Notice for Taituarā Members
There are a couple of things coming up that will require your input:
Firstly, Parliament is considering a new Incorporated Societies Act, replacing an outdated Act from 1908. While the passage of the Bill has been slower than anticipated and it's unlikely to be finalised until next year, there's good reason for us to start preparing for it now.
The aim of the new Act is to make societies more robust, help us to govern ourselves, and provide members with more constructive options when things go wrong.
The new Act will require us to change our Constitution to ensure that it complies, but also that it is fit for purpose.
This is an opportunity for us to look at other aspects of our 30-year-old Constitution such as the objectives, the definition of an officer and the role of branches.
We’ll shortly be undertaking a consultation process you for input into on the non-legislative aspects of the Constitution that we think could do with an update.
One thing we’re keen to look at is the role of branches, how they are working and how effective they are. They were set up originally as a mechanism to develop policy, but that is no longer the case.
Secondly, along with reviewing the Constitution, our Executive has agreed that it would be timely to consider whether Taituarā is still the right name. We know that:
- There is confusion over our name and ‘who’ can join and be part of the Society.
- Taituarā’s is a mouthful and it’s not easy to articulate what we do.
- Some of our members aren’t aware of the full range of services on offer.
You’ll be fully consulted on this too. We’ll be asking you some questions about how you see yourselves, and how you see Taituarā and the services and support you need to do your jobs.
When we’ve collected this information, we’ll come up with some recommendations for the Executive for approval, and you’ll be asked to vote on an updated Constitution, and potentially a new name, in May next year.
If you have any queries at this stage, please contact us at info@taituara.org.nz