Constitution Corner – Member Feedback
In today’s Constitution Corner we hear from Christine Dartnell on member feedback from within Riverina District Council.
“There has been a lot of debate back and forth with other sub-Branches, emails across the Districts, and District Councils… We are finally realising, hoping and thinking, that we are actually being heard. Now that they are listening to the members, changes are happening.”
Video Transcript
It’s been two years of upheaval around this Constitution, our members are aware of that. So, we are just hoping that this will actually come to fruition. But I think, to begin with, this final draft is a good working document to go by at the State Congress, for sure.
We need it, it is a working document, and it is like anything – if it needs changes they will happen at the next State Congress, and it will give us 12 months to think about it. We need to get on with this and get it happening.
And the SOPs, same thing, the by-laws. When I used to do research through the by-laws and regulations it was just so confusing, and you just didn’t know where to look. Now it is a lot simpler and it’s simpler for our members, remembering that a lot of our members are not in their 20s and 30s, they are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, so it makes it easier if you’ve got an easier workable document.
Some of our members were at that stage of actually leaving the RSL, they said ‘if this doesn’t get sorted soon, we are out of here, we just can’t put up with all these stuff’. A lot of that has changed, and a lot of the Constitution that the previous president and board wanted to bring in has changed. We are not having these regional councils which were absolutely a silly idea according to all of our members.
So now the way they are doing it, as District Presidents Council, it is going to work so much better and it is going to give power and control back to the Districts and not have Head Office take that control and power off us. Which is a concern for some of our members, that Head Office, once again, are controlling us and taking all our responsibilities away from us. That’s not going to happen in the future with the DPCs, the District President Councils.
It’s been a very long year, and our members have noticed that now in regards to the 2019 Constitution, there has been a lot of debates back and forth with other sub-Branches, emails across the Districts, and District Councils. So, we’re hoping now that it is actually the final, or close to it, to get to the Congress.
We are finally realising, hoping and thinking, that we are actually being heard. Now that they are listening to the members, changes are happening. These adoptions occurring in these SOPs and also in the Constitution. Which is great for our members and for the future.
