Welcome to ALSA Sept-Oct Council 2011

Administrative Matters• Council Web Site

• Http://www.alsa.net.au/council • Familiarise yourself with the Council Room Arrangements, Council

Materials, New Councillors Guide, Agenda, Motions and Speaking List

• Read• All materials uploaded under “ALSA”• All materials uploaded under “SGM”

What is ALSA?ALSA is a national not-for-profit association comprising all Law Student Societies (LSSs) and Law Student Associations (LSAs), representing approximately 32,000 law students. The core functions of ALSA are:

•To advocate the interests and concerns of Australian law students;

•To gather and disseminate information of interest and concern to Australian law students; •To facilitate communication and the exchange of information between law students’ societies, within Australia and abroad; and

•To initiate activities of a social, intellectual, and competitive nature among law students at a national level.

What does ALSA do?Three kinds of activities:

1.Those as a representative for Australian law students• Lobbying on educational issues (to governments, universities, media etc.);• Lobbying on career development issues (to the Law Council of Australia, legal

profession and other regulatory organisations);• Building international relations (ties with other student bodies to increase the

career & educational opportunities for all Australian law students).

1.Those delivered directly to law students where there are synergies in doing so at a national level:

• ALSA Conference (competitions, legal education forums, social events);• Publication (Judges Associates Guide, International Careers Guide etc.)

2.Those directed at LSSs• ALSA Council (info sharing);• LSS Wiki Manual

How is ALSA structured?

ALSA Executive

ALSA Committee

ALSA Council

ALSA ExecutivePresident

Geoffrey Winters

Vice President (Administration)

Matt Littlejohn

Vice-President (Education)

Aimee Riley

Vice-President (Fin. & Mar.)

Brooke Adey

Immediate Past President

Matt Floro

ALSA CommitteePublications Officer (Academic Journal)Alex McVeyMurdoch University

Publications Officer (ALSA Reporter)Palak ThakerUniversity of New South Wales

Information Technology OfficerAnthony LieuAustralian National University

Conference ConvenorVictoria LanyonMonash University

What is Council?

•Officially: ALSA’s managing body, comprising of:•ALSA Executive;•ALSA Committee; and•President and ALSA Rep (usually VP Ed or equivalent) from each LSS in the country – around 35).

• More importantly: a knowledge sharing forum for LSSs.

• We meet three times a year (April, July, October) to discuss:•Any important issues in ALSA’s administration;•Issues which relate to all law students (to establish ALSA’s position on policy issues); and•Issues facing LSSs – workshops, small break-out groups, LSS-run advanced seminars

Council Meeting Objectives

1) Connections between Law Student Society (LSS) representatives

2) Meaningful debate and discussion on issues of national scale and importance

3) Face-to face discussion between national groups such Working Parties, Subcommittees and State-Based Representative Bodies.

4) Network with likeminded students, industry professionals and mentors.

5) Hold the ALSA Committee accountable

6) Opportunity to adapt or change the ALSA Constitution.

Conduct of Council Meetings• See Live Agenda – please help us stick to it!

• Please have a look through ALSA Standing Orders

• Meetings shall commence promptly at the advertised starting time, but a meeting shall not commence until a quorum (2 Executive Officers and one representative from each of 10 LSS or joint LSS members) is attained

Conduct of Council Meetings• Workshops & Small Break-Out Groups

• Objectives• To engage in robust discussion on everyday issues that affect LSSs. • To provide a forum that looks for solutions to these problems. • To share experiences as to what has and has not worked when tackling

these issues.• Facilitated by Council member• Discussion questions on the Council web site

• LSS-Run Seminars• Objectives

• To gain an in-depth understanding on broad areas LSSs deal with, for instance, sponsorship, competitions, education, etc.

• To learn from other LSSs who excel in particular areas as a way of improving the activities at one’s own LSS.

• Presented by Council member

Conduct of Council Meetings• Motions (SO Div III)

• The Chair may impose a maximum time limit on the debate : SO 4(f)

• Motions direct the ALSA Exec & Committee to do or not do certain things. Motions are to be submitted via the Council web site. A motion can be brought at any time, with each motion requiring a proposer and a seconder. When a motion is raised:

• the proposer will speak (7 min max);• then the seconder may choose to speak (or speak at another time);• Council will discuss the motion;

• All other members may speak once on each motion• By permission of chair, a person who has already spoken may speak again

on the same motion• Any member wanting to speak shall raise their name tags• All speeches are to be relevant to the motion

• the proposer has a right of reply (5 min max);• Council votes.

Conduct of Council Meetings• Amendments (SO 13):

• Any member may move an amendment to a motion before the Chair.

• Any amendment to a motion shall be moved and seconded, and submitted in writing to the Vice-President (Administration).

• All amendments are to be relevant to the main motion. • The Chair may rule that an amendment which renders the

motion substantially different from the proposed motion is out of order.

• Amendments are to be dealt with immediately. • While an amendment is under consideration, no other

amendment may be moved. • An amendment may not itself be amended, but the mover of

an amendment may alter the amendment with the leave of the meeting.

• The speaking rights for an amendment are the same as those for a main motion, except that the introductory speech of the mover of the amendment is limited to 5 minutes, and all other speeches to 3 minutes.

Bids for ALSA April Council & Conference 2013

Bids to host ALSA Council in April and Conference 2013 are now open to any LSS in Australia as no bids were received by VP (Administration) from the “Other” region* by Thursday 30 June.

If you would like to bid, or would like more information (such as previous Conference information), please talk to Matt Lattlejohn or email administration@alsa.asn.au ASAP.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me.

*(An other region as defined by ALSA Bylaw 8.4 "shall include all Law Student Society Members located in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania".)

ALSA SGM• All information about the ALSA SGM is on the ALSA Council Web Site

• SGM will be held on Sunday, 9:15am.