Schedules to the Constitution
Schedule A – Membership Fees
Effective Date
This Schedule is effective from 18th December 2018.
Membership Fees
Membership fees are $0 per annum. New members joining (and those renewing their membership) will be encouraged to make a donation to the party based on the previous membership fee level:
- $0 for anyone not in steady paid employment
- $52 per year for people whose annual income is below $75,000
- $104 per year for people whose annual income is $75,000 or more
The Treasurer may change the fees at any time by changing this document and communicating the new rate to the party membership.
Refunds
Refunds are only given to members expelled from the party who have paid a membership fee. A refund is calculated as:
refund = amount paid * days remaining in membership / total days of membership, where
amount paid is the amount of the membership fee paid by the member (which may differ from the current membership fee)
days remaining is the number of days, inclusive, between the day of expulsion and the last day of the paid membership, i.e., the day before it was due to expire
total days of membership is the number of days, inclusive, between the first day of the paid membership and the day before it had been due to expire. This will be 365 days unless a leap day falls within the period of the membership, in which case it will be 366 days.
Refunds are to be rounded to the nearest cent.
Schedule B – Office Bearers
The main offices of the Science Party are defined in the Constitution. Namely, in order of seniority: the Leader, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the Director.
Following the main offices in seniority are the auxiliary offices of the party, appointed by the Executive on the advice of the main office bearers. They are delegated subsets of the specific duties of the main offices, as recorded in this document. An office bearer may hold more than one office. As specified in the Constitution, all office bearers must be members of the Science Party. When an auxiliary office is vacant, its responsibilities shall revert to the relevant main office.
State and Territory Coordinators
There shall be a coordinator for each State and Territory where the Executive determines the Science Party shall establish a branch, whether formally or informally. They shall provide logistical and administrative support to any Science Party candidates and campaigns in that state, organise meetings of the local membership, and coordinate the local activities of Science Party volunteers. The State and Territory Coordinators shall also be Deputy Registered Officers of the party under the Electoral Act, and be responsible for nomination of party candidates for their respective states and territories where the Director is unable to do so. The State Coordinators shall report directly to the Executive.
Policy Officer
The head of the policy team is responsible for management of the party's internal policy development process. They shall:
- Guide policy discussions amongst the general membership
- Present summaries of debates concerning any proposed changes to the party policy platform to the Executive
- Aid the Executive and main office bearers in the maintenance and publication of the official policy, including on the party website
- Organise and prioritise party efforts to develop new policies in areas not yet covered by the official platform of the party
- Oversee and direct any research required for policy development.
The Policy Officer shall report directly to the Executive.
Ethics Officer
The Ethics Officer carries out duties as prescribed in the Code of Conduct, including, but not limited to:
- Attending within a reasonable timeframe to complaints and concerns sent to the ethics inbox
- Investigating these events and escalating them to the Executive where appropriate
Communications Officer
Decides the strategic direction of the communications team, assists other members of the team with their responsibilities, and reports back on the team's activities to the other senior officers and the Executive. The Communications Officer reports to the Executive.
Online Media Officer
Creates social media content (polls, posts, image macros, memes, etc.) in conjunction with volunteers. Assists feedback officer in responses on social platforms (Facebook, Twitter).
Press Officer
Responds to media requests, arranges interviews, maintains media contacts.
Membership Officer
The membership officer assists with the administration of people's memberships of the party, including processing membership applications and resignations, and tracking probationary and financial status. The membership officer reports to the Secretary.
Volunteer Manager
Drives volunteer recruitment and directs volunteer project requests. Maintains databases, mailing lists, etc. for all volunteers. The volunteer manager reports to the Secretary.
Member Liaison
Prepares a regular electronic newsletter for party members updating them on recent activities and near term plans of the party. Assists the communications team in the preparation of other content. Assists the Secretary and people management team in the preparation of all other official communications to members, such as ballot and AGM announcements.
IT Officer
The IT Officer is responsible for the technical oversight of all of the Science Party's information technology. This includes but is not limited to the management of:
- Mailing lists
- Email accounts
- Social media accounts
- Google docs
- Website/blog
The IT officer reports to the Executive.
Current office bearers, as at 20 September 2021
Leader: Andrea Leong
Deputy Leader: Aaron Hammond
Secretary: Saritha Manickam
Treasurer: Michael Maroske
Director: Andrea Finno
NSW Coordinator: Andrea Finno
VIC Coordinator: Luke James
QLD Coordinator: Ben Huxham
SA Coordinator: Drew Wolfendale
Policy Officer: Andrea Leong (acting)
Ethics Officer: Saritha Manickam
Communications Officer: Vacant
Online Media Officer: Sahar Khalili
Press Officer: Sara Joyce
Membership Officer: Vacant
Volunteer Manager: Greg Parker
Member Liaison: Vacant
IT Officer: Andrea Finno
Schedule C – Preferential Voting
When a vote occurs with more than two outcomes, for instance an Executive Election where more than two tickets have been nominated, the Science Party shall employ the preferential voting method of Ranked Pairs.
Schedule D – Financial Year
The Science Party financial year shall run from July 1st to June 30th.
Schedule E – Clarification of roles under the Associations Incorporation Act
For the purposes of the NSW Associations Incorporation Act 2009:
- The Executive shall be the Party's committee.
- The Secretary shall be the Party's public officer.
- Anyone who is a member of the Executive or a main office bearer (or both) shall be an authorised signatory for the Party.
Schedule F – Listing of branches and affiliates
The Party currently has the following affiliates:
- Transhumanism Australia
- The National Secular Lobby
- Climate Emergency Action Alliance - Vote Planet
The Party currently has the following branches:
-
Science Party New South Wales
Branch details: Science Party NSW
Status: Formal
Committee: Andrea Leong, Eve Slavich, Ruth Gordon, Markus Pfister, Wade Johnson
Date formed: 5 December 2016
Branch criteria: Residence in the state of New South Wales
Rules:
1. Name. The name of the association shall be "Science Party NSW". The branch may also be referred to as "Science Party New South Wales", "The NSW Science Party", or "Science NSW".
2. Definitions. "The Party" shall refer throughout these rules to the Science Party of Australia.
3. Branch. Science NSW shall be a branch of the Party, under the terms of the Party's constitution governing branches.
4. Membership. Membership of Science NSW shall be determined by the terms of the Party constitution regarding membership of branches.
5. Aims and beliefs. Science NSW shall further the aims of the Party within the state of NSW. This shall include assisting the Party's federal election campaign(s) for Senate and House of Representative seats within NSW, and nominating candidates for state and local elections within NSW who will, if elected, further the aims of the Party.
6. Committee. The Party Executive may, at their discretion, either appoint the Science NSW leader and four other members of the committee, or hold an election among branch members wherein branch members run tickets of five people standing for the committee. In the latter case, either one of the members on the ticket is the proposed leader, or the elected committee will appoint the leader.
The NSW leader shall chair meetings of the committee. Where a vote of the committee results in a tie, the NSW leader shall determine the outcome.
7. The Act. Science NSW shall remain incorporated under the NSW Associations Incorporation Act.
8. Changing branch rules. These rules may be changed according to the Constitution of the branch.
Schedule G – Financial governance of branches
(No additional restrictions on financial governance beyond the relevant legislation, the Party Constitution, and branch rules, have been adopted by the Executive at this time.)
Schedule H – Nomination of parliamentary candidates
The nomination of candidates is to be decided as specified in the constitution. The purpose of this schedule is to supplement the constitution.
Proportional representation election nominations
For seats in which there are a number of candidates (e.g. senate tickets and multi-member seats), the constitution does not specify a methodology by which the order will be selected. As such, the Executive has formed the opinion that the election of senate candidates can occur by a group forming a ticket to be voted for as an ordered block, in a similar way to which the Executive itself is elected.
This methodology has a particular advantage in that people who want to support the party by running in the election, but would prefer to see another person elected before themselves, can nominate without fear that they will be the number 1 candidate. A simple election would prevent such people from running under the fear that they will be elected to a position higher than they intended.
It is expected that as the party grows, the number of people who are vying for top spots will increase. In such a case, the above schedule should be reviewed.
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