The ‘Secretary’s Satchel’ – a great guide for Secretaries

by | Good Governance

The position of Secretary is an important one within any Incorporated Association in Victoria and our Secretaries have some specific legal responsibilities that come from the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012.  And under this new Act, the role of Secretary has changed somewhat, compared with that which came from the previous legislation.  In particular, the old term ‘Public Officer’ no longer exists, and the functions for which the Public Officer was previously responsible, have now been allocated to the Secretary.

For some group that means little change as their Secretary was also their Public Officer in the past.  But for other groups that had previously chosen to keep the two roles separate, they can be left wondering what to do now.  The good news is you can still continue to separate the two roles, by having two different ‘secretarial’ roles.  For example, you might call the previous Secretary the ‘Administrative Secretary’, and the previous Public Officer the ‘Reporting Secretary’ (to reflect their primary function of being the person that coordinates the group’s reporting to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV).

These changes can be rather confusing at times so I always refer people to the Secretary’s Satchel – a comprehensive guide developed by Justice Connect to guide the Secretary’s role in running an Incorporated Association and reporting to CAV.  It includes toolkits, samples and precedents, and various examples that you can use to assist you in meeting your legal responsibilities as Secretary.  It is designed to help the Secretary (and others!) within your Association by explaining legal obligations and offering advice for running your Incorporated Association.

The Secretary’s Satchel can be found online at http://www.nfplaw.org.au/secretaryguide and can be downloaded either as the full document or in sections.

I highly recommend your committee obtaining a copy and checking out all the valuable information it contains.

You can download this Blog Post as a tip sheet by clicking here:Tip Sheet_ The ‘Secretary’s Satchel’ – a great guide for Secretaries Jan 16, 2017