
The Committee welcomes feedback. Please email any comments to [email protected] with “Constituion” in the subject line.
Key Information
What is a Constitution?
This is the document that runs our Society. Everything we do, anything the Committee decides, must be in line with what it says.
What does this mean for the Committee members?
Simply put – They now hold statutory (legal) requirements to act in the best interest of the Society (club / WATRC) and face legal repercussions if they don’t. They must ensure that the Society acts according to the law, including all the laws about paperwork.
What does Society mean?
WATRC is an “incorporated society”. We are not a registered charity. Imagine a company, but we don’t have shareholders, we have members instead, and we’re a “not for profit”. But the Committee acts to make sure we don’t run out of money.
We’re a group of people that have a legal entity to do stuff like get insurance that protects us, buy things like the trailer, and have a bank account to run the place. We also set rules so that competitions can run effectively.
If we were a registered charity we would have to give resources (like time and money) to people that aren’t members and it’s a different thing to being a sporting organisation. The paperwork would also increase and our Committee members are people with day jobs. We’d need to pay for external advisors to help us.
What are the changes required by law
Key thing – paperwork and financial reports have to get better, and Committee members have legal obligations, which is a good thing from the old law which was passed in 1908. You can read more about it here: Key changes | Incorporated Societies
Under the committee from 2024-2025 onwards, including the current 2025-2026 committee, our financial reports exceed the requirements of the old 1908 law and the new 2022 law (we’re really small, so our financial reports don’t have to be complex, which costs money).
Our current treasurer is a qualified accountant (Chartered Global Management Accountant) which means we’re in a good place to make sure our paperwork meets the requirements.
How did the Committee create the new Constitution?
We used the Incorporated Societies Registrar’s template, with changes required by IRD to keep our tax-exempt status. We also made some changes to reflect the nature of our club
- Officers and members can face removal if they’re convicted of an animal welfare offence.
- We can provide “Notices” (such as informing members of an Annual General Meeting) by email.
- Quorum (the number of people who have to come to a meeting) to meet the size of our club.
- Shorten notice periods to require things to be discussed at an Annual or Special General Meeting, to reflect the more casual/informal nature of the club.
- Automatic lapse of membership for people who don’t pay their membership fees, and easy re-instatment when they do. (This is to reflect how/when most members pay their fees later during the season).
These aren’t the only changes, but the most important (or “Material”). Members are encouraged to read the proposed Constitution and ask questions if you don’t understand something. “Legal documents” should be clear, and easy to understand. Please ask questions if you’re not sure, no question is too silly. We’re a club that runs for its members, and members should understand what the rules are.
These changes are OK under the new law. The new Incorporated Societies Act 2022 allows us to customise things to reflect the nature of our club.
Feedback and Next Steps
We will hold a “Special General Meeting” at one of the next rides to pass the new Constitution. There are formalities involved including sending Members a notice about it,
If you have feedback, would like to request changes, or have questions, including if you agree with the new Constitution, please let us know. Please email [email protected] with your feedback, please put “Constitution” in the subject line to make sure we take special notice of it, but it’s OK if you don’t do that.
Ride Rules
Our Ride Rules are set by the Committee and are not the Constitution. The Constitution (the new proposed one, and the current one) allows the Committee to set these rules or “by-laws:
This is an “operational document” and not about how the club / Society is run.
It’s important for flexibility, to respond to changing conditions, member sentiment/feedback, fairness, and to meet sporting requirements, that these are not set in the Constitution so that they can be changed when needed without the formality and procedure of a full club / Society meeting.
The Committee (past, current, and future) will always respect membership body wishes before changing major operational documents.