Club rules and constitution

About this unincorporated club rules and constitution template

This is a constitution or set of rules to regulate your management of any straight forward club or association or other organisation.

Use it for any group interest. Examples are:

• sports club
• collectors' club
• enthusiast club (like a bird-watching society)
• amateur dramatic or music societies
• some intellectual pursuits
• a political organisation

It is not suitable for a not-for-profit organisation, a co-operative society or any organisation that may want to register as a charity later.

The law relating to club rules and constitutions

Whether your club is new or has existed for years, you have a simple choice of how to frame it. Most simply, either it will be an unincorporated body or you form a company and put it there. If you use a company, you are probably best with a company limited by guarantee. So your question is “Do I need a company or shall I leave it unincorporated and regulated by the constitution we want to decide on”. A really useful article is at Chose the Best Structure for Your Club or Association.

If you choose an unincorporated association, you have one further choice. You can either obtain corporate status under state law, for example, the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 of New South Wales, OR you can remain as a simple group or club as an unincorporated “body”. If you want incorporation, your state incorporations act administers your affairs in much the same way as the Australia Corporations Act, but with a far lighter touch. But of course there are obligations and restrictions. If you are not concerned about the benefits of incorporation - usually because your activities have little or no business face, then here is your template.

Template features and contents

Of course you want to be sure that the constitution covers everything you needs but does not go over the top in an unnecessarily long document. We have a good, short article on what should be in your constitution and why, at How to Manage your Club or Association.

The document includes the following sections:

• Main objective
• Subscriptions, resignation, suspension and expulsion
• Management of the association
• Powers of the committee - what are they and who decides
• Meetings
• Quorum at meetings
• Voting at meetings
• How and when the rules can and will be amended
• Provisions for dissolution
• Explanatory notes and guidance