2024 Annual General Meeting
Voting Rules Information Sheet
The following information provides a summary on voting and nomination rights for members as per the Multicultural Council Constitution. You can also access a full copy of the MCOT Constitution-October-2021 here
Officers of the Council shall be nine elected board members and up to three co-opted board members. Those officers of the Council who will serve as executive officers of the Council shall be a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, a Treasurer, and a Secretary. The Board shall appoint consenting officers of the Council to the positions of Treasurer and Secretary (Section 22.1). Please refer to Section 22.2 of the Constitution for Board eligibility.
Board positions vacant:
At elections held in an even-numbered year the following positions will be elected for 2 years:
Chair, Vice Chairperson, and 3 additional board members.
In even-numbered years, wherein vacancies for a chair, vice-chair and three additional board members are to be filled, one of those vacancies for additional board members is to be reserved for female candidates.
Nominations:
Candidates for election as officers of the Board shall be Individual Members or Delegates of Organisational Members. A person may be nominated as a candidate for election as Chair or an ordinary board member. The nominations shall be made in writing signed by two members of the Council and/or delegates, other than the person being nominated, and accompanied by the written consent and signature of the candidate (Section 24.3).
The nomination form must be emailed, lodged or posted so as to be received by the Returning Officer no later than close of business on COB Wednesday 25 September 2024.
A candidate in an election may supply the Returning Officer with a written statement to be distributed with ballot papers. The statement must be received by the Returning Officer in the election by the close of nominations. The statement is not to: exceed 150 words; or mention any other candidate unless the signed consent of that other candidate is received by the Returning Officer with the statement (Section 24.4).
Votes:
Upon any question arising at a general meeting of the Council, and in board member elections, an Individual Member (being a member entitled to vote under these rules) and each delegate has one vote only (even if a person is a delegate of more than one member organisation) (Section 18.1)
24.16. The list of electors for board member elections, comprising delegates for eligible member organisations as well as eligible individual members, is to close on 1 August each year.
Under section 29.1. Subscription fee will be set by the Board subject to ratification by a Special General Meeting or the following Annual General Meeting and must be paid within 30 days of the due date to avoid suspension of voting rights
All votes on questions arising at a general meeting of the Council shall be given personally (Section 18.2)
No member (being a member entitled to vote under these rules) shall be entitled to vote at any general meeting or in board member elections during a financial year if the annual subscription due to the Council for that financial year is in arrear (Section 18.4).
For delegates of Organisational Members and for Individual Members, voting rights are disallowed within the first twelve months of paid membership (Section 18.5).
An Individual Member and a Delegate of an Organisational Member will be entitled to voting rights at an Annual General Meeting and in board member elections when it is in their second or subsequent financial year of paid membership (Section 18.6).