ACS consultation on a new constitution

For over 50 years, ACS has been serving the needs of ICT professionals nationwide. In that time, we have grown from a small federation of state-based associations to a large national organisation.

Preparations are being made to draft a constitution suitable to take the Society well into the 21st century. An explanation of the process is in an article that appeared on 30 September 2021 in Information Age.

The Congress formed the Constitutional Reform Working Group (CRWG) from experienced ACS Congress members, convened by Dr Nick Tate and Dr Roger Clarke. The Working Group is tasked with engaging the broader ACS member base by conducting three rounds of consultation with members, and bringing forward a draft constitution.

This site was used to support Round 1 of the consultation process during the period September to December 2021.  The information on this site will be relevant until completion of the entire project, probably in the second half of 2022, and hence the site will remain available at least that long.

Round 2 is being conducted during the period February to April 2022.

Round 2 is being supported by a separate site, implemented using an alternative platform.

Here are details on Round 2.

THE ROUND 1 CONSULTATION PROCESS - ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

[The following information was published on 13 December 2021. It provides access to the results of the consultation process. The links remain live.]
 

The Round 1 Consultation

The first of the three rounds of consultation ran throughout October 2021.  The level of interest remained high, and the deadline for input was extended to 12 November.  The analysis was conducted during November, and a Report back to Members was prepared.
 

The Round 1 Results

An outline of the results is in an article published in Information Age.

The Report, and supporting information, are available at the following links:

In order to fulfil the CRWG's auditability and traceability obligations, the raw material and intermediate forms used in the analysis are provided in the following files:

The CRWG, in preparing the Consultation Document for Round 2, is reflecting the input provided by members in Round 1.

The Round 2 Consultation

It is intended that this will commence in early February 2022.  Details will be provided on this web-page.
 

[The following information was published on 30 September 2021.  It describes the process whereby the first round of the consultation process was conducted.  The links generally remain live, whereas the process details are now a matter of historical record.] 

We welcome input from all members, current and former, as well as any other stakeholders who have a view on how ACS can best serve our members in the years to come.

About the consultation process

The first consultation round will gain insights into members' views on the nature of the professional association, and the principles that should guide the design of the new constitutional document. The later consultation rounds will then drill down into the specifics of features and clauses. All members will receive notice of the opportunity to contribute to each round.

The consultation documents

The CRWG recommends reading these documents before providing a submission:

•        A one-page summary of factors that members may see as being particularly important

•        A one-page list of questions for your response

•        A nine-page Consultation Document that delves more deeply into the issues

•        A 10-minute explanatory video provides the background to the consultation process.

Events

A series of events is being offered, through both national and Branch channels, to enable discussion and inform submissions.

Here are details of events and how to book for them.

The online forum

To facilitate a national conversation by electronic means, an Online Forum has been established.

The ACS CRWG Online Forum is live at https://groups.io/g/CRWG-1.

Please register by clicking on the < + Join This Group> button at the bottom.

Once you've completed registration, we suggest you investigate the Messages component.  

You can then:

• Use 'Reply', below each Message, to respond to previous postings

• Use 'New Topic', in the left-side Menu, to initiate a new thread.

It's important to use hashtags to show the part of the conversation your posting relates to

The CRWG members will be observers, and where appropriate participants, in the forum.

How do I provide feedback?

First, read the summary and question list, and check what the full Consultation Document has to say about the points you are most interested in. To provide feedback on the documents, and other input:

·   You can participate in events.

·   You can contribute to the online forum.

·   You can upload your responses using our online form here: Submit response

Contributions will be gathered from all channels at the end of October 2021.

Reporting back

The CRWG will receive your input through all of the channels, analyse it, and report back to the membership. Reports will be posted on this page.

CRWG anticipates publishing the Round 1 Report to members at latest by 10 December 2021.

It is anticipated that a diversity of views will be expressed, that some will be inconsistent with one another, that a few will not be consistent with the law, and hence not all views will be able to be accommodated. The CRWG will nonetheless do what it can to reflect all members' input at least in the report, and where possible in the subsequent rounds.

Index of reports

Reports will be published here on the outcomes of each of the consultation rounds.