Blind Citizens Australia - Annual General Meeting 2016
Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) will hold its 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM)
in Sydney, at the Castlereagh Club, 199 Castlereagh Street Sydney, on Saturday
26th November 2016 at 4.00 PM - check your local time - 1:00 PM Perth time.
Annual General Meeting:The AGM will be held in conjunction with the Annual
Meeting of Blind Citizens NSW and a combined social function.
The BCA AGM will be streamed live over the internet.
The agenda for the AGM can be downloaded here: BCA 2016 AGM Agenda (Word doc
40kb) http://bca.org.au/annual-general-meeting-2016/and includes presentation ;
and discussion of the Annual Report and Financial Statements as well as the
announcement of the election of “State Representatives” to the newly
established National Policy Council. There has been no notification of special
business for the meeting.
All Full Members are entitled to one vote each in relation to any resolutions
put forward at the AGM. If Full Members are unable to attend this meeting, they
may appoint the chairperson, or another Full Member as a proxy. Information
about Proxy Voting is available from the National Office.
It is important to note that no election will take place at the AGM. The method
used to elect “State Representatives” to the National Policy Council is by
postal vote. All eligible full members of BCA will have the opportunity to vote
via a postal ballot should an election be necessary in their State of residence.
Board Elections:There will be no election of Directors in association with this
year’s Annual General Meeting as none of the current Board Members’ term of
appointment concludes at this time.
NPC Elections:The National Policy Council (NPC) is a new sub-committee of the
Board which has been developed following extensive consultation, to separate
the policy responsibilities from the organisational development work which has
historically been the remit of the NPDC. As provided for in the BCA
Constitution, the Board has recently approved By-Laws for the establishment of
the NPC. Copies of these By-Laws are available on request from the National
Office.
Call for Nominations (have closed) for State Representatives to the BCA
National Policy CouncilAs 2016-2017 will be the first year of operation for
this new committee, elections will be held for the appointment of one “State
Representative” from each State, and from the ACT and Northern Territory.
Subsequent to the election of “State Representatives” a ballot will be held
among the appointees to determine who shall serve a one year term and who will
serve for two years. In future years half of the NPC “State Representatives”
will be elected in association with each Annual General Meeting.
Nominations have closed for State Representatives to the BCA National Policy
Council As 2016-2017.
Ballot Papers:Only Full Members of Blind Citizens Australia as at 30 June 2016
may cast a postal vote.
Completed ballot papers must be returned to the Company Secretary at the
National Office no later than 5:00PM Tuesday 22 November 2016.
If there is only one valid nominee for election as the “State Representative”
for a State or Territory at the close of the nomination period, that member
will be declared elected and there will not be a ballot in that State.
If there are two or more nominees for election as the “State Representative”
for a State or Territory at the close of the nomination period, a ballot will
be held among members resident in that State. At the close of the poll, the
nominee with the highest number of valid votes received will be declared
elected.
If a ballot is required in a State or Territory, ballot papers, along with the
details of all nominees and their supporting statements, will be mailed to all
eligible Full Members resident in that State, by Monday 7 November 2016.
Completed ballot papers must be returned to the Company Secretary at the
National Office no later than 5:00PM Tuesday 22 November 2016. Any ballot
papers received after this time will not be counted.
The Company Secretary will declare the results of all polls at the AGM on 26
November 2016.
Please contact the Company Secretary, Dan Stubbs, on 0437 253 543, for any
clarification of the nomination process.
Annual Report:If you would like a personal copy of the 2015-2016 BCA Annual
Report, please call the National Office on 03 9654 1400 or 1800 033 660 to
lodge this request. This Report will be available in large print, Braille, or
by email only. As soon as the Report is available it will be sent to you in
your preferred format. The Report will also be published on the BCA Website.
Constitution Amendments:There are no Constitutional Amendments to be considered
in association with the 2016 AGM.
Summary:On behalf of the Board and staff of BCA, I do hope you can join us at
this year’s Annual General Meeting. I encourage you to consider nominating for
a position as a “State Representative” to the newly formed National Policy
Council. As an organisation of and for people who are blind or vision impaired,
it is important that we acknowledge and support each other to enhance the lives
of people who are blind or vision impaired.
Dan StubbsBlind Citizens Australia Company Secretary0437 253 543bca@xxxxxxxxxx