Annual General Meeting

This year, Emerge Australia's Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held virtually, due to the ongoing restrictions concerning physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

All financial members of the Association are entitled to attend the AGM either by Zoom or by proxy. 

AGM Details

  • Thursday 19 November 2020
  • 6pm onwards

Official Notice for Emerge Australia Inc. Annual General Meeting

How do I participate in the virtual AGM?

The video conferencing website, Zoom, will be utilised for the AGM, enabling members to attend from home. All you need to do is sign up for a free account at zoom.us 

Once you have created an account with Zoom, you can then register to attend the AGM via the link below. 

Register to attend Emerge Australia's virtual AGM

There is a limit on the number of attendees who can register to attend the virtual AGM, due to Zoom license limitations.

The AGM meeting will open with a waiting room from 5.50pm. Please allow some time to login and access the meeting if this is your first time using Zoom.

Please note. Emerge Australia staff are unable to provide IT or technical support for members to attend the meeting. We suggest you review the available how-to resources on the Zoom website.

AGM Agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Apologies
  3. Confirmation of the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on 21st November 2019
  4. To receive and consider:
    1. The President’s Report
    2. The CEO’s Report
    3. The financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2020
  5. The following resolution will be proposed as a Special Resolution:

    "That subject to the approval of the Registrar of Incorporated Associations, the proposed Rules, a copy of which has been signed by the President for the purposes of identification and which has been available to members, be adopted as the new Rules of the Association"

  6. To conduct any special business of which notice has been duly provided in accordance  with the Rules of the Association
  7. To pass a vote of thanks to all those who have volunteered their services for the benefit of the Association in the year under review.

AGM Documents 

Annual General Meeting 2019 - Minutes

Emerge Australia - Annual Report 2020

Nominating a proxy

To nominate a proxy please complete the relevant form and returned it to the Secretary at Ross House, 247-251 Flinders Lane, Melbourne or by email to: [email protected] no later than 48 hours prior to the AGM. 

Proxy nomination form

New rules for Emerge Australia 

The current Rules, or constitution, were adopted by the members in 2014 as a consequence of changes then required by the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012.

Since that time, there have been significant changes with Emerge Australia. We have successfully begun to operate on a national level, have successfully improved our financial position due to a mixture of government grants, philanthropic grants and private donors, and we have expanded our range of activities to a level not contemplated in 2014.

We have engaged a full-time CEO and now have 11 additional staff. We have organised an international symposium on ME/CFS, been actively involved in the establishment of a Biobank and have developed much greater links with groups doing biomedical research into the causes of ME/CFS. We have also established an active telehealth nursing program, as well as a range of other activities.

The Committee of Management has reviewed the current Rules in this context and is proposing that new Rules be adopted at the Annual General Meeting of the Association, to be held on 17 November 2020. No changes are proposed to the purposes of the Association, to the status of the Association as a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission or to the rights of members. The principle changes which are proposed are:

  • To change the reference to Committee of Management Members to Directors to reflect the increasingly corporate role filled by this team
  • To provide that members can attend and vote at General Meetings by proxy or electronic means
  • To provide that membership is tied to a member's joining date rather than to a financial or calendar year
  • To remove the reference to By-laws as these have previously been rescinded
  • To simplify the drafting of the rules. 

 Rules of Emerge Australia Inc.

All current members of the Committee of Management support these changes and recommend that members vote in favour of the adoption of the new Rules at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Any member with a question or concern with the proposed new Rules is encouraged to contact our secretary, Andrew Bretherton, via email – [email protected] – and Andrew will seek to address the matter. (In addition to being our secretary and public officer, Andrew is a consultant at the national law firm, Thomson Greer.)

Martin Wilkinson

President

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