COMMUNITY

What has interested you in starting your Club/Society? Are you looking to bring together students interested in astrology, saving the Tasmanian Devil, or setting up a Korfball Club? The first step is to decide the aim of your club/society and what you hope to achieve.

Note that TUSA won’t consider affiliating a new club/society whose objectives are the same as and are already catered to by another club/society.

Find 4 other current UTAS students who share your interest. You need 5 (yourself included) current UTAS students to be eligible for affiliation.

We recommend having at least 10 current UTAS students as this will then allow you to also apply for funding grants from the TUSA. Make a record of the people who wish to become members by recording their name, student ID number or if they are an associate (non UTAS student) member and email address. This list will need to be uploaded with your affiliation lodgement on Rubric/QPay.

To help you with this, you can use our template by clicking here.

Each Club/Society is run by an Executive Committee consisting of the following roles:

• President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

Select your Executive Committee members to oversee the running of the club/society. Keep in mind that you are creating a student club/society so no more than half of your Executive Committee may be Associate (not current UTAS student) members. You can also choose to have additional positions such a Vice President if you think they would be helpful to run your club/society.

For more information about the roles of the Executive Committee go here.

Arrange a time and meet with the TUSA Clubs and Societies Officer (CSO) to go through what’s required and to ask any questions.

A constitution is a formal document that establishes and governs your club/society. It outlines the purpose, structure aims and objectives of the club/society, the roles of its office bearers, and so on. To become an official TUSA club/society, you are required to write a constitution.  A template is available to help you here.

Remember that your club/society’s aims and objectives must be different to existing affiliated clubs and societies and this must be set out in your constitution.

Once you have drafted your constitution, please email a copy to the Clubs and Societies Officer for any comments/advice before you have it approved at your Inaugural General Meeting (IGM). They will provide advice and suggestions before it undergoes the approval process.

If your club/society is already established, the constitution should already exist. If you have not seen your constitution before, you can email the Clubs and Societies Officer, who will provide you with a copy of the document.

If you wish to make a revision to your Constitution, this should take place at an Annual General Meeting (AGM), or a Special General Meeting (SGM) held for this purpose only. You will need to send the Clubs and Societies Officer an updated copy of the constitution, for our records, when it is finalised via Rubric (QPay).

Download the AGM Agenda Template and the AGM Minutes Template.

Hold your Inaugural General Meeting (IGM) to elect an executive committee (we recommend you elect at least a President, Treasurer and Secretary), adopt your constitution and select 3 executive committee members (President, Treasurer + 1) to be the bank signatories. An IGM template can be found here.

At this meeting, Roberts Rules *Standing Orders must be observed and minutes taken. Follow the Meeting Flow Chart.

Remember on the IGM template you need to:

• add your Club/Society name to the Minutes,
• list names (first and surnames) of all attendees,
• for all motions list the mover and seconder and whether the motion has passed (CARRIED) or failed.

*Standing orders means the usual sequence that the business is brought up in at the meeting. We suggest you follow our meeting template to make it simple.

Acknowledgement of Country

Don’t forget to include the Acknowledgement of Country – the University of Tasmania and Riawunna have specific guidelines about how this is done, please refer to the UTAS website site for specific information related to your campus/online location here.

To complete the affiliation process, you need to register for Rubric (QPay) and lodge the following paperwork:

1. Affiliation/Re-affiliation Committee Information form
2. Inaugural General Meeting minutes
3. Membership List) through QPay.

To get started with QPay, you can find helpful information and resources on their platform. Additionally, they may offer upcoming training sessions to assist you further in navigating the registration process. Go to the Rubric (QPay) page for all the links and information you need.

Be sure to fill in all areas of the Affiliation form, and on the membership list include whether your members are current UTAS students (+ their student ID number) or Associate (non-UTAS student) members as this is required for insurance purposes. Please ensure you mark clearly if any members are juniors (under 18) and state if under 16 years. If under 16 years of age you will need to take out your own separate insurance cover as under 16’s are not covered under our associate members’ insurance cover.

When all your affiliation paperwork has been received via the Rubric (QPay) Affiliation Form, your affiliation request will be added to the TUSA State Council meeting agenda for discussion at their next meeting. Once the TUSA State Council has considered your affiliation we will let you know the outcome. (State Council is made up of elected UTAS student representatives. UTAS students vote the reps in at the annual student elections).

Every club/society must have an Australian Business Number (ABN). The Clubs and Societies Officer will send you information to assist with applying for an ABN.

Remember that you need to list the TUSA Clubs and Societies Officer as the authorised contact person. The Executive member who fills out the application must give their details as the Office Bearer of a club/association.

It’s important to remember when the Executive member who listed their details on the ABN application leaves office, they update the office bearer details on the ABN. Information can be found @ https://www.abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/updating-or-cancelling-your-abn

Every club and society has their own bank account with the Commonwealth Bank (or a bank of choice based on ethical reasons). This is where all the money from membership fees and any funds saved or received by the club/society will be deposited. To set up a bank account for your club/society, please follow these steps:

1. Request authorisation to access to the account from the Clubs and Societies Officer (CSO) by clicking the link to submit your request. A copy of your AGM or IGM minutes listing the new signatories must be attached.
2. The Clubs and Societies Officer will then send you some information to assist you.
3. Choose three executive committee members to be signatories on the bank account, including your President and Treasurer. Any withdrawals/transfers require 2 signatories for accountability and transparency
4. Complete the A153 form from the Commonwealth Bank. The Clubs and Societies Officer will also need to sign this form as an authorised person (not signatory) for transparency purposes only.
5. The incoming signatories must meet up at the bank to submit the completed A153 form and show ID to identify themselves.

No bank accounts are to be opened in a club/society name without prior approval from the CSO.

NOTE: As a TUSA affiliated club/society the money in your club/society’s account belongs to the TUSA.

Always use the TUSA postal address when corresponding with the bank:

• Hobart-based clubs:
  TUSA Club/Society name,
  Tasmanian University Student Association
  P.O. Box 5055
  University of Tasmania LPO
  SANDY BAY TAS 7005
• Launceston/Cradle Coast/Rozelle-based clubs:
  TUSA Club/Society name
  Tasmanian University Student Association
  Locked Bag 1333
  LAUNCESTON TAS 7250

Do not send bank statements to private addresses.

As a new club/society you are eligible for a $150 start-up grant. This will be paid into the club/society bank account once you have opened the bank account & received your ABN and emailed proof/details of both to the Clubs and Societies Officer and submitted the Start Up Grant application via Rubric (QPay) here.

The main purpose of the start-up grant is to help you hold your first event to promote your new club/society…and BBQs are a fun, easy way to attract potential members!

Once all your affiliation paperwork is received and your club/society’s affiliation has been approved, you are ready to go! This is a super exciting time, and we know it can also be a little daunting. The TUSA is here to help you so if you have any concerns, reach out to your Clubs and Societies Team.

Email Address

Are you going to have a generic email address for your Club/Society? For example, savethedevilTUSA@gmail.com. Having an email specific  for your club/society can be very useful as it doesn’t clog your UTAS account and increases your professionalism.

You can easily set one up with multiple providers, we recommend a Google account so you can utilise Google Drive for file sharing and saving committee documents and other useful resources.

*TIP – Make sure you make a note of the email and use a password that you can share with your committee.

Create a Logo

If you are great with design or have a friend who is, it’s good to have a logo for your club/society. There are also lots of sites you can use online to help with the process including Canva.

Make sure you adhere to the TUSA Brand Guidelines when creating your new logo. If you need any advice or want to check your logo, please email the Clubs and Societies Team.

You’ll also need to refer to the University branding guidelines and get permission from the University Marketing Team if you are thinking of using the UTAS Lion in your logo. Please also be aware that you are unable to use the acronym UTAS in you club/society name. 

Set Up Your Social Media Accounts

Social media is a great way to make people aware your club/society exists and to help you communicate with your members. Will you use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? Which are the best options for you? Remember to add a copy of our TUSA logo(s) too – TUSA Brand Guidelines.

Facebook offers the ‘Facebook Blueprint,’ which guides you through everything you need to know across the Facebook suite (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram) and helps you become an expert.

*TIP – Remember, your social media accounts reflect on your club/society and you, so be smart and consistent with what and how you post.

Signing Up Members

Your club/society will need to show that it has a minimum of 5 currently enrolled UTAS student members to be eligible for affiliation/re-affiliation. Download our template for your founding member registration, and all other members should sign up via Rubric (QPay). Please be sure that your committee and all members are listed on Rubric (QPay), as we refer to this for insurance purposes and reporting.

To be eligible for any club/society grants, you will need 10 currently enrolled UTAS student members and you must be able to show that more than 51% of your membership is made up of currently enrolled UTAS students. Remember to collect UTAS student ID numbers when students join your club/society.

Three types of membership exist:

• Full Membership – any currently enrolled student at UTAS, who is at least 18 years old, can be a full member of a club/society.
• Associate Membership – any members 18 years or older who are not current UTAS students (e.g. alumni and staff).
• Junior Membership – any members 17 years or younger.

The membership fee that you charge your members should reflect the cost of your club/society’s activities. We encourage all clubs and societies to try to recover a reasonable amount of the costs associated with the club/society’s activities through their annual membership fees.

Make sure that your club/society obtains the following information for every membership:

1. Member’s Full Name
2. Current UTAS student ID number
3. Status:
   • currently enrolled UTAS student
   • associate members (alumni, staff, other)
   • Juniors (under 18)
4. Email address
5. Mobile number
6. Other information detailed on the membership list template or as required by your club/society.

You are required to have your memberships loaded into your Rubric (QPay) account by 31st of March each year and then update as required regularly. This is to support TUSA’s insurance requirements.

The easiest and preferred way is to use the Rubric (QPay) membership tool when obtaining new memberships, or you can import membership lists into to your Rubric (QPay) account.

*TIP – Keeping your membership list up to date is important, so make sure you stay on top of it. If your Club or Society has less than 51% students, you will not be able to access financial support through grants from TUSA.

Arrange Your First Event

Time to plan your first meeting or welcome event to make people aware your club/society now exists. This could be a sausage sizzle on campus, a guest lecturer, a drinks and nibbles meet and greet or whatever fits with what your club/society is about. Refer to Events/Risk Assessment for more info and follow the steps on the Event Planning Process Flowchart.

All new clubs/societies are eligible for our ‘New Club/Society Start Up Grant’ to help get you going – go to the C&S Grants page for more information about all the grants available to apply for.

*TIP – Allow time to plan your first activity/event/meeting. You want it to be great and it’s the first impression your new members will have of your club/society, so don’t rush into it. See our guide on running an event for everything you need to consider, & we also have a great flow chart to guide you.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to the Clubs & Societies Team.