Instatement manual for SUPRA council

6. Meetings

Quick guide to council meetings

• Council is constitutionally required to meet once each calendar month (usually scheduled for the last Thursday of each month).
• Quorum for a council meeting is 19 councillors (if all 37 council positions are filled).
• The Secretary will call the meeting and prepare the council pack, take minutes, and oversee council record keeping.
• Meetings are chaired by the President or delegated authority.
• The role of the meeting Chair is explained in the Rules of Order. Because of the power of the Chair, they also have restrictions during the meeting – including not being allowed to carry proxy votes.
• The Rules of Order also outline the processes and protocols for how to conduct a meeting including the structure of a meeting, how voting is conducted, and how speaking lists are kept.
• Council procedures and standing orders (the formal rules for the meeting) can be found in the Constitution.

The purpose of a council meeting is to enable the work of SUPRA to happen in a practical and transparent manner. Most of the votes and deliberations should be made publicly available in the minutes, and all postgraduate students can attend the meetings.

There are limitations on what decision making the Executive can do without taking it to a council meeting, and there is an expectation of transparency at all levels of decision-making.

There are some matters that are not appropriate to be made public. This can include strategic planning that may impact a funding proposal, or any matter relating to staff, or a grievance between councillors. In these circumstances, deliberation and votes are still minuted but are not made public, and only councillors may be in the room for that portion of the meeting. When these closed-door deliberations happen, it is called in camera.

Preparing for a council meeting

• Any proposals or motions should be submitted in advance according to the deadline set by the Secretary.
• Councillors should read the meeting pack ahead of time and prepare any questions or comments.
• Councillors are encouraged to seek clarification before the meeting if unsure about agenda items.

Accessible meetings

SUPRA is committed to making SUPRA meetings accessible and inclusive to all postgrad students. An accessible meeting is one that is designed to be inclusive, allowing everyone to participate, including people with disabilities or other access needs. This includes things like:

• using auto-captioning during online meetings, when available
• providing access to digital copies of visual materials presented during the meeting
• booking venues with step-free access and accessible toilets nearby
• following up after the meeting to request feedback on meeting accessibility.

Accessible meetings benefit everyone by creating a more equitable and welcoming environment. They improve participation for everyone, including those with temporary impairments, diverse learning styles, and various backgrounds.

When planning or running a meeting, use the SUPRA accessible meeting guide [Word document 11KB].

Acknowledgements of Country

Every formal meeting at SUPRA starts with an Acknowledgment of Country. We do this to recognise and pay respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land we know as Australia. An Acknowledgement of Country can be performed by anyone, whether they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or not, or whether they are a local or international student. If there is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the meeting who would like to perform the Acknowledgement of Country, then they should be not only permitted but welcomed to, whether or not someone else has already prepared to do it.

Why do we perform an Acknowledgment of Country?

An Acknowledgement of Country acknowledges that you are meeting on unceded, sovereign Aboriginal land.

Aboriginal peoples have always practiced the protocols of Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country, and it is the responsibility of everyone who walks on this land to acknowledge that they are on sovereign, unceded, Aboriginal land. An Acknowledgement allows the meeting to take a moment to reflect and to consider this.

For formal events, it is a good idea to approach the local Aboriginal Land Council to arrange for a Traditional Custodian or community Elder to perform a Welcome to Country. This is a sign of respect.

How to do an Acknowledgement of Country

• Name and acknowledge the specific Country/Nation/language group.
• Identify the Traditional Custodians and their continued connection to their land/s.
• Thank the Traditional Custodians for caring for Country for thousands of generations.
• Make your Acknowledgement specific to place: are you on desert Country? Are you on an island? Are there any sacred sites with traditional names you can mention?
• Pay respect to the Elders and Ancestors of the Country you are on, and also to any First Nations people present/listening.
• Recognise that First Nations sovereignty was never ceded. This continent always was and always will be First Nations land.

A specific example for Gadigal land, where Camperdown/Darlington Campus is located:

We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the Country we are meeting on today. We recognise their continuing connection to the land and waters, and recognise the protection they have given the coastline and its ecosystems since time immemorial, and acknowledge that they never ceded sovereignty. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations people present today.

More information is available in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culture and history: some frequently asked questions, from which some of the above text has been reproduced.

General meetings

A general meeting is a meeting where all members are invited to participate and together decide on any major decisions governing the organisation. It is an opportunity for the membership to hold their representatives on council accountable; participate in discussion; and vote on matters and policy that effect how they are represented. The constitution can only be changed at a general meeting, since SUPRA is ultimately controlled by and accountable to the membership.

There are two types of general meetings:

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The AGM needs to happen every year, and concludes the General Election. The AGM is a compulsory governance function. The constitution outlines how and when an AGM needs to take place, how members must be notified, and what must happen during the meeting.

Quorum for an AGM is 25 members, with at least 5 people who are not current councillors.

At the AGM:

• the annual financial report is presented
• the Annual Report is presented
• the General Election report is presented
• the minutes from the previous year’s AGM are presented for approval
• proposed changes to the Constitution are discussed and voted on.

After the AGM, the Annual Report, financial report, the draft minutes from the meeting and any approved constitutional changes are sent to the University Senate – this is part of our agreement with the University and is specified in the Constitution. The University will need to ratify any constitutional changes before they can take effect.

Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

In special circumstances, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) can be called. An EGM can be called if important business needs to be discussed and voted on by the membership, as the members are the ultimate governing body for the organisation. A proposed change to the Constitution that cannot wait until the next AGM would be one reason to call an EGM. There are rules in the constitution about how an EGM can be called.