DSPANZ Annual General Meeting 2021

The Australian Business Software Industry Association (ABSIA) t/a Digital Service Providers Australia New Zealand (DSPANZ) hereby gives notice of our Annual General Meeting (AGM). The details of the meeting are as follows:

AGM 2021 Agenda

1. Welcome, Acknowledgement of Country,  introductions and apologies 
2. Directors Attendance
3. Call for last votes
4. Acceptance of the Minutes for 2020
5. President’s Report
   
6. Treasurer’s Report and acceptance of financial statements
7. Election of Directors voting outcome
8. Special Resolutions voting outcome
9. Other Business 
   
10. Meeting Close

Immediately following the AGM, a meeting between the Board and newly Elected Directors will occur. 

Board Director Nominees

Find more information about Board Director Nominees HERE.

Proxy voting will close 24 hours before the AGM on Wednesday 20 October at 3pm (AEDT). Representatives of Developer Members will have received instructions on how to vote and the voting survey on Wednesday 6 October.

Proposed Constitution Changes

DSPANZ are proposing changes to their current Constitution at the upcoming AGM. Please find brief descriptions of these changes below. 

Each special resolution will be voted on separately. All proposed modifications under each special resolution will be voted on together, unless the special resolution is not passed in which case each modification will be voted on individually. 

Special Resolution 1 - Fixing Typos & Renumbering

Through version changes to the Constitution over the years, there have been missed typos and incorrect numbering of clauses.  

Special Resolution 2 - Number of Directors

The following change aims to remove ambiguity about the status of Director vacancies when the Board increases the number of Directors. This is particularly confusing when the increase is done in conjunction with an AGM, as occurred last year.
If there is an increase to the number of Directors holding office, these positions will be treated as casual vacancies.  

Special Resolution 3 - Office Bearers

New Directors are currently unable to nominate for or vote on the Office Bearer positions for the following year’s Board. The modification of clause 36.7(a) allows new Directors to nominate for and vote on Office Bearer positions.  The new clause 36.6(d) also gives new Directors the right to attend Board meetings during the change over period.
To reflect the difference between Elected Directors and Directors Elect (those who have been appointed or elected but do not yet hold office), a new definition has been added to clause 4.
Additional information has been added to clause 36.7(c) to exclude the Secretary from the Office Bearer requirements contained in this clause. Currently the requirements are specified in clause 54 and this change is being made to remove any confusion.
A new clause, 36.7(d), has been added to ensure that the President has served at least two years on the Board before taking up this position. If there are no nominees that meet this criteria, then the requirement will not apply.

Special Resolution 4 - Casual Vacancies

The Casual Vacancy clauses 39(c) and (d) are inconsistent with clause 36.5 which was updated at the 2020 Annual General Meeting. Correcting these clauses to also require casual vacancies to be replaced at the next annual general meeting.

Please find a full outline of the special resolutions here. A copy of ABSIA's current Constitution can be found here.