The Role of a Club Secretary

If your club is an Incorporated Association, the secretary of your club plays a key role in recording the club’s activities with Consumer Affairs Victoria to ensure its legal obligations are met. 

The secretary’s role is administrative and involves supplying Consumer Affairs Victoria with specific information about your club’s activities via myCAV – the online licensing and registration system. The secretary must have their own individual myCAV account to meet obligations such as lodging your club’s annual statement and notifications of change. The secretary’s role may differ according to the association’s rules. Your rules may allow the secretary to hold any other office within the association.

Key tasks

Your club’s secretary is required to complete tasks in myCAV. These may include:

• lodging an annual statement -this must be done within a month after the annual general meeting
• applying to Consumer Affairs Victoria to change the association’s name or rules
• notifying Consumer Affairs Victoria of:
  • a change to the association’s registered address
  • their appointment as secretary or any changes to their details
  • a special resolution to wind up the association or distribute its assets
• dealing with requests to restrict access to information in the association’s register of members
• adding or removing delegates.

Using myCAV

myCAV simplifies administration tasks and helps reduce time-consuming paperwork.

The secretary must create their own individual myCAV account to use the system. After creating a myCAV account, link it to your incorporated association.

The only activities that cannot be done on myCAV are:

• amalgamation of incorporated associations
• submitting requests for an extension of time to hold an AGM and to lodge annual statements
• winding up or cancelling an association.

You can download forms for these tasks on the Consumer Affairs website Fees and forms – incorporated associations.

Changing the secretary

If a secretary leaves, your club must fill the vacancy within 14 days, using the process specified in its rules.

If it is not practical to appoint a new secretary within 14 days, your club’s committee must appoint a temporary secretary until an official secretary is elected or appointed.

The outgoing secretary can update the change to a new secretary in myCAV but should update all other details before doing so. The new secretary will receive an email notification via myCAV of their appointment and instructions to create a myCAV account.

Can the secretary get help with managing their duties in myCAV?

If you need help to manage an association using myCAV, you can authorise a delegate to assist you. The delegate’s role is to help the secretary meet your club’s obligations under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012.

A delegate can be:

• another member of your club
• a trusted colleague, friend or family member
• an accountant or solicitor
• a peak body representative.

For more information, logon to:
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/clubs-and-fundraising/incorporated-associations