Exemptions – members and observers
Corporations can ask for exemptions from requirements about:
- the minimum number of members
- when a new member may be admitted into a corporation
- cancelling membership if a member is not contactable
- cancelling membership when the member is not an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person
- cancelling membership when a member misbehaves.
Minimum number of members
Corporations are required to have 5 members.
A corporation can request an exemption to this rule.
Approval means a corporation can have between 1 and 4 members.
Exemption during registration
A corporation can request the number of members it would like in its application for registration of a new corporation.
Exemption for an established corporation
A registered corporation wanting less than 5 members can request an exemption from the Registrar.
The request must include the number of members the corporation would like the Registrar to approve.
Admitting a new member
When:
- a person applies for membership after the corporation gives notice of a general meeting
- the directors approve that application before the general meeting is held
- the corporation cannot enter the new member on the register of members until after the meeting is held.
Corporations can apply for an exemption from this process.
Cancelling membership – uncontactable
A corporation can cancel a membership by special resolution in a general meeting if the corporation has:
- not been able to contact the member at the address on the register of members
- not been able to contact that person at that address for 2 years before the meeting
- tried 2 or more times to contact the member in other ways during that 2 years but has been unable to.
The Registrar can exempt a corporation from this process.
Cancelling membership – non-Indigenous
A corporation can cancel the membership of a person who is not an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person by special resolution at a general meeting.
The members at the general meeting must agree that the member is not Indigenous.
The Registrar can exempt a corporation from this process.
Cancelling membership – misbehaving
A corporation can cancel the membership of a person who has misbehaved by special resolution at a general meeting.
The members at the general meeting must agree that the member has behaved in a way that significantly interfered with the corporation’s operations or meetings.
The Registrar can exempt a corporation from this process.
Requesting an exemption
The rules about membership in the CATSI Act are there to protect the rights of members. The Registrar will only grant exemptions where there are no likely negative effects on the corporation’s members.