Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers
Constitution (October 2008)
Contents
- Name
- Aims
- Membership
- Register of Indexers
- Subscriptions
- Council
- Election of Office Bearers
- Tenure of Office
- Power of Council
- Meetings
- Branches
- Finance
- Amendments to Constitution
- Definitions
- Appendix A
- Appendix B
- History note
The name of the Society will be Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (hereinafter called ‘the Society’).
The aims of the Society are:
a) to improve the quality of indexing in Australia and New Zealand
b) to promote the training, continuing professional development, status and interests of indexers in Australia and New Zealand
c) to act as an advisory body on indexing to which authors, editors, publishers and others may apply for guidance
d) to provide opportunities for those interested in and connected with indexing to meet and exchange information, ideas and experiences relating to all aspects of indexing
e) to establish and maintain relationships between the Society and other bodies with related interests
f) to publish information in accord with the foregoing aims.
Membership of the Society will be open to persons and institutions engaged in indexing, and to others interested in promoting the aims of the Society.
a) Admission to the Society will be by completion of the application for membership form and payment of the subscription fee applicable at the time.
b) Categories of membership
i. Individual Member
ii. Institutional Member
Institutional members will nominate an individual to represent them at meetings of the Society. Such nominees will be eligible to exercise all rights of membership except that of election to the Council of the Society.
iii. Student Member
A student will be admitted to the Society upon completion of an application for membership form and payment of the student subscription fee applicable at the time.
iv. Honorary Life Member
Honorary Life Membership will be awarded to members in recognition of outstanding service to indexing and/or to the Society with due consideration to guidelines (refer Appendix A) drawn up and amended as considered necessary from time to time by the Council.
• An Honorary Life Member of the Society will have full membership rights and will be deemed a financial member without being required to pay membership fees.
• No more than two nominations will be submitted to any Annual General Meeting.
c) Members' addresses
i. The address of each member will be given by the member concerned to the Secretary. This address will be the registered address until it is altered by due notice given to the Secretary.
ii. Any notice sent to a member at their registered address will be deemed to have been served on the day when in the ordinary course of events the notice would have been delivered.
The Society will establish a Register of Indexers recording those who have been assessed by peer review as meeting the Society's registration criteria. The inclusion of a member’s name in the Register will entitle that member to be known as a Registered Indexer of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers so long as he/she remains a financial member of the Society. To ensure standards are maintained procedures for renewal of registration will follow the guidelines as set out in the Council's document on Policy and Procedures for Registration.
5. Subscriptions
a) Each member will pay such annual subscriptions as may from time to time be determined by the Council.
b) Subscriptions will be payable in advance and fall due on 1 July
c) New members joining the Society after 1 January will be eligible for full membership rights on payment of half the prescribed fee for that year.
d) Upon election as an Honorary Life Member no further subscriptions are payable.
e) Members whose subscriptions are more than three months in arrears will be
deemed to have resigned but may, upon payment of such rejoining fee as the Council may from time to time determine, be reinstated to membership of the Society.
The affairs of the Society will be managed by a Council which will consist of the Executive, up to five other members and ex-officio: the Presidents of Branches and other members which the Council may coopt.
a) The Executive will consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.
b) At meetings of the Council a quorum will consist of three (including either the President or Vice-President).
c) The President will have a casting vote in the event of equal voting.
d) Casual vacancies in any of the offices will be filled by invitation of the Executive and the persons filling such vacancies will hold office until the conclusion of the following Annual General Meeting.
a) Only financial members of the Society can stand for office, or vote at elections or meetings.
b) Election for all offices will be conducted at each Annual General Meeting. Those elected will hold office for one year until the conclusion of the following Annual General Meeting.
c) Nominations for office will be signed by two members of the Society and countersigned by the nominee.
d) Nominations will reach the Secretary not later than fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
e) The list of candidates for election, if more than one nomination for a position, will be circulated to all members not later than seven days prior to the Annual General meeting.
f) Voting will be by ballot. Absentee votes will reach the Returning Officer not later than the day preceding the Annual General Meeting.
g) A Returning Officer will be appointed by the Council at least seven days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
h) In the event of no nominations being submitted, the Returning Officer may call for nominations without notice at the Annual General Meeting and proxy votes will be accepted.
No member of the Executive will be eligible to serve more than five consecutive years in the one office.
The Council will have and may exercise and perform the following powers and duties:
a) conduct the business and carry out the aims of the Society as set out in Clause 2
b) establish subcommittees and appoint their members
c) coopt additional members for specific purposes eg Membership Secretary, Web Manager, Newsletter Editor
d) accept and present Honorary Life Membership nominations to the Annual General Meeting (refer Appendix B)
e) grant awards
f) convene, postpone and /or cancel meetings
g) generally deal with the property and monies of the Society.
a) Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting will be held not later than the last day of October. The business of the Annual General Meeting will include:
i. election of the Executive and other Council members as provided in Clauses 6 and 7
ii. consideration of the annual report
iii. consideration of a financial statement for the past financial year.
b) Special Meetings
Special meetings will be called on fourteen days notice on the decision of the Executive or the written request of at least ten members
c) Quorum
A quorum for the Annual General Meeting and special meetings will be formed by ten members, personally present and each entitled to vote.
d) Proxy voting
Proxy voting at either Annual General Meetings or Special Meetings will be permitted for voting on any issue.
i. Proxies must be members of the Society.
ii. Members can nominate another member or the chairperson of the meeting as proxy.
iii. Notice of intention to vote by proxy and the choice of the nominated proxy must reach the chairperson of the meeting not later than the day preceding the meeting.
iv. Notice of intention to vote by proxy must be submitted on the prescribed form.
v. In the case of election of office bearers, proxy voting can only be used where no nominations have been received and the Returning Officer calls for nominations without notice at the Annual General Meeting. In all other cases, absentee ballots will be used for elections of office bearers.
a) Formation
Subject to the approval of the Council and pursuant to these rules:
i. no fewer than ten members in a geographical region may form a Branch
ii. once a Branch is formed all members of the Society within that geographical region are deemed to be members of that Branch unless they choose to be a member of a Branch more convenient to their location
iii. Members in a geographical region where there is no Branch can choose to join an existing Branch.
b) Operation
Each Branch will:
i. have a Branch constitution which will be consistent with the Constitution of the Society
ii. be provided with a non-refundable establishment grant and be provided with further financial support at the discretion of the Executive
iii. be managed by a president and officers elected by and from the financial members of the Branch in accordance with the Branch constitution
iv. be dissolved if membership falls below ten members and all property and funds will be vested in the Society
v. comply with the Constitution; actions inconsistent with the Constitution of the Society will result in dissolution of the Branch
vi. be responsible for maintaining contact with members through Branch meetings and/or activities including at least the Branch Annual General Meeting.
a) A bank account will be opened in the name of the Society. Cheques will be signed by any two of the Executive.
b) Funds may from time to time be transferred to an investment account the authority for which will be signed by any two of the Executive.
c) The financial year will commence on 1 July.
d) A financial statement will be presented to the Annual General Meeting.
e) The assets and income of the Society will be applied solely in the furtherance of its aims. No portion will be distributed directly or indirectly to its members except as bona-fide compensation for services rendered, as expenses incurred on behalf of the Society or for a purpose approved by the Council.
f) If upon the winding-up or dissolution of the Society there remain, after the settlement of all its debts and liabilities, any assets or property whatsoever, those assets or property will not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Society, in accordance with Clause 12 (e) above. They will be given or transferred to some other society having aims similar to those of the Society. Such society will be determined by the members of the Society at a Special Meeting at or before the time of dissolution. If no such society can be agreed upon, then distribution will be to some charitable cause determined by the members of the Society at the Special Meeting.
13. Amendments to the Constitution
a) The Constitution can be amended only at an Annual General Meeting or Special Meeting.
b) Proposals to amend the Constitution will be submitted in writing to the Secretary not later than twenty-eight days before the date of the meeting at which they are to be considered.
Definitions
In this Constitution, unless otherwise stated:
'Society' means the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers
'Council' means the Council referred to in Clause 6 of this Constitution
'Executive' is as defined in Clause 6(a) of this Constitution
'Office' means the office of any member of the Council, Executive and non-Executive
'Student' means full-time student in a recognised course and not concurrently in full-time paid employment.
A ‘meeting’ need not be face-to-face but may be electronic or encompass other formats.
Appendix A
Guidelines for criteria for the nomination of candidates for Honorary Life Membership
1. A person will have at least ten years membership of the Society.
2. Evidence of outstanding service will be:
a) service as council/committee member at Society or Branch level
b) details of contribution to indexing and/or the Society.
3. No more than two nominations will be presented in any one year.
Appendix B
Guidelines for election of an Honorary Life Member
1. Nominations accompanied by an outline of the case supporting Life Membership will be submitted to the Council of the Society by a nominator and a seconder.
2. The case may be supported by testimonials if considered appropriate.
3. Upon acceptance by a two thirds majority decision of the Council that the nominee has contributed outstanding service, such nomination will be presented to the next Annual General Meeting for voting by members, where a two thirds majority will apply.
History Note
Constitution adopted February 1984
Clause 5 (e) - Amended February 1989 - Amended February 1992
Clause 8 - Amended February 1992
Clause 11 - Inserted March 1990
Clause 6 - Amended February 1993
Clause 10 (c) - Amended February 1993
Clauses 3, 5, 6, 9, 11 - Amended 28 February 1996
Appendix A & B - Added 28 February 1996
Revision of 1996 Constitution was approved on 17 November 2004
This revision includes substantive changes (listed below) and simplification/clarification of language. These changes have resulted in some cases in changes in numbering of subsections when compared with the 1996 version.
Clause 1 - Name changed
Clauses 2(a), 2(b), 4, 5(b), 5(c), 6(Heading), 8, 10(a), 11(ai), 11(aii), 12(c), Appendix A 2(a) - Amended
Clauses 3(bi), 7(a), 9(e), 11(aiii), 11(bvi), Definitions - Added
Clauses 3(dii), 3(e), 5(f), 10(a) of 1996 version - Deleted
Amendments approved 18 March 2005
Clause 7 (f) Amended
Clause 7 (g) Amended
Clause 7 (h) Added
Clause 10 (d) Added
Clause 13 (b) Amended
Amendments approved October 2006
ANZSI Committee changed to ANZSI Council
Clause 7(h) Amended
Clause 10 (d) Amended
Clause 10 (d) (v) Added
Amendments approved October 2008
Clause 4 amended
