Annual General Meeting (AGM) season is coming up, so it is timely to revisit the requirements for AGMs for incorporated associations in Victoria.

Firstly make sure you follow the requirements of the Victorian Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (the AIR Act) in relation to AGMs.

Justice Connect’s Secretary’s Satchel contains a whole chapter on the AIR Act’s requirements for AGMs.

It is a fabulous resource for any committee or board members of associations incorporated under the AIR Act (not just the Secretary!)

The Secretary’s Satchel can be found online at http://www.nfplaw.org.au/secretaryguide.

Also check on the requirements of your group’s Rules of association – make sure any additional AGM requirements your Rules impose on you, over and above the requirements of the AIR Act, are also followed in preparing for and running your AGM.

And in addition to the legal requirements, here are a few good tips to running a successful AGM:

1. I think it is a good idea to keep the formalities as brief as possible – most people find this part of the AGM fairly tedious, so do what you can to get through it quickly.  I find presenting the reports ‘as read’ is a good way to save time, rather than painstakingly delivering them verbatim.
2. Have a great speaker that interests people enough to motivate them to come along.  Find a topic that is particularly relevant to the work of your group in some way.  Maybe survey your members to find out what they would like to hear about too.
3. And have some social time for members to catch up – a dinner, a BBQ lunch, or even just an afternoon tea will give people a chance to mingle, get to know other members, and share their ideas and experiences.

You can download this Blog Post as a tip sheet by clicking here:Tip Sheet_ Preparing for your Annual General Meeting 30 June 2018