In consultation with Communities, Sport and Recreation, Bowls Tasmania has developed a template for new or updated club constitutions to enable clubs within Tasmania to have access to the latest sample constitution for their adoption if required.
This model constitution has been prepared as a guide for Tasmanian bowls clubs in the community to either become incorporated or, if already incorporated, to update their existing constitutions.
The template has been designed specifically for lawn bowls. It is an alternative to the Model Rules and is tailored to the needs of bowls clubs. It considers issues which a general community organisation might not need to include. For example, sport must deal with the misuse or abuse of alcohol and drugs; sport is affected by child safeguarding legislation; and sport operates under a national system where the national body can make rulings and set policy that will flow through the sport and affect those playing at club level.
This model constitution assumes that the club being formed is directly affiliated with your local regional authority who is directly affiliated with Bowls Tasmania.
The benefit of such a structure is that all levels of the sport are working together for the advancement of lawn bowls and therefore share common purposes, structures, policies, and procedures. It also makes it easy to address issues of joint concern, to share information and to maximise the sport’s marketability.
With the increase of legislation affecting sport, this structure seeks to enable consistent and complementary policies and strategies that address areas of common risk and flow effectively through the organisation.
As you work through the process of developing or updating your club’s constitution, you should think not just of your current situation, but where you envisage your club to be in five or ten years. While constitutions can be changed and should be reviewed from time to time, it would be better to prepare the constitution with the future in mind so that your club can operate effectively and grow with time.
Following the development of your constitution, you will also develop a set of by-laws that provide more detail on sections of the constitution. By-Laws (sometimes called regulations) are more easily adjusted and have a more operational tone to them. This is where you can include more detail of the policies and procedures that underpin the constitution.
Click HERE to download a copy of the constitution template.
If you need assistance of more information, contact the Bowls Tasmania CEO, Rob McGuire, on exec@bowlstasmania.com.au or mobile 0447 722 128.
This constitution template has been produced in partnership with the Department of Communities Tasmania and Lex Sportiva.