The founding document that sets out what Refs Inc is for and the rules it operates by. This page holds the agreed framework while the adopted wording is confirmed.
This is a framework, not the adopted constitution. The clauses below set out the structure a Refs Inc constitution is expected to contain. The actual, adopted wording must be taken from the organisation's real records, or drafted and passed by the committee and members, before it stands as the governing document. Placeholders are marked. Nothing here has been invented as if already adopted.
A constitution (also called rules of association) is the founding legal document of a not-for-profit. It sets out what the organisation is for and the rules everyone agrees to operate by. A complete Refs Inc constitution is expected to cover the following.
The registered name of the organisation and the meaning of key terms used throughout. Registered name to confirm.
Why Refs Inc exists: to referee, train, and grow Australian tournament paintball, to maintain a consistent national officiating standard, and to operate as a not-for-profit for the benefit of the sport.
A statement that the assets and income are applied solely to the purpose, that no part is distributed to members, and how any surplus on winding up is dealt with. Exact wording to align with the chosen legal form.
Who can be a member, how members are admitted, the rights and obligations of membership, subscriptions if any, and how membership ends. Membership classes and fees to confirm.
The office bearer roles (President, Treasurer, Secretary, and any others), how the committee is elected, terms of office, powers and duties, and how vacancies are filled. Current office bearers listed on the governance overview, pending confirmation.
The annual general meeting, general meetings, notice periods, quorum, voting, and how special resolutions are passed.
The financial year, keeping of accounts, who may authorise spending, and the reporting of finances to members. Consistent with the Treasurer role.
How disputes between members, or between a member and the organisation, are handled, and the grounds and process for discipline. This works alongside the complaints and disputes process and, for on-field matters, the tournament rulebook.
How the constitution itself may be changed, and what happens to any remaining assets if the organisation is wound up (in a not-for-profit, typically passed to a similar not-for-profit purpose).
Next step: confirm Refs Inc's legal form and locate the existing rules of association, or have this framework drafted into full clauses and adopted by the committee. Until then, this page stands as the agreed structure only.