The purpose of CHABG is to
provide a forum for capital city Botanic Gardens for information sharing, discussion and coordination of strategic initiatives for their mutual benefit and for the benefit of their communities.
Members
1. CHABG (‘the Council’) will be made up of the Heads of each Australian capital city botanic garden. Each member may appoint a nominee to represent them at a meeting.
2. The Council will have a Chair as nominated and agreed by the members.
3. The Council will nominate a member to represent the Council on the Climate Change and Natural Resources Task Group (CLAN). This may be the Chair or another member as agreed by the Council.
Terms and Conditions
Term of Office
4. The Chair may hold office for a term of up to three years as agreed by Council. This term may be extended as agreed by the Council.
Resignation
5. The Chair may resign his or her appointment by informing all other Council members in writing.
Remuneration
6. No member of the Council is eligible to be paid remuneration.
Establishment of technical sub-groups
7. The Chair, on advice of the Council Members, may establish for the period considered necessary, technical sub-groups to address specific tasks which have been directed to the Council or which the Council considers necessary in order to fulfil their terms of reference. Membership of such sub-groups is not restricted to membership of the Council and the chair of such sub-groups is to be determined by the Chair of the Council.
8. Any such sub-groups established will be subject to the same conditions and regulations as the Council.
Voting and decisions
9. Questions arising at a meeting of the Council or of any sub-group appointed by the Council shall be determined by agreement or a majority of the votes of members of the Council or sub-group present at the meeting.
10. Each member present at a meeting of the Council or of any sub-group appointed by the Council (including the person presiding at the meeting) is entitled to one vote but, in the event of an equal number of votes on any question, the person presiding may exercise a casting vote.
11. Decisions can be made by email out of session by a simple majority of members. Responses are to be received by a specified date (generally five business days).
12. Any conflict of interest should be declared by a Council member at the beginning of discussion of relevant item.
Convening meetings
13. The Council will hold meetings as required but at a minimum annually . Meetings may be face-to-face, by teleconference or videoconference, or using any other agreed technology. The Chair:
(a) may convene a meeting at any time; and
(b) should where possible provide 14 days notice of the meeting date to the secretariat and members.
Presiding at meetings
14. The Chair is to preside at all meetings at which he or she is present.
15. If the Chair is not present, the members present will elect one of their number to preside.
Quorum
16. At any meeting, a simple majority of members form a quorum.
Conduct of meetings
17. The Chair, on behalf of members, will determine the procedure/order of the agenda at meetings.
Appointment of proxies
18. Each member shall be entitled to appoint another person, from their jurisdiction, to attend the meeting , by notifying the details of their nominated proxy to the Secretariat no later than 2 days
(48 hours min.) before the time of the meeting which the delegated proxy is to attend. The member’s apology will therefore be noted in the minutes.
Communication
19. The Secretariat will circulate all documents required for Council meetings more than 5 days prior to the meeting date via e-mail, or where the size of documents is prohibitive, in hard copy or by tabling at the meeting.
20. All documents requiring distribution for decision, discussion and/or comment out of session will be circulated by the Secretariat via e-mail.
Records relating to meetings
21. The Secretariat will keep minutes of the Council meetings and records of resolutions passed.
Persons may be invited to attend meetings
22. The Council may invite a person to attend a meeting:
(a) as an observer; or
(b) as a presenter to advise the Council on any relevant matter.
Reporting
23. The Council will report directly to the Natural Resources Policies and Programs Committee (NRPPC) on issues related to the National Strategy and Action Plan for the role of Botanic Gardens in Climate Change Adaptation
24. The Natural Resource Policies and Programs Committee may, from time to time, direct the Council to undertake and/or report on a specific task or progress-to-date.
25. The Chair will be responsible for preparation of reports to NRPPC in conjunction with the CLAN task group representative.
Secretariat Assistance for the Council
Financial Support for the Council26. Secretariat assistance for meetings of the Council will be provided by the BGANZ Secretariat, hosted by the ANBG. Secretariat functions are to support the Chair, liaise with members, draft agendas, coordinate agenda papers’ distribution, arrange meetings and take minutes.
27. There is no fund established to directly resource the Council.
28. Each Council member will bear the full cost of attendance at meeting (including airfares, accommodation and meals) and of participation in teleconferences (as billed by the Teleconference Provider).
29. Any reasonable cost for the provision of catering during meeting times will be met by the host agency.
Meeting Venue
30. It is the usual practice for face-to-face meetings to rotate between jurisdictions. Venues may also be outside capital cities if appropriate/convenient to the Chair and members eg. for field inspections or presentations directly related to the ambit of the Council. The agency hosting the meeting will be responsible for organising the venue and meeting reasonable catering costs for the meeting.