Proposed TSA Constitutional Changes

At the next annual general meeting (AGM) of Tuberous Sclerosis Australia Inc., there will be several changes to TSA’s constitution proposed. These are a result of a review of our governance practices by the TSA. This was previously advised in the April 2018 issue of Reach Out.

The key changes are:

• Minor wording changes to align more closely with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) guidelines in declaring our purpose (“ACNC Charitable Purpose”).
• Removing the requirement for the position of Vice President to be a member of TSA for at least three years.
• Adding flexibility so that either the sitting President or Vice President can have a lived experience of TSC, but not a requirement that both need to.
• Changing the term of committee members from 12 months to three years.

Download the revised constitution showing changes

The AGM will be held at the Sydney Understanding TAND event. We welcome attendance by all members of TSA. Register now

Why are these changes important?

These proposed changes are designed to best manage an appropriate balance of committee members with a lived experience of TSC and those without a lived experience of TSC.

Those with a lived experience of TSC provide a crucial insight and direction to TSA on how best to serve you, our members, with a clear understanding of the experience of living with TSC. As TSC is a rare disease, it also means there is a small pool of people that could, and may want to be involved with the governance of TSA from the TSC community.

In contrast, there is a larger pool of people that can bring different skills to the governance of TSA that do not have a lived experience of TSC. These people can help grow TSA with key industry and technical skills while learning from and working with those on the committee with a lived experience of TSC.

The changes to terms of committee members, is largely to move in line with governance best practice and also minimise unnecessary administration and reporting on a yearly basis.

What does this mean for you, our members?

The TSA committee is committed to getting the best skilled people available on the committee based on the needs of TSA. These proposed changes will allow us the flexibility to get the right mix of experience governing and growing the organisation with a lived experience of TSC. This means we will continue to grow TSA as a well governed organisation with a view to providing more services for the TSC community.

Separate to the constitutional changes, we are also updating our governance policy to proactively manage the turnover of committee members to make sure we have the ideal balance between experience and freshness, and the skills needed at each stage of TSA’s journey.

If you have any questions on these changes please contact us.