Scarlet Alliance Committee

The Committee is elected by the Scarlet Alliance membership at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to carry out the governance and oversight of our organisation. Our Committee is ultimately accountable to the membership and reports to members throughout the year and formally at the AGM.

There are six Committee positions:

President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
General Member 1
General Member 2

Scarlet Alliance also elects six Doubles who have the opportunity to observe and inform the committee members’ decision-making process and attend meetings, and may be appointed to a Committee position to fill a vacancy (for example, if a Committee member needs to go on leave, a Double can be appointed to replace them temporarily or ongoing).

Committee members are legally responsible for running Scarlet Alliance, and are required to adhere to ACNC Governance Standards, the requirements of Committee members under the ACT Incorporations Act, and need to apply for a Director ID prior to being appointed. Committee members also have their legal name registered with the ACNC; this information is not publicly available, but is sometimes provided to external bodies when we need to prove the ownership of Scarlet Alliance, such as when applying to open bank accounts. Committee members will also be responsible for acting in accordance with the Scarlet Alliance constitution.

Only Scarlet Alliance members are able to run for Committee and Doubles positions. If you’re not a Scarlet Alliance member but would like to become one, you can apply here.

Role of the Committee

The Committee derives its authority through Scarlet Alliance’s Constitution, the Associations Incorporation Act 1991 (ACT) and the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) Act 2012 (Cth).

Scarlet Alliance’s Constitution (clause 11.6) states:

The committee members are responsible for managing Scarlet Alliance’s affairs and carrying out the purposes of Scarlet Alliance in good faith and subject to the Associations Incorporation Act, the ACNC Act, any Special Resolution passed by Scarlet Alliance, and this constitution.
The committee members may exercise all Scarlet Alliance’s powers which are not required, by the Associations Incorporation Act or by this constitution, to be exercised by Scarlet Alliance in general meeting.
The committee members have the duties set out in the Associations Incorporation Act and in the regulations of the ACNC Act.
The committee members will assume responsibility for matters determined by the Members of Scarlet Alliance at a general meeting with consideration to reasonable timelines, available resources and to Scarlet Alliance’s legal obligations.
The committee members may:
1. appoint or employ any person and delegate the powers, discretions and duties vested in or exercisable by the committee members, on the terms the committee members decide, and
2. subject to any contract between Scarlet Alliance and the relevant person, remove or dismiss the person at any time, with or without cause.

The Committee, that is, the Committee Members collectively, is responsible for:

consulting with Scarlet Alliance’s members
re-credentialing of member organisations
enhancing Scarlet Alliance’s public standing
determining Scarlet Alliance’s mission and strategic policies
setting strategic directions and ensuring appropriate planning for Scarlet Alliance
monitoring organisational progress towards mission and strategic directions
ensuring adequate resources and their effective management
identifying significant risks and reviewing how they are managed
selecting, appointing and reviewing the performance of the Chief Executive Officer
providing appropriate learning and development and assessing Committee performance
ensuring legal and ethical integrity and maintaining accountability.
setting organisational culture.

Duties of the Committee

Attend monthly Zoom meetings (usually 2 hours)
Attend up to 4 x 3 day face to face meetings per year (location determined by the Committee)
Attend 1 day pre-meeting and National Forum
Participate in Committee e‐list discussion and decision‐making
Participate in the creation, editing and/or approval of Scarlet Alliance documentation
Contribute to decisions on the Committee e-list

The time commitment varies depending on what is happening across the organisation. Sometimes the Committee will only have a couple of emails to respond to in-between meetings, but other times ad-hoc meetings may need to be called, or decisions made via email. In a usual month (with no face to face meetings), the Committee would do around 10 hours of work. Positions with additional responsibilities such as the President and Secretary will need to commit additional hours, such as for the preparing of meeting papers and minutes.

Outside these duties, some positions have specific responsibilities:

Role of President

The responsibilities of the President, as chair of the Committee, include:

providing leadership to the Committee and Scarlet Alliance
promoting the efficient organisation and conduct of the Committee’s functions
facilitating Committee discussions to ensure core issues facing Scarlet Alliance are addressed
facilitating the effective contribution and ongoing development of all Committee Members
promoting constructive and respectful relations between Committee Members, and between the Committee and CEO
chairing Committee and General Meetings.

The President has an important relationship with the CEO. The President is expected to:

act as the contact and management point for issues raised by staff, members, Committee, Committee Members or Doubles, or external stakeholders in respect of the CEO
act as a conduit for the CEO to raise issues with the Committee (outside of Scarlet Alliance’s Committee meetings)
lead the CEO’s performance planning and review processes
provide informal support and advice to the CEO.

The President is an ex-officio member of each subcommittee (this means the President is automatically a member of each subcommittee).

In the President’s absence the Vice President will chair Committee meetings.

Role of Vice President

The responsibilities of the Vice President include:

Monitoring of Committee capacity, including coverage of Committee mailing list, and advising the President/CEO of significant capacity changes.
Managing Committee Members’ leave including notifying the Committee.
Supervising any elected or nominated spokespeople and representatives.
Acting as the contact person for Doubles.
Facilitating the effective contribution and ongoing development of all Doubles, Spokespersons and Representatives.
Promoting constructive and respectful relations between Doubles, Spokespersons and Representatives and between Doubles, Spokespersons and Representatives and the Committee and CEO.

Role of Secretary

The responsibilities of the Secretary include:

Collating and distributing Committee agendas and papers.
Coordinating Committee meeting times and communication with Committee of meetings.
Minuting of Committee meetings, including advising of quorum (whether or not there are enough members present to run the meeting)
Receiving and recording approvals for circular resolutions (decisions made outside of a Committee meeting)
Coordinating and drafting all communication between the Committee and Scarlet Alliance membership.
Coordinating General Meetings, including elections, in consultation with the Committee
Advising the Committee on the constitution.

Role of Treasurer

The responsibilities of the Treasurer include:

Chairing the Risk and Audit subcommittee.
Providing advice to the Committee and CEO on financial and risk management.
Acting as a signatory on all financial accounts held by Scarlet Alliance.