National Council

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

Beyond the Sunset is administered and governed by the National Council. This Council is responsible for establishing such procedures as are required for the efficient running of the organisation and acts to provide direction in situations that the governing documents either don't cover, or have ceased to be relevant to the current environment. The National Council has all powers and obligations of "the Committee” set out by the Associations Incorporation Act 1987 (WA). The National Council is the final authority on all resolutions, policies, procedures, operational instructions and By-Laws. As such, the Council reserves the right to veto or modify any decisions made by any level of the organisation below it.

National Council Administration

As an incorporated legal entity, the Council contains of the following positions:

• The Club President (National Coordinator)
• The Club Secretary (Deputy National Coordinator)
• The Club Treasurer (National Finance Coordinator)

For administration of the reality side of the club, the Council also maintains the positions of National Membership Coordinator, National Promotions Coordinator, National Rewards Coordinator and National Communications Coordinator. Also, for administration of the story side of the club, the Council maintains the positions of National Storyteller and Deputy National Storyteller. These positions and theirportfolios may be changed or removed, and new positions may be created, as the organisation changes. Such changes can only be made through a vote of the National Council, or through a General Meeting.

National Council Meetings

The National Council is required to meet monthly, in person or on-line, to discuss issues raised by the DCs in their monthly reports (or through direct communications), to report project progress, and raise any issues or ideas that stem from their portfolio. The meetings are scheduled and chaired by the NC. Minutes of these meetings are recorded and archived and made available to all members. Issues may be raised and voted on by the Council, with the NC maintaining a deciding vote only. These issues may have been raised in DC Reports, directly from the membership, or from the Councilor, themselves. All such votes, and their resolutions, must be made public to the membership before the next Council Meeting and are considered to be operational instructions.

National Storyteller Assembly

In order to facilitate the cooperative operation of the National story, the NST chairs a National Storyteller Assembly. This is comprised of the NST, the DNST, and the various GSTs and LESTs, and the DSTs. The NST may also include any Assistants, though they do not have a vote on matters discussed. National Storyteller Assembly assists the NST in deciding the overall direction of the National game. Any story issues deemed appropriate may be raised and deliberated. This includes rules, plots, processes and procedures. At the NST’s discretion, matters may be formally voted upon by the DSTs. They have a number of votes equal to the financial membership base of their Domain (as of the last NMC report) that they may cast as they see fit. In matters related to rules, processes, and procedures, all such votes are expected to be transparent, with results published to the general membership. The DSTs should consult with their VSTs, prior to voting. Furthermore, at the discretion of the NST, all matters may be put to a National Membership Vote.

National Membership Votes

The National Council may wish certain matters be put before the entire club membership for vote. These may include Council issues that are resolved by a deciding vote of the NC, issues that are deemed to require input from all members by the NC, and issues that are recommended to be voted on by all members by the DC that raised them. Though primarily aimed at email votes throughout the year, wherever possible, these votes are to coincide with the AGM at Conclave. All such matters are voted on by the DCs. As the duly elected representatives of their Domain members, the DCs have a number of votes equal to the financial membership base of their Domain (as of the last NMC report) that they may cast as they see fit. All such votes are to be transparent, with all results published to the general membership. The Domain staff must endeavour to consult with their membership, prior to voting. The NMC (or their delegate) acts as the returning officer for all national membership votes. They are responsible for making sure that all DCs are informed in a timely fashion of the matter to be voted on and for ensuring the smooth execution of the voting procedure, as outlined below:

• Announcement of matter to be voted upon to the general membership
• Final date for votes to be accepted from the DCs
• Date of official notification of the results and implementation of changes, if required

Following the announcement to the general membership, a period of one month is reserved for the Domain staff to obtain opinions from their membership. The returning officer will accept Domain votes by email, hardcopy, phone and verbal acknowledgement. The returning officer counts all votes and the results are to be submitted to the National Council for consideration. Upon the NC’s ratification of the results, they will be made public to the general membership and implemented.