AALA National Annual General Meeting 2020 - 26 November 2020 via Zoom and on-site at the offices of Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney
The AALA National Annual General Meeting (National AGM) will be held:
Date: Thursday, 26 November 2020
Time: 6.00pm AEDST (Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney) (for a 6.30pm start)
5.30pm ACDST (Adelaide) (for a 6.00pm start)
5.00pm AEST (Brisbane) (for a 5.30pm start)
3.00pm AWST (Perth) (for a 3.30pm start)
The National AGM will be simultaneously held virtually via Zoom and on-site at the offices of Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. AALA thanks Corrs Chambers Westgarth for its generous support.
If you live anywhere in Australia, instead of attending the National AGM in person, you may choose to attend via Zoom. Zoom details will be sent to you upon registration.
For further details about the National AGM, please visit the National AGM event page.
You must register to attend the National AGM. Registration to attend the National AGM closes at 6pm AEDST Wednesday 25 November 2020.
Register for the National AGM now
ANNOUNCEMENT OF NATIONAL AGM GUEST SPEAKER
AALA is delighted to announce our guest speaker for the National AGM:
Elizabeth Lee MLA, ACT Opposition Leader, Member for Kurrajong in the ACT Legislative Assembly
Elizabeth is the first Asian Australian leader of a major Australian political party. Elizabeth was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2016. Prior to becoming Leader, Elizabeth was the Assistant Speaker, Shadow Minister for Education, Shadow Minister for the Environment, Shadow Minister for Disability. Having migrated to Australia from Korea at the age of seven, Elizabeth grew up in Sydney. Elizabeth moved to Canberra when she turned 18 to study Law and Asian Studies at The Australian National University (ANU). Elizabeth practised law in government and in private practice, prior to working to the ANU and the University of Canberra to be a law lecturer. During her time in legal practice, Elizabeth served the profession as Chair of the ACT and the Australian Young Lawyers Committees and as a Councillor and Vice President of the ACT Law Society. Elizabeth has a passion for fitness. Prior to being elected, Elizabeth often taught group fitness classes, Sh’Bam and Body Balance at various gyms around Canberra.
IMPORTANT: ATTENDANCE AND VOTING AT NATIONAL AGM
You will only be allowed to vote at the National AGM, or be nominated for a position on the National Executive Committee, if you joined AALA or renewed your AALA membership on or before 11 November 2020. If you wish to check the currency of your AALA membership, please contact treasurer@aala.org.au as soon as possible. Further details are available at the National AGM event page.
If you are not eligible to vote at the National AGM, you are welcome to register and attend as an observer.
Whether you are attending the National AGM via Zoom or in person, please carefully read the instructions below that are applicable to you.
Attending the National AGM via Zoom
If you are attending the National AGM via Zoom:
- You must log onto the Zoom conference with a working webcam at 6pm AEDST / 5.30pm ACDST / 5pm AEST / 3pm AWST SHARP so that our Returning Officers can properly credential you by seeing your face and asking your name. If you do not have a working webcam, we will not be able to properly credential you as a voting member. Please test your webcam before logging on to the Zoom meeting.
- If you are a voting member and are only voting on your own behalf (i.e. you do not hold any proxy votes), please ensure you have a piece of paper handy on which you have written “Yes” on one side and “No” on the other side. This will be your “voting card” that you will hold up to your webcam for voting on ordinary and special resolutions.
- If you are a voting member and you are voting on behalf of other people as their proxy, please ensure you have additional “voting cards” for as many proxies as you hold, with the word “Yes” on one side and the word “No” on the other side. These will be your proxy “voting cards” that you will hold up to your webcam for proxy voting on ordinary and special resolutions.
Please note the following important information in relation to any contested elections for AALA National Executive Committee positions:
- Any contested elections for National Executive Committee positions will be voted on via Election Runner, a simple and secure electronic voting platform, by all voting members at the National AGM.
- If there is a contested election, candidates will have an opportunity to present their statements (5 minutes for National President/Vice President/Secretary/Treasurer; 3 minutes for Ordinary Executive Committee Member), after which attendees will have a limited amount of time to ask individual or all candidates questions.
- When all candidates have spoken and finished taking questions from attendees, voting will begin. All voting members at the National AGM will receive a unique, personal voting link via Election Runner emailed directly to your email address registered with AALA. You cannot share this link with others and the link will only allow you to vote once. No login is required and the National Returning Officer can only see if you have voted or not and not whom you've voted for – a true secret ballot. The National Returning Officer will inform National AGM attendees once the Election Runner email has been sent.
- If you haven’t received your unique voting link from Election Runner 10 minutes after it has been sent, please contact the National Returning Officer directly at returningofficer@aala.org.au and he will provide it to you.
Attending the National AGM in person
If you are attending the National AGM in person, you must attend the offices of Corrs Chambers Westgarth in either Brisbane, Perth or Sydney at 6pm AEDST / 5pm AEST / 3pm AWST SHARP. Please note the following:
- You will be credentialled upon entering the room. If you are verified as a voting member, you will be given a voting card indicating “Yes” and “No”, and additional voting cards for any proxies you hold.
- In relation to any contested elections for AALA National Executive Committee positions, if you are a voting member, please make sure to carry a device (i.e. mobile phone, tablet or laptop) that can access the Internet as any contested elections will be conducted entirely via Election Runner, a simple and secure online voting platform.
Treatment of proxies for contested elections
In relation to any contested elections:
- For those members eligible to vote who have been assigned one or more proxy votes, if the member holds a proxy with no voting instructions, the National Returning Officer will assume that the proxy vote will be identical to that of the member holding the proxy. Accordingly, the proxy vote will be automatically added to the voting member’s vote via Election Runner.
- For proxy votes with specific voting instructions, the National Returning Officer will add these proxy votes to the Election Runner results manually in accordance with the voting directions listed on the proxy form.
All proxy forms must be submitted electronically to the National Returning Officer by e-mail to returningofficer@aala.org.au by 6pm AEDST / 5.30pm ACDST / 5pm AEST / 3pm AWST on 25 November 2020 to be valid.
National AGM rules and moderation
Please note the following National AGM rules:
- If you are attending in person and wish to speak, please raise your hand.
- If you are attending online and wish to speak, please click the “Participants” button at the bottom of the Zoom window and use the “Raise Hand” function.
- If you are attending online, please mute your microphone if you are not speaking.
Please be respectful and polite during your attendance at the National AGM. This includes verbal communication during the National AGM and any use of the Zoom chat function. The National AGM is moderated by the National AGM Chair.
Kind regards
Matt Floro
AALA National Secretary
