FREE TEMPLATE · HYBRID AGMS
Notice of meeting wording for a hybrid AGM
If members can attend online, your notice of meeting needs to tell them how. This page gives sample paragraphs you can adapt and add to your notice. Check every paragraph against your constitution or rules, and the law that applies to your organisation, before you use it.
Check what you are allowed to do
Whether you can hold a hybrid meeting, and what the notice must say, depends on your organisation. Companies may look to the Corporations Act 2001, including s 249R on meetings using virtual meeting technology. Victorian incorporated associations may look to the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 and their own rules. Other organisations have their own legislation or constitution.
- Your constitution or rules allow members to attend and vote using technology.
- You know the required notice period and how notice must be given.
- You know the proxy rules: who can be a proxy, the deadline and how forms are lodged.
- You have decided how members will vote online, and how in-room and online votes will be counted together.
- Someone with governance or legal responsibility will review the final notice.
Attending online
The meeting will be held at [Venue name and address] and online using [name or description of the online platform]. Members attending online will be able to hear and see the meeting, ask questions and vote [in real time].
To attend online, go to [event page web address] on the day of the meeting. The online meeting room will open at [time] [time zone], [30] minutes before the meeting starts. Members will sign in using [the email address recorded on the register of members and a one-time code sent to that address / a personal link emailed to each member on (date)].
A guide to attending online is [attached / available at (web address)]. We recommend that members read it and check their device before the meeting.
Questions
Members are encouraged to send questions before the meeting by [method] by [date and time]. Members attending online may also ask questions during the meeting using the [Q&A] function on the event page[, in writing or as a short audio or video recording].
Questions will be reviewed by a moderator before they are put to the meeting. Questions on the same topic may be combined. The chair may decline a question that is not relevant to the business of the meeting, and the reason will be given. Questions that cannot be answered in the time available will be [answered in writing within (number) days / published on (where)].
Our question moderation policy is available at [web address].
Voting and proxies
Voting on each resolution will be conducted by [a poll / a show of hands for members in the room and an online vote / a method set out in our constitution]. Members attending online will vote using the voting panel on the event page while the chair has voting open on that resolution. Members in the room will vote by [method].
[Resolution (number) will be decided by secret ballot.] The chair will declare the result of each resolution at the meeting.
A member who is entitled to vote may appoint a proxy. [A proxy must / need not] be a member of [Organisation name]. A proxy form is [attached / available at (web address)].
To be valid, the completed proxy form must be received by [name or role] at [address, email address or online lodgement point] no later than [time] [time zone] on [date]. A proxy holder will receive [their own sign-in details / a personal voting link] so they can attend and vote online, or may attend in person.
Technical help and problems on the day
If you need help joining the meeting online, contact [name or team] by [method] from [time] on the day of the meeting. Help is also available from [date] by [method].
If a technical problem prevents members attending online from taking part, the chair may [adjourn the meeting / pause the meeting until the problem is resolved / continue the meeting if the constitution allows], and members will be told what is happening [on the event page and in the room].
What the chair can do when technology fails is a governance question, not a technical one. Agree it in advance, and make sure the wording here matches your rules and the chair’s script.
Final checks
- Dates, times and time zones match across the notice, proxy form, handout and event page.
- The event page address has been tested by someone outside your organisation.
- The email address members must use is the one on your register.
- The proxy deadline and lodgement details match the proxy form exactly.
- The notice reads clearly for members who are not confident with technology.
Before you rely on it
This is general information, not legal advice. What your meeting must do is set by your constitution or rules and the law that applies to your organisation. Check with your secretary or adviser.
Share and adapt it
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