Clubs SA is pleased to announce that it has developed a new template constitution specifically for multi-club associations e.g. for an overarching association who has other clubs as members.

This can now be found on Clubs SA’s Club Governance Page on its Members Only site under the Club Governance tab.

Previous constitution templates available have been more suited to a standalone association and would require several alterations to make it suitable.  

The template developed contains the clauses that must be in a constitution under the Associations Incorporation Act 1985 (SA) and also seeks to cover the main things that should be in a constitution for these types of associations. It should however be altered as needed to fit specific club needs.

With multi-club associations, one of the main issues can be trying to have the committee and structure set in such a way as to promote fairness and allow all clubs to have their say and the template has been developed with this in mind. It is important however that the committee is structured and voting is undertaken in a manner that the various member clubs are comfortable with and that are properly attainable.

For a multi-club association structure to be successful it is important that an overarching body keeps in mind that it is required to make the best decisions for all clubs. Overarching associations should also not unreasonably involve themselves or interfere with operational and internal matters of their various member clubs.  

Additionally, CBS has made updates to their general constitution template as well as creating a useful checklist to make sure legislative requirements are being met which can be found on this page. Clubs SA’s constitution KIT also provides a template constitution suitable for standalone associations that members can utilise.

For any clubs that are looking at amalgamating, CBS has advised they have also completed a new fact sheet that can be found on this page and Clubs SA can also provide advice and guidance on the steps needed.

Lastly, members are also advised that CBS can now conduct pre-assessments of draft constitutions so that any suggestions or required changes they have can be obtained prior to putting an updated constitution to membership and seeking to have them approve this.

This can help avoid the situation where a club has gone through all the time to have membership approve changes, only for them to have to go back and have them approve a further amended version if alterations are necessary.

Clubs can find information and a link to lodge the application on this page.