G'day again, Ted,

I probably should have mentioned last time (instead of going for cheap shots at bananabenders) that the big driver for the way we run our club these days is the sheer necessity for incorporation. If your group runs any sort of function, these days, you are at immense risk from some rapacious lawyer laying hands on someone who attended and got a splinter or bruise ... tipped a hot cup of the club coffee over themselves ... and suing you for your life's savings (and those of everyone else in your family, yea! unto the third and fourth generations).

Public risk insurance (for a minimum of $10 000 000) is a non-optional requirement but incorporation is also needed to isolate the legal shark-pool from your personal resources. It is JUST possible to incorporate as a non-profit group without following the Corporate Affairs sample constitution, but it's difficult to make it autocratic AND satisfy the bureaucrats.

Unfortunately, you need to take such steps to protect yourself, and the group, from the ambulance chasing brigade.

Regards,

Bob Bolton