An Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a meeting held annually where the members of a community run organisation, such as a community-based education and care service, meet to consider and vote on matters as prescribed by the organisation’s governing document such as:
- submission of the financial statements
- election of committee members
- other business that may arise from time to time.
Some strategies that you may consider when planning your AGM may be:
- Check your organisation’s governing document (constitution/rules) and any relevant legislation or obligations your organisation may have to regulators to ensure you understand any rules and procedures to be followed for your AGM.
- Ensure you are aware of the timeframes in which your AGM must be held. This should be described in your organisation’s constitution or rules and is usually within 6 months of the organisation’s end of financial year.
- Talk to members of your organisation and encourage interest in joining the committee/board to ensure you have enough eligible and suitable people to nominate for any vacancies.
- Delegate an appropriate member to write up the AGM minutes as soon as possible after the meeting. This will ensure proceedings are accurately recorded.
- Have an agenda that covers all determined AGM requirements such as confirming previous AGM minutes, presenting the annual report and financial statements as well as electing members of the committee/board.
Usually, established organisations will have pre-existing templates for their AGM agenda, minutes and notice, however, organisations are encouraged to review these to ensure that the meet the specific requirements as set out in any relevant legislation that applies. The Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission (ACNC) website provide templates that aim to assist organisations with the running of their AGM. You can access these templates and further information provided by ACNC here.
After a community-based education and care service has its Annual General meeting (AGM), there are several notifications, checks and forms that must be completed. In NSW these are legal requirements set down by NSW Department of Education, NSW Fair Trading, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Australian Business Register (ABR) and, if applicable, the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission (ACNC).
CCSA provides a checklist that organisations can follow on page 14 of the CCSA Governance and Management Snapshot.
The snapshot outlines the key elements of managing an early childhood service and shows how these elements connect to support good governance to achieve best practice management and service delivery outcomes. If you would like to order more copies of the 2022/2023 Governance and Management Snapshot please do so here.