A guide to help the Latrobe municipality’s citizens deal with the complexities of being part of a committee or association and help committees understand procedures, has been hailed by some sections of the Latrobe community as ‘the best thing since sliced bread’.
Latrobe’s Deputy Mayor, Councillor Brendan Jenkins, who played a key role in initiating the manual, said the ‘A Guide for Committees’ had been created in direct response to the needs of Latrobe’s community groups.
“From consultation with various community groups in separate meetings in Morwell, Moe, Churchill and Traralgon, the consistent message we were getting was the desire to have a layperson’s guide to meeting procedures, financial accountability, the responsibilities of executive roles, and also information on incorporation and GST,” Cr Jenkins said.
“Council’s Community Planning and Development staff took professional advice, conducted a great deal of research, consulted other texts, and developed quite a bit of the detail from scratch, to create a manual that provided accurate and helpful information; and importantly, was presented in an easily read format.
“We didn’t see the manual as a static document, it will be added to and improved as new information comes to hand.”
‘A Guide For Committees’ was launched to more than 120 representatives of community groups at a function at Club Astoria in Morwell.
In addition to the release of the manual, two guest speakers gave presentations on incorporation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Cr Jenkins commented that he was pleased to see so many community groups represented at the function, but from there, news of the committee guide had spread like wildfire, and Council was very soon forced to go to a second print run. Requests for copies of the manual had come from intrastate and even interstate municipalities.
“Many people find the task of being an office bearer or setting up a committee daunting,” he said.
“Procedures vary from an urge to keep everything as informal as possible, to being totally pedantic with points of order made over trifling issues.
“Council’s Committee Guide seeks to keep procedures as simple as possible, yet highlights the factors that are important, such as legal responsibilities.
“Whether the information fulfils a need for a group of people who want to know how to set up a committee in the first place, or those who want to confirm they are on the right track, the guide is being found extremely useful.
“This is the sort of assistance that we want to provide to community groups. We all benefit from the added value of these groups, in fact Latrobe City would be very limited in what it could do within the community without its small and larger community associations.
“Support for the community and volunteer groups is a high priority for Latrobe City Council. We place a great value on the contributions of volunteers, and community and service clubs, and see the committee guide as an invaluable resource to help clubs and groups survive and prosper.”
