Rotary

Rotary

WHY PAY McKEAN PARK FOR OUR CLUB’S RULES?

Some Rotary clubs ask, why pay McKean Park for new Rules and Bylaws when these cost nothing in the past.

The answer is simple enough – they don’t have to. If the Club’s Rules are rejected by the Registrar or by RI or if its members are concerned the Rules are flawed and don’t give them real protection, the Club can employ any firm of lawyers it likes to produce Rules that do. Freedom of choice is a principle we at McKean Park thoroughly support.

McKean Park does produce Rules & Bylaws for a fixed fee of $350 ($300, if part of a district initiative) and that includes GST. The Rules are in the form of a single document that satisfies both the Registrar and RI. Each has kindly assisted us by commenting on a succession of draft Rules as we perfected them. Overall it took us about four months’ solid work across eight states and territories, to achieve our goal but the results have been worth it.

Another answer is that Clubs incorporate to obtain protection from legal liability for their members. So why would any Club bother to go to that expense and trouble if its incorporation documents were so flawed that they seriously weakened the protection or destroyed it altogether? That just doesn’t make sense. Of course, nobody can speak about every Club’s Rules but most that we have seen have been seriously flawed for a variety of reasons, some of which are mentioned below. Some Rotary Clubs, it is true, have perfectly adequate Rules that do comply with the law. In many cases, however, Clubs that have prepared their own Rules have failed to submit them to RI, as they have always been required to do, and consequently may now find the parent body doesn’t approve their efforts.

It is clear that most incorporated Rotary Clubs have incorporated either by using the Model Rules or by using a “composite” document comprising a number of separate documents, usually the RI Club Constitution, the RI Recommended Bylaws and a document that tackles some of the legal issues the RI documents ignore.

The Model Rules are of course perfectly acceptable to the Registrar although the Registrar would never approve a Club using the Model Rules only as a dummy while it continued to operate under its Rotary Rules – that would be unlawful – like using two sets of accounts. But this is what Clubs that use the Model Rules frequently do. RI, on the other hand, would never agree to a Club using anything but the Rotary Rules.

The Composite Rules are unacceptable to the Registrar not only because of inconsistencies between the documents and the Act but also the conflicting provisions they contain that cause so much confusion. Rules of incorporated associations are meant to mean what they say and be understood by everyone, not just the legal fraternity. RI may also reject the composite version if it made changes to the Constitution (which of course it does) without RI’s consent.

Another answer is this. Incorporation creates legal responsibilities particularly for the officers. Incorporation (at any level) seems to offer conditions in which the unscrupulous, the greedy, the dishonest and the incompetent can operate. That is why state and territory governments and their regulatory watchdogs are forever increasing fines and penalties, imposing new legal requirements and tightening the regulatory mechanisms. This means that every incorporated club needs to know all the current legal requirements and keep its Rules in first class order or risk the increasing fines and penalties including the ultimate penalty, already imposed on some Rotary Clubs, of de-registration.

Another reason is that the Rules of an incorporated Club are not a static document; they continue to alter all the time. Every three years, for example, they are amended by RI through its Council on Legislation. The states and territories amend their legislation whenever a new rort is uncovered. Clubs themselves frequently amend their bylaws which, at least in the case of Composite Rules, are part of the Rules and require the use of the amendment procedures of the Act and the approval of the Registrar before the amendments have any legal effect.

In addition, the Act provides that if there is a Model Rule on which the Club Rules are silent, the Model Rule automatically forms part of the Club Rules. So changes occur all the time whether Clubs and their members are aware of them or not.

McKean Park understands all these problems as well as what you and your Club require. It also understands where RI is coming from. That is why our offer includes not only the provision of acceptable Rules and Bylaws now, but our advising you of future changes when they happen. That’s just like insurance. And all for the one fixed fee.

Finally there is a risk for every Club that draws up its own Rules that is, it must continually keep them up to scratch on its own. When all Rotary Clubs were unincorporated and shared Rules, if a legal problem developed it was shared and no Club was left to fend for itself. McKean Park would like to provide the means to enjoy safety in numbers once again.

Contact: Ross Blair (Special Counsel)

Rotary Questions

View the FAQ's for Rotary Revised Rules & Constitution

Rotary Pricing

Our fee is $350 incl GST, unless a District Initiative has been arranged with your District, then it is reduced to $300.

Plus registration fees:

VIC: $70.10
NSW: $40.00
QLD: $15.50
SA: $53.00
WA : $21.00
TAS: NO FEE
ACT: $33.00 if lodged within 1 month of being passed ($54.00 if lodged thereafter)
NT : $15.00 if lodged within 1 month of being passed ($35.00 if lodged thereafter)

Documents: