COMMUNITY

Being on the Executive Committee of a Club/Society is a great opportunity to gain invaluable experience and develop lots of transferable skills which can be taken into other areas of life. It does require a time commitment but is also very rewarding seeing your Club/Society grow. You will meet lots of new people, have many new experiences and learn lots of new skills.

Committee Structure

Each Club and Society is run by an Executive Committee. There are three mandatory roles that each club and society must have in place:

• President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

Clubs and Societies can choose to have additional roles e.g. Vice President, Activities Officer, Education Officer if that is helpful to the running of the club/society.

All committee roles are elected at the AGM at the end of the year and in place for the following academic year to lead and guide the Club/Society.

Roles and Responsibilities

In order for the committee to be successful there needs to be clear roles and responsibilities for each committee member. Everyone needs to understand their role, what is required and expected and when things should be completed.  It is vital to establish these at the start of the year and evaluate throughout as well (different times of the year require different levels of responsibilities).

It is important to know that all roles are equal and as a committee each role is just as important for the Club or Society to be successful.

You can read our guides on the mandatory roles to help you:

• Role of President
• Role of Secretary
• Role of Treasurer

If you need any help or guidance with your committee please contact the Clubs and Societies Officer Clubs@TUSA.utas.edu.au 

Managing the Club and Society finances is an important job. Below we’ve provided some simple steps for Treasures and committees on the key things you need to be aware of. If you would like a more detailed and in-depth guide to Club and Society finances download our Club and Society Finance Guide

Banks Accounts

Every Club and Society have their own bank account with the Commonwealth Bank. Each year when the new executive committee is elected as part of the handover, you’ll need to change your signatories on your bank account.

• Complete the A153 form from the Commonwealth Bank.
• Request your letter of support from the Clubs and Societies Officer (they also need to sign the A153 form) (Click to submit your request).
• The incoming new signatories need to sign the A153 form and support letter.

*TIP – Remember to use the TUSA postal address. Bank statements must not be sent to private addresses.

Keeping Track of your Finances

It is important that Clubs and Societies keep a track of all income and expenditure going in and out of the Club/Society account. The TUSA have a template that you can use to help with this. At the end of the year you will need to submit this to the TUSA, so it is best to keep updating this spreadsheet as you go.

Payments, Invoices and Receipts

Having your own Club/Society bank account allows you to make all your payments either by a electronic payment or by withdrawing cash to pay for something. When you make a payment make sure you include details on your income and expenditure sheet.

Quotes

Where possible getting a quote from a company or person providing a service, purchasing good or equipment is a good place to start. It ensures you are clear on the costs but be aware often quotes are often only valid for a limited time period.

Invoices

An invoice is a formal statement issued by supplier for money owing for goods or service. In some instances, you will be required to pay the invoice up front and for some services the invoice will be send after the activity.

You should also ensure that the invoice:

• Lists the suppliers ABN number
• If you are making a purchase and the supplied does not have an ABN number, you will need to ask them to complete an ATO Statement by Supplier form. You are obligated by the Australian Taxation Office to withhold payment until the supplier presents with the ‘Statement by Supplier’ form
  • Details of what is being supplied
  • Total and any tax included

Receipts

• It is really important that you get and keep the receipts for all of your payments (these can be paper or electronic).
• All invoices/receipts must include the suppliers from ABN number.

Petty Cash

Why Use Petty Cash

Some Clubs and Societies like to have a petty cash system in addition to the main account to help with small expenses (under $50).  When using petty cash it is important you log any income and expenditure in your finance spreadsheet under ‘petty cash;

When Cash is Needed

People will either want money before they purchase good(s) or will require reimbursement for incurred expenditure. These should be set out in the petty cash account as either advances or reimbursements and relevant receipts should always be obtained.

Topping Up Petty Cash

Whenever funds are running low you can withdraw money from the main account into the petty cash account. Normal practice is to draw as much money into petty cash as is required to bring it to a set amount. For example, when the set amount is $50, and the petty cash is at $2.35, you would draw $47.65 from your main account to bring petty cash back up to $50

Audit

At the end of the financial year Clubs and Societies are required to submit a copy of their financial statements to the TUSA Clubs and Societies Office.

You must include:

• Copy of the bank statements
• Excel spreadsheet showing income and expenditure
• Financial reconciliation sheet

Clubs and Societies are encouraged to use the TUSA template for tracking income and expenses.

The TUSA has grants available to clubs and societies to help them grow the student experience at UTAS providing quality events, services and programs. Grants are available under the following categories.

• Capital
• Activity
• Maintenance
• WHS/Safety
• Conference Travel
• Events
• Start Up

• Capital – Capital grants are available for one off large purchases or for equipment that needs to be replaced that is integral for the running of the club/society. These grants aren’t capped due to the nature of what they are to support
• Activity – To support the running of an activity that the club or society is looking to do. It must be related to the aims and objectives of the club/society (capped at $250).
• Maintenance – Helping to support the upkeep of equipment that is integral for a club or society to remain active (capped at $500 or at the discretion of the Clubs and Societies Grant Committee).
• WHS – Work health and safety grants are there to support the club/society being run safely ensuring they met and comply with WHS regulations.
• Conference Travel – TUSA recognises the value conferences can have in upskilling and supporting the growth of clubs and societies. Grants are available for local travel up to $250 per student and international travel up to $500 per student (capped at $1,000).
• Events – Events can play a key part in a club or society. These grants support the delivery or events that support the aims and objectives of the club/society e.g. Chinese New Year Celebrations (capped at $1,000)
  • Balls / End of year dinner invitation etiquette: – as a courtesy and in recognition of financial support received from your school/college and TUSA, academic societies planning to hold balls and annual dinners should extend an invitation to their Head of School and any other notable key stakeholders from within TUSA and/or the University.
• Start Up – Only available for brand new clubs or societies to help them run the first meeting or event and get the club/society going (capped at $150).

Applying for a Grant

Applying for a grant is very simple, just complete the online form below. You must have a minimum of 10 signed up student members in your club or society. (Make sure you apply at least 4 weeks before you need the grant to allow time for process etc.)

* Additional information can be found in the Clubs and Societies Policies under Documents. This is where Sports Clubs can find guidelines around Capital, Running Expenses and Representation grants.

You will be required to provide the following information:

• Type of grant you are applying for
• The details of what you will use the grant for and how this will benefit your club/society
• If you are applying for funding for an event, information about the event including; date and time, location, costs, how many people will attend and a detailed budget for the event including all expected income and expenditure

Who Approves Grant Applications:

All grants for Clubs and Societies are approved by the Clubs and Societies Grant Committee. The Committee meets regularly and will review applications at every meeting. Once you have applied for your grant, the Clubs and Societies Officer will let you know the outcome of your application.

Grant Restrictions:

• We only support up to $250 for food per event ($5 per head cap)
• Food grants are not given for balls/annual dinners
• $100 for the purchase of a banner

What the TUSA Doesn’t Support Through Grants:

• Money to purchase alcohol
• Prizes for individual club/society events
• Gambling
• Gifts
• Tobacco in any form whatsoever
• The payment of any fines imposed on a club/society
• Brewing equipment or equipment related to alcohol
• TUSA funds being directly sent to support fundraising donations
• Court, sports or venue hire, coaches, trainers, teachers or other associated costs of running activities either through the University or external venue providers that are part of the normal operations of a club/society. e.g. court or room hire for weekly classes or training sessions.

TIPS on Applying

• Make sure you provide detail on what you applying for. The committee will be wanting to know in detail about what the money will be used for and how it will benefit your society and the UTAS student community.
• Be realistic – When asking for funding think about how many people the money will benefit? You won’t get $500 if there are only going to be 10 people at your event/activity.
• What is your club/society contributing? TUSA won’t fully fund every activity/purchase. Clubs and societies need to try to be self sufficient so consider how much the club/society can contribute from your funds.

Claiming Your Grant

You will be informed by the Clubs and Societies Officer if your grant application was successful and how much you club/society will receive.

Grants can be claimed once the event/activity has finished or item has been purchased using the Grant Claim Form on the website. You will need to provide receipts of the items the grant is covering (so make sure you keep them) and provide a brief summary of the event/activity.

Grant Application Flowchart

Meeting Dates for Grants 2023

A constitution is a formal document which creates and governs each club and society. The club/society constitution sets out the aims and objectives for why the club/society is being created.

For a club or society to be established a constitution must be created and submitted to the TUSA Executive for approval. If you are a part of an established club/society your constitution will already exist. If you’re starting a new club/society you will need to write this document see ‘Creating a Club or Society’ for more details.

If you haven’t seen your constitution before email Club and Societies Officer and they will send you a copy of the document.

If you wish to make a revision to your Constitution, this should take place at your Annual General Meeting at the end of the year. If you make changes please provide an updated version to the TUSA as soon as the change has been made.

Re-affiliate by 31^st March each year so that your activities and members are covered under our insurance and you can hold events or apply for grant funding.

Follow these simple steps to re-affiliate.

1. Send out a notice to all your members that you intend to hold your Annual General Meeting (AGM). Check out our flowchart on how to organise a meeting here
2. Send out your AGM agenda (a template can be found here)
3. Most importantly check your constitution for quorum; this is the minimum number of voting members who must be present at your meeting to conduct business.
4. Complete the paperwork via QPay (Affiliation/Re-affiliation Committee Information form Club/Society Affiliation/Reaffiliation Committee Information Form & attach AGM minutes & membership list).

For AGM meeting agenda and minutes templates go to the TUSA website > Community > Running a club or society.

All clubs and societies affiliated with the Tasmanian University Students Association (TUSA) are non-discriminating, so you are not restricted to which clubs and societies you can join – and you can join as many as you like.

Every club and society is required to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) every year. You need to hold your AGM before the end of the academic year (December). We would recommend you hold this before the exam period so it doesn’t create extra stress and work.

• Pick a Date – Pick your date, time and venue (book it).
• 1 Weeks’ Notice – Make your members aware and invite them to attend. Make sure you give them at least a weeks’ notice of date, time and venue and send the agenda. (AGM Agenda Template)
• Executive Elections – Make your members aware of the roles they can apply for, what’s involved and who they can talk to about those roles

The purpose of the AGM is to:

• Elect a new executive committee to run the club/society
• Issue the financial records for the past 12 months (not necessary in the case of new society)
• Hear the Presidents report for the year and any other officer reports as deemed necessary

At this meeting Robert’s Rules of Order must be observed and minutes taken. You can learn how to do this in our Meeting Cycle.

You might find these documents to be particularly useful in running your AGM:

• AGM Agenda Template
• AGM Minute Keeping Template

Each Club and Society must elect at the AGM:

• President
• Treasurer
• Secretary

Also electing any additional positions, the club or society might have such as Vice President or Social Officer. Once you have elected your new committee use the New Committee Form to send the details back to the Club and Societies Officer. Please also include a copy of your minutes from the AGM.

When we run events on campus, we abide by the UTAS rules, but off-campus, we run as per the state health advice. Contact tracing is required for all events as it’s a vital tool to manage possible outbreaks.

For ALL standard events:

Step 1: Submit an Event Application form through QPay

Step 2: Complete Risk Assessment Form, submit via QPay NOTE: TUSA requires 7 business days to review

Step 3: Create an Event on QPay – (unless alternative platform has been agreed upon/approved by TUSA)

Step 4: Ensure you are including the TUSA logo on your promotional material, please download TUSA Branding for CS    to access our branding guideline and help you understand the correct usage of the logo.

Registration must request the following information for contact tracing:

• Student ID Numbers​
• Include if Student Living Resident​
• Contact Info​

Further forms required depending on the event:

• Application for Temporary Stall on University Campus – Fill out the form and submit it via QPay
• Application for Venue Hire on University Campus – This form is accessed and submitted via the UTAS website

• TUSA Temporary Food Permit Hobart (on campus) – Fill out the form and submit it via QPay
• Application for University Liquor Permit (On-campus – serving) – Fill out the form and submit it via QPay
• Security is required for events over 50 people when alcohol is involved. Contact TUSA for Details.
• If the event is located at a student residence, you must fill in a Student Living Event Proposal Form – contact them directly. The Student Living team require at least 10 days (this includes TUSA’s 7 days). For more information contact  enquiries@accommodation.utas.edu.au
• Application for a Liquor License (selling or providing) NOTE: This form is accessed and submitted via the Tasmanian Government website and you will need to provide a site map of event location.

*Unless you are using another method of registration approved by TUSA