[Aust-NZ] Fwd: Where to now? - formal incorporation

Tue Nov 24 16:27:09 EST 2009

Hi Bruce, etc...

I'm not familiar with the details of the Victorian system, but the defintion of "meetings" in similar situation in NZ is also defined in the deed, and can include video & tele-conferences, IRC, etc, not just physical meetings on one site. Which of these are acceptable within in our organisation is determined by the organisation & specified in the registered documentations for the organisation.

I'm cautiously interested in forming as an affiliate of OSDC, but as we are an international chapter (OZ/NZ?Pacific Is) of an existing international organisation (OSGEO), establishment within the framework of yet another organisation (OSDC) may have issues and almost certainly has complications, and drafting our own purposes & rules/guidelines I think is likely to be prefereable to being bound to someone elses.

And again looking at the international nature of this chapter, does incorporation under the Victorian legislation allow for out of state & non-Australian members & officials? I have not found any such restriction, apart from the "public Official" role, but I note that participation in the management committee under Victorian law entails liability under Victorian law, and out-of-state & overseas committee members may not be able to be held liable under Victorian state law, which could impose restrictions. Some advice in this area is needed, 

I know in NZ I was able to call the help line at the appropriate government dept to have these questions answered, hopefully someone local could address this in Victoria?

If we are looking to follow thge Victorian route, this might be useful, a set of model rules which can be adapted for an individual organisations needs (linked to from the Pilch site): 

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA256EB5000644CE/page/Associations+Clubs+%26+Fundraising-Incorporated+Associations-Rules?OpenDocument&1=05-Associations+Clubs+%26+Fundraising~&2=20-Incorporated+Associations~&3=040-Rules~

Cheers,

   Brent

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, bruce <bruce at bannerman.id.au> wrote:

> From: bruce <bruce at bannerman.id.au>
> Subject: Re: [Aust-NZ] Fwd: Where to now?
> To: "Aust-NZ OSGeo" <Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org>
> Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:50 PM
> Hi Brent,
> 
> Yes, it is about time we got this sorted out... now that we
> have that minor distraction of FOSS4G out of the way.
> 
> 
> Several of us discussed Incorporation at our recent
> Melbourne get together.
> 
> Hamish Taylor has provided some very good resources for
> incorporated associations in Victoria (See attached).
> 
> There are a few checklists (via the urls) to fill in to
> help define the best structure.
> 
> 
> Does anyone want to have a go at filling them in?
> 
> 
> Once all of the planning and paperwork has been sorted out
> and agreed on. We will need to hold a 'Pre-Incorporation
> Meeting'. We will need to give at least 21 days notice for
> the meeting. It also appears that we will need at least 5
> people at the meeting. see [1].
> 
> 
> The next time that we'll probably have a number of us
> together is at Spatial at Gov next year (around mid year I
> think).
> 
> 
> Alternatively we can arrange to have at least five people
> in Melbourne for the meeting which shouldn't be hard.
> 
> 
> Who wants to get involved in sorting this out?
> 
> 
> Bruce
> 
> [1] http://www.pilch.org.au/incorporatedassociation/ 
>   5. Hold a pre-incorporation meeting
> 
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: aust-nz-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
> >> [mailto:aust-nz-bounces at lists.osgeo.org]
> On Behalf Of
> >> pcreso at pcreso.com
> >> Sent: Tuesday, 24 November 2009 2:29 PM
> >> To: Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org
> >> Subject: Re: [Aust-NZ] Fwd: Where to now?
> >>
> >> Hmmm...
> >>
> >> I'm not the quietest member here, but to kick this
> off, I'd
> >> like to see formal registration of the chapter as
> a legal
> >> entity move forward.
> >>
> >> Normally as part of this process, the defining
> deed for any
> >> reistered non-profit organisation will require
> rules & info
> >> about intent/purpose, etc.
> >>
> >> While in our case much of this can come from the
> OSGEO parent
> >> organisation, it is also where we add any stuff
> about our
> >> particular intents & purposes.
> >>
> >> If we are going to collect comments on this, I
> think it would
> >> be useful to do so bearing in mind what
> information/forms etc
> >> are required for whatever registration we apply
> for.
> >>
> >> Representing OSGEO at events is pretty simple, but
> it would
> >> be nice to be able to represent the Aust-NZ
> Chapter (as a
> >> registered organisation) at events such as SSSI,
> as we have
> >> discussed recently.
> >>
> >> If we do want to enhance our local (Australasian
> & Pacific
> >> Island) presence, it will be easier if we have
> some actual
> >> legal status.
> >>
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >>
> >>   Brent Wood
> >>
> >>
> >> --- On Tue, 11/24/09, Bruce Bannerman
> >> <bruce.bannerman.osgeo at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> From: Bruce Bannerman <bruce.bannerman.osgeo at gmail.com>
> >>> Subject: [Aust-NZ] Fwd: Where to now?
> >>> To: Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org
> >>> Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 3:47 PM
> >>>
> >>> We have around 120 members on the list.
> >>>
> >>> I've sent this around again, because I'd like
> to hear some thoughts
> >>> from some of our other list members who
> normally passively receive
> >>> email distributed to the list.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> OSGeo AustNZ is your community too.
> >>>
> >>> What directions would you like to see OSGeo
> AustNZ go in?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Bruce
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ---------- Forwarded message
> >>> ----------
> >>> From: Bruce Bannerman <bruce.bannerman.osgeo at gmail.com>
> >>>
> >>> Date: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 5:20 PM
> >>> Subject: Where to now?
> >>> To: Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Now that FOSS4G-2009 is finished and has been
> well
> >> received, it may be
> >>> time to start thinking about which directions
> we want to take
> >>> OSGeo-AustNZ.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> There appears to be a definite desire for
> information and
> >> workshops on
> >>> OSGeo projects in our region.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Perhaps Shaun Kolomeitz and Simon Hope have
> hit on a good way of
> >>> building the Australian and New Zealand
> communities by
> >> targeting local
> >>> groups? However I feel we should keep the
> AustNZ focus to keep the
> >>> overall momentum going (as per Open Source
> Industry Australia).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Alternate between informal sessions at the pub
> and info sessions
> >>> hosted by kind benefactors?
> >>>
> >>> Borrowing from a successful format that I saw
> in the early 1990's
> >>> (G.T.), for info sessions, it may be good to
> focus on demonstrating
> >>> solutions to problems and finishing with "oh
> and by the
> >> way, we used
> >>> these OSGeo projects to do this". This could
> be followed by
> >> dedicated
> >>> "under to hood" [1] sessions for more detail
> if required.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> For 2010, a few of us have volunteered to help
> Ben Searle with
> >>> Spatial at Gov. We will probably have an OSGeo
> presence and workshops
> >>> there.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Lets get some thoughts going...
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On another note, at FOSS4G, Arnulf Christl
> suggested that
> >> we may wish
> >>> to consider running another regional FOSS4G
> event in two years time.
> >>>
> >>> I canvased a few people at FOSS4G and believe
> that we'd get
> >> a few key
> >>> Developers / Vendors back here if we did.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I think that if we were to do this, running it
> in New Zealand this
> >>> time would be ideal.
> >>>
> >>> Is there any interest in this? This could
> become a regular event if
> >>> there is sufficient interest.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Bruce
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> [1] I hope you don't mind my using the term
> Ian and Ben J
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
> >>>
> >>>
> _______________________________________________
> >>> Aust-NZ mailing list
> >>> Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org
> >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/aust-nz
> >>>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Aust-NZ mailing list
> >> Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org
> >> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/aust-nz
> >>
> 
> 
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
> 
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