Index CONSTITUTION OF THE RETURNED & SERVICES LEAGUE OF AUSTRALIA (QUEENSLAND BRANCH) APPENDIX E STATE COUNCIL E1. Purpose of State Council... 2 E2. Matters for consideration by State Council... 2 E3. Power to form Sub-Committees... 32 E4. Delegations from the Board... 3 E5. Meetings of State Council... 3 E6. Executive to report to State Council... 54 E7. Minutes... 54
E1. Purpose of State Council 1. State Council is to be representative of the Members and the Sub-Branches to which they belong, and has been established by this Constitution to give Members a forum in which to raise ideas and voice concerns. 2. State Council will in turn raise those matters with the Board and make recommendations to the Board on how to deal with them. 3. The Board must take into consideration recommendations received from State Council, but ultimately, must make its own independent and informed decisions on those matters. E2. Matters for consideration by State Council Without limiting the generality of clause 13.1 of thise Constitution, matters upon which State Council may report and make recommendations to the Board include, but are not limited to: (e) (f) (g) (h) (j) (k) (l) (k)(m) applications for membership; membership fees; Members' services, including but not limited to introducing new services, expanding services and discontinuing services; training for Members and Sub-Branches including training in assisting veterans with pensions and other entitlements and, where necessary, in corporate governance and regulatory compliance; Sub-Branch and District Branch governance; establishing Chapters and Auxiliaries; local ceremonies and functions on commemorative days including Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and other commemorative days; welfare initiatives generally and welfare initiatives at local levels; raising public awareness and support for RSL Queensland; fundraising at the local levels and generally; and research and development aimed at improving RSL Queensland's understanding of the challenges faced by service and ex-service men and women and their dependents and implementing appropriate programs in response to those challenges; amendments to District and Sub-Branch constitutions, including any model constitutions adopted by the Board for use by the District and Sub- Branches; and any other matters referred to State Council by the Board.
E3. Power to form Sub-Committees State Council will have power to form Sub Committees and to co-opt onto those sub committees such persons it considers appropriate, whether Members or not, to assist it in deliberating on and forming recommendations to the Board on matters of importance to members and their Sub-Branches. E4. Delegations from the Board Nothing in clause 13 of the Constitution or this Appendix E prevents the Board from delegating any of its powers to the State Council pursuant to clause C12 (1)(p) of Appendix C. Formatted: Font: Bold E5. Meetings of State Council 1. Circulating Resolutions The State Councillors may pass a resolution without a State Council meeting being held if all State Councillors entitled to vote on the resolution (except a state Councillor absent from Australia who has not left an email address at which he or she may be given notice) sign a document containing a statement that he or she is in favour of the resolution set out in the document. For the avoidance of doubt, such resolutions are only effective if they are passed unanimously. Separate copies of a document may be used for signing by State Councillors if the wording of the resolution and statement is identical in each copy. The resolution is passed when the last State Councillor signs. An email message addressed to or received by the Chair of the State Council and purporting to be signed or sent by a State Councillor must be treated as a document in writing signed by that State Councillor. Formatted: Not Highlight 2. Notice of Meetings of State Council The Chair of the State Council must ensure that notice of each State Council meeting is given to each State Councillor and each Executive Officer at least 7 days before the meeting or at another time determined by State Council, except that: the Executive and State Council members may waive in writing the required period of notice for a particular meeting; and it is not necessary to give a notice of a State Council meeting to a Executive Officer or State Councillor who is out of Australia or who has been given leave of absence by State Council. 3. Technology Meeting of State Council A State Council meeting may be held using telephone or, if consented to by all State Councillors and the Executive, other technology. The consent may be a standing one. Consent may only withdrawn within a reasonable period before the meeting.
If a State Council meeting is held using any technology and all State Councillors and members of the Executive take part in the meeting, they must be treated as having consented to the use of the technology for that meeting. The following provisions apply to a technology meeting: (ii) each of the members of the Executive and State Council taking part in the meeting must be able to hear and be heard by each other; and at the commencement of the meeting each member of the Executive and State Councillor must announce his or her presence to all the other persons taking part in the meeting. (e) (f) Minutes of the meeting must be taken. No person may leave a technology meeting by disconnecting his or her link to the meeting unless that person has previously notified the Chair of his or her intention to do so. A State Councillor is conclusively presumed to have been present and to have formed part of a quorum at all times during a technology meeting unless that State Councillor has previously obtained the express consent of the Chair to leave the meeting. 4. The Chair and Chairing Meetings of State Council At the first meeting of the State Council, the State Council will elect from the District Presidents a District President to chair meetings of the State Council on such terms and conditions as it considers appropriate. The State President must, where possible, chair each meeting of the State Congress. If the State PresidentChair is not present at a meeting or is unable to preside over the meeting as Chair, the District Presidents present at the meeting must elect another District President to Chair that meeting. the Deputy President must chair that meeting. When a Chairs term expires, the State Council must elect from the District Presidents a new a District President to chair meetings of the State Council on such terms and conditions as it considers appropriate. If the State President and Deputy President are not present at a meeting or are unable to preside over the meeting as Chair, the Vice President must chair that meeting. The Board's representative on State Council; Formatted: Left is not eligible for election as the chair of State Council; (ii) is entitled to address State Council and participate in debate, but will not be entitled to vote; and Formatted: Indent: Left: 3 cm, No bullets or numbering Formatted: Indent: Left: 3 cm, Hanging: 1.5 cm, No bullets or numbering
(iii) will act as a conduit between the board and State Council. If neither the President, Deputy President or Vice President are present at a meeting, or if none of them are able to preside as Chair at a meeting, the District Presidents present must elect one of the remaining Directors present at the meeting who must preside as Chair at that meeting but only for the purpose of adjourning the meeting to a future date at which one of the Executive will be present and in a position to Chair the meeting. Formatted: Indent: Left: 3 cm, No bullets or numbering 5. Quorum The number of State Councillors whose presence is necessary to constitute a quorum is at least half the number of State Councillors comprising State Council. 6. Passing of Resolutions at State Council All resolutions will be passed by a simple majority. The Chair has one deliberative vote only and does not have a second or casting vote. If the vote is tied, the motion will be decided in the negative. E6. Executive to report to State Council At each State Council Meeting a member of the Executive must report to State Council on all matters raised with the Board by State Council and the decisions of the Board, if any, on those matters. E7. Minutes 1. State Council will cause minutes to be kept of each State Council meeting in which is recorded: proceedings and resolutions of each State Council meeting; and resolutions passed without a meeting. 2. Upon confirmation of the minutes at the next State Council Meeting, the Chair must sign the minutes evidencing that they are a true and accurate record of the meeting and the resolutions passed at the meeting. 3. The State Council must supply to the Board copies of the minutes of each State Council meeting.