[Linux-aus] Constitutional Change to add Statement of Objectives into Constitution

[Julien Goodwin]

Dear LA Members,

Over recent years a number of conference sponsors have indicated that it
would be easier for them to support our activities if Linux Australia
were a registered charity. As Linux Australia’s role has always been to
educate people about open source, the day-to-day running of the
organisation won’t change if Linux Australia were to become a registered
charity. Furthermore, the Linux Australia Council has sought advice from
our Auditor and Accountant; both advised that becoming a charity would
have no material effect on how Linux Australia is run.

For these reasons (and in light of the benefits), the Linux Australia
Council would like to register Linux Australia as a charity and for this
purpose an application has been submitted to the Australian Charities
and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC, https://www.acnc.gov.au/). However,
the ACNC has advised us that our application can not proceed until our
constitution explicitly lists our charitable objectives.

Before the charitable objectives can be added to the constitution the
Linux Australia membership must vote in favour of the change.  The
authoritative text of the change can be found in the pull request:


https://github.com/linuxaustralia/constitution_and_policies/pull/38/files

The proposed change adds the following section to the constitution.

 43. Objects of the association

(1) The objects for which the association is established are:

  (a) to facilitate the communication of information relating to
inventions, results, techniques, and governance of open source and
related open technologies;

  (b) to support open source and related open technologies projects and
the contributors to open source and related open technologies;

  (c) to support and promote the adoption of open source and related
open technologies;

  (d) to support and promote awareness and understanding of open source
and related open technologies;

  (e) to conduct open source and related open technologies advocacy with
the government, business and civil society;

  (f) to create a network for related local and online open source and
related open technologies communities.

(2) The association must pursue charitable purposes only and must apply
its income in promoting those purposes.

(3) The association must manage payments and gifts to the association
and ensure that they are used to further the stated objects of the
association.

(4) In the event of the association being wound up, its assets must go
to a charitable entity whose objectives aren’t inconsistent with the
stated objects of the association.

The Linux Australia Council supports this constitutional change as it
allows the charitable registration to proceed and provides additional
clarity on the purpose of the organisation.

To cast a vote for or against this constitutional change, please visit
https://www.linux.org.au/
   * Click on “Login” located on the top right hand side of the page and
     log in.
   * Click on “Elections”.
   * Under “Constitutional Change to add Statement of Objectives into
Constitution”, click on “Vote in the election”.

Voting for this change will be open until 11:59PM (AEDT) 12th January
2020. Results of the vote will be announced during the Linux Australia
AGM on the 13th of January 2020 at linux.conf.au (Gold Coast, Queensland).


Kind Regards,

Julien Goodwin
Secretary,
Linux Australia