Changes to the CANZ Constitution have already been drafted to support the movement towards a more open membership model while retaining the flexibility for hiring staff and charging membership fees if needed in the future.

 

These main changes are:

 

We have reduced the different tiers of individual membership from 4 (2 forms of support membership, a full financial member, and honorary life member) to 2 forms of individual membership:

• voting member (aka ‘full member’)
• honorary life member (who also has voting rights)

Other changes:

• we removed the term ‘financial member’ throughout, instead using the term ‘voting member’ and
• made it clear that the fees are to be set at the AGM.
• added a motion to the 2023 AGM agenda that the fees for 2024 be set to zero.

Throughout the existing Constitution we refer to ‘financial members’.  We have changed this language to ‘voting member’ to be more inclusive. Whether or not a voting member is a financial member can be decided during an AGM when fees for the following year are set.

We also removed the language around club memberships paying a base fee & levy. This can also be part of the AGM motion to set fees every year and does not need to be specified in the constitution.

If future CANZ leadership decides to charge membership fees again, it just requires a vote at the AGM rather than changes to the Constitution.

We also made some other minor changes, such as:

• Tweaks to who can apply for membership to make it more open to curators, collectors etc,, but also give Council the power to decline a membership application and terminate a membership if needed.
• Removal of specific mentions of roles like ‘secretary’ or ‘administrator’ or ‘treasurer’ and changed to ‘Council’ to show it will be a collective responsibility for these tasks.  Changes to the Societies Act coming into effect in Oct 2023 also remove the need for specific officer roles with titles such as ‘secretary’ or ‘treasurer’.
• Removal of specific staff titles or contract roles and instead used language such as ‘support roles as needed’.
• Updates to some of the language around AGMs etc to make it clear we can meet & vote online.
• Removal of the addendum regarding the membership fees holiday for Council members.  Again this can be specified at the AGM and does not need to be in the constitution.

Please note the clause regarding personal benefit has not been altered or removed.

Following the ratification of the proposed changes to the constitution additional support from wider membership will be sought to begin progress towards achieving the goals.  Initial plans will be to recruit volunteers to help with the 2024 Touring Potter Programme, newsletter publishing, website admin, social media, and other roles as needed. We have been trialling self-service website tools and will look to begin rolling those out in 2024.

Documents

View the proposed 2023 Ceramics New Zealand Constitution for approval  2023 Ceramics NZ Constitution

View the current (last updated in 2020) constitution Ceramics NZ Constitution – AGM Amendments 2020 – signed

Comparison by section

Here are the key differences between the two versions of the constitution:

1. Membership Categories and Fee Holidays:
   • 2020: Defines four forms of individual membership and mentions corporate and club memberships. It also allows for an Honorary Life Membership. Elected Council members (President, Vice-President, and Regional Council members) receive a membership fee holiday.
   • 2023: Defines two individual memberships (Voting and Honorary Life Membership) and two non-individual memberships (Corporate and Club). Elected Council members (President, Vice-President, and Regional Council members) receive a membership fee holiday.
2. Council Structure:
   • 2020: Describes the Council structure, including the President, Immediate Past-President, Vice-President, Regional Council Members, Secretary, Treasurer (or Secretary-Treasurer), Editor, Webmaster, and Executive Director.
   • 2023: Describes the Council structure, including the President, Immediate past-president, Vice-president, Regional Council members, magazine editor, and additional individuals as needed to support the functioning of the Society.
3. Meetings:
   • 2020: Specifies that the quorum for an Annual or Special General Meeting shall be ten percent of the membership.
   • 2023: Specifies that the quorum for an Annual or Special General Meeting shall be ten percent of the membership.
4. Proxies:
   • 2020: Allows any Financial Full Member to give a written proxy to another Financial Full Member.
   • 2023: Allows any voting member to give a written proxy to any other Financial Full Member.
5. Dues:
   • 2020: Subscription dues must be paid annually, and the due date is on January 1st.
   • 2023: Subscription dues are upon acceptance of an application for membership in the Society.
6. Finances:
   • 2020: Describes the control and investment of funds, trustees of accounts, and the financial year ending on December 31st.
   • 2023: Describes the control and investment of funds, trustees of accounts, and the financial year ending on December 31st. Additionally, it mentions that the accounts of the Society shall be reviewed at the end of each financial year by an independent accredited Accountant.
7. Alteration of Rules:
   • 2020: Allows for alterations, additions, or rescissions of rules with a two-thirds vote of Financial Full Members present at a meeting.
   • 2023: Allows for alterations, additions, or rescissions of rules with a two-thirds vote of the financial full members present at the meeting.
8. Interpretation of the Rules:
   • 2020: The decision of the Council is final and binding on all parties regarding the interpretation of the rules.
   • 2023: The decision of the Council is final and binding on all parties regarding the interpretation of the rules.
9. Common Seal:
   • 2020: Describes the use of the common seal.
   • 2023: Describes the use of the common seal.
10. Winding-Up:
    • 2020: Specifies the process for winding up and the distribution of surplus assets.
    • 2023: Specifies the process for winding up and the distribution of surplus assets.
11. Personal Benefit Clause:
    • 2020: Contains a clause related to income, benefit, or advantage and its application to the organization’s objectives.
    • 2023: Contains a clause related to income, benefit, or advantage and its application to the organization’s objectives.

Please note that while there are differences in wording and formatting between the two documents, the overall structure and key provisions appear to be similar in both versions of the constitution. The differences primarily involve minor wording changes, reorganisation of sections, and clarifications.