1. NAME.

The name of the incorporated association is the "AUSTRALIAN PATTERN ASSOCIATION INC." and it shall hereafter be referred to as the Association.

2. INTERPRETATION

(1) In these rules, unless the contrary appears:

• "Committee" means the committee of management of the Association.
• "Financial year" means the year ending on 30th November.
• "General meeting" means a general meeting of members convened in accordance with Rule 8(1).
• "Member" means a member of the Association.
• "Ordinary Member of the Committee" means a member of the Committee who is not an officer of the Association under Rule 9(2).
• "The Act" means the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.
• "The Regulations" means regulations under the Act.
• "M.A.A.A." means the Model Aeronautical Association of Australia Incorporated.

(2) In these Rules, a reference to the secretary of an Association is a reference:

 (a) where a person holds office under these Rules as secretary of the Association - to that person; and

 (b) in any other case, to the Public Officer of the Association.
 

(3) Words or expressions contained in these rules shall be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1958 and the Act as in force from time to time.

3. OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

(1) To promote and foster interest and participation in radio controlled acrobatic flying throughout Australia.

(2) To promote good fellowship among those interested in acrobatic flying.

 (3) To do all such things and acts conducive to the furtherance of the objects and interests of the       Association.

4. MEMBERSHIP

 Any natural person who is interested in radio control model acrobatic flying shall be eligible for membership
 on completing membership form Al, and paying the membership fee.

5. LIFE MEMBERS

 Life members are members who are elected by the Committee in recognition of outstanding service to the Association. Life
 members have the same rights and privileges as members, except that no membership fees are payable.

6. REGISTER OF MEMBERS

The Secretary or other such committee member who is nominated by the committee shall keep and maintain a register of members in which shall be entered the name, address, and date of entry of each member, and the register shall be available for inspection by members at the address of the public officer.

7. CONDITIONS OF MEMBERS1UP

(1) Every member must be affiliated with the M.A.A.A.

(2) Any member may resign from the Association, such resignation must be in writing and forwarded to the Secretary of the  Association.
(3) Upon any person ceasing to be a member of the Association for any reason whatsoever they shall not be entitled to the return of their membership subscription or any portion thereof.
(4) The committee may expel from the Association any member whose conduct, in the opinion of the Committee, is discreditable or injurious to the character or interests of the Association.
(5) Before any member is expelled their conduct shall be enquired into by the Committee and the member shall be given the opportunity to defend themselves and to justify or explain their conduct. Provided that there is a quorum established, and the majority of the Committee is present when the matter is enquired into and they are of the opinion that the member has been guilty of such conduct or action as aforesaid, then the Committee may expel or suspend the member from the Association.

8. VOTING

(1) All members shall be entitled to one vote.
(2) Voting shall be at the Annual General Meeting, at other prescribed meetings of the Association or by correspondence.
(3)  Proxy voting shall be allowed and shall be on a signed declaration form A2 lodged before the vote.
(4) In cases of postal voting, members will be allowed 30 days from issue date of ballot in which to cast their vote.
(5)  Postal voting by members unless otherwise stated, or when the vote is for election of office bearers, or rules changes, will  be  on an exception basis. IE: Affirmation or YES votes need not be cast, negative or NO votes are to be lodged as designated on the voting slip within 30 days of the proposal being published.
(6) Results of all items put to members for voting together with the proposal will be published in the Association's newsletter.
(7) The Chairperson shall have a casting vote as well as their member vote.

 9. FEES
 (1) The annual membership fee will be as determined from time to time by the Committee.
 (2) Annual membership fees are for the period 1st December to 30th November of the following year, all members to be notified in writing in November of each year, notification may be via the Association newsletter.

 (3) Any member not renewing their membership by 31st January will be deemed to have lapsed their membership and as such will receive no further correspondence or benefits from the Association.
 (4) Any person joining the Association after the 1st September in any year will be deemed financial until 30th November of the following year.

10. MEETINGS

(1) General Meetings of the Association shall be held when and where as determined by the Committee. All members to be notified in writing via the Association newsletter.

(2) The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held annually at the Association Championships or when and where as determined by the Committee. All members to be notified in writing via the Association newsletter.

(3) Committee meetings shall be held as required by the Committee to carry out the wishes of the members, or to carry out the affairs of the Association as specified in these rules.

(4) A special meeting of members shall be called at the request of the President or the Secretary or any three members of the Committee or at the written request of one third of the financial members of the Association. Such special meeting shall be held within 60 days of such request and all members shall be notified in writing not less than 21 days before such meeting.

(5) The President of the Association shall be the Chairperson at all general meetings.  Should they not be present the members shall elect a member from the floor to take the chair.

(6)  At all meetings the Chairperson's decision on points of order shall be final.

(7)  The Chairperson shall have a casting vote in addition to their member vote.

(8) The Quorum for a general meeting shall be five financial members present plus a minimum of two Committee members.

(9) The Quorum for a Committee meeting shall be any four Committee members.

(10)  If at any meeting there be no quorum within 30 minutes of the time appointed for the meeting then the meeting shall lapse  unless a majority of members present decide to adjourn the meeting for a period not exceeding 30 days. If there be no quorum within 30 minutes after the time appointed for such adjourned meeting then the meeting shall lapse altogether.

  11. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT

(1) The officers of the Association shall be:

 (a) President
 (b) Vice President
 (c) Secretary
 (d) Treasurer
 (e) Contest Director
 (f) Public Relations Officer

(2) Subject to rule 23 of the Act, the Committee shall consist of:
 (a) The officers of the Association.
 (b) 2 ordinary members.

(3) The business and affairs of the Association shall be under the management and control of the committee.

(4) The Committee may, subject to the decisions made at general meetings, exercise all the powers of the Association and do all such acts and things as may be done by the Association or which it considers necessary or expedient to carry out the objects of the Association.

(5) Should any vacancy occur in the Committee or officers of the Association other than in the normal course of elections the Committee shall fill such vacancy from the financial members of the Association and such members duly elected shall hold office for the unexpired portion of their predecessor's term.

(6) All members of the Committee must be financial members of the Association and shall be voted to office at the Annual General Meeting of the Association, or at a special meeting called for this purpose or by a postal vote. The Committee shall hold office for a period of 12 months.

(7)  For the purpose of these rules, the office of an officer of the Association or of an ordinary member of the Committee becomes vacant if the officer or member:
(a) Ceases to be a member of the Association
(b)  Resigns his office by notice in writing given to the Secretary

(8) The Association in general meeting may by resolution remove any member of the Committee before the expiration of his term of office and appoint another member in his stead to hold office until the expiration of the term of the first-mentioned member.

12. SEAL

(1) The common seal of the Association shall be kept in the custody of the secretary.

(2) The common seal shall not be affixed to any instrument except by the authority of the committee and the affixing of the common seal shall be attested by the signatures either of two members of the committee or by one member of the committee and the public officer of the Association.

13. APPOINTMENT OF AREA DIRECTORS

Ten members of the Association may request an Area Director at any time, the Committee shall decide if such Director is necessary. Less than 10 members requesting an Area Director shall be provided one if the Committee considers it desirable.

14. SUB-COMMITTEES

The Committee may appoint and disband as deemed fit Sub-Committees to perform any of the duties devolving upon it, and may elect members of such Sub-Committees from among the financial membership of the Association.

15. DUTIES

(1) The Committee shall be responsible for the day to day management of the Association and shall be bound by these Rules.

(2) The Secretary shall carry out their duties under the direction of the Committee and keep a true record of all minutes of all meetings, attend to correspondence as directed, issue notices for meetings, keep membership records and carry out such duties as the Committee may from time to time direct.

(3) The Treasurer shall receive all moneys payable to the Association and give receipts for same.  All moneys so received shall be paid into the banking account of the Association. The Treasurer shall present at each meeting a balance of the finances of the Association and shall keep proper books of account of all moneys received and disbursed, and generally perform all such duties as are directed by the Committee from time to time. The financial year of the Association shall be from 1st December to 30th November.

(4) The Contest director will be responsible for the organisation and running of the Associations contests, formulation of the Association contest calendar, and maintenance of the Associations contest equipment.

(5) Any Area Directors will organize such things as decentralized competitions and other events as decided by the Association. They may also hold meetings under their direction at the request of members in that area, or at their own initiative. Such meetings shall have a quorum of 6 members, be properly conducted, and minutes of such meetings duly recorded.

 N.B. Any motion, recommendation or idea passed at such meeting is not binding on the Association. All such motions, recommendations or ideas are to be presented to the Committee for consideration and discussion, after which a vote from all members may be called.

 16. FINANCES

(1)  All monies of the Association shall be paid into the account of the Association at such financial institution as the Committee may from time to time direct.

(2)  All monies shall be drawn from the Association's account by cheque signed by those so authorised by these rules.

(3)  No cheque shall be signed or money withdrawn unless such withdrawal has been approved by the Committee or in the case of urgency by the President and Treasurer.

(4) Cheque signatories shall be the Treasurer together with either the President, Secretary or Contest Director, or any other person so designated by the members.

(5) Accounts and books showing the financial affairs of the Association shall be kept with full details of all receipts and expenditure of the Association. These accounts and books shall be available for inspection by members.

17. RULES

A written record of rules will be kept by the Secretary and will be available to the members. Changes to rules will be published in the newsletter.

18. PROPERTY AND ASSETS

The property assets and income of the Association wherever derived, shall be applied towards the promotion of the objects of the Association. Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the payment in good faith of remuneration to any member or servant of the Association in return for services actually rendered to the Association or reimbursement of actual expenses incurred on behalf of the Association providing that such services and expenses have received prior approval of the Committee.

19. AMENDMENTS TO RULES AND PURPOSES

These shall be the only Rules and Purposes of the Association and shall come into force forthwith and shall not be varied, altered, added to or repealed unless three quarters of the financial members present at an Annual General Meeting, or at a meeting specially convened for that purpose, or by postal vote, of which there shall be 21 days notice given, are in favour of such alteration, variation, addition or repeal.

20. FUNDS

The funds of the Association shall be derived from annual subscriptions, donations and such other sources as the Committee determines.

 2 1.  WINDING UP OR CANCELLATION

(1) In the event of the winding up or the cancellation of the incorporation of the Association, the assets of the Association shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

22. CUSTODY OF RECORDS

Except as otherwise provided in these Rules, the Secretary shall keep in his custody or under his control all books, documents and securities of the Association.

Amended January 2002