Registrar Duty Statement

Purpose and goals

The Registrar maintains a complete, current and accurate record of membership of the SCA Ltd Australia. They process membership applications, renewals, changes and resignations or revocations according to the corporation’s rules for eligibility and members’ payment of fees.

The goals of the office are:

  • to process membership transactions accurately and in a timely fashion
  • to ensure that accurate and current membership information is available to authorized officers of the SCA Ltd Australia in accordance with the requirements of their offices
  • to ensure that no person has access to membership information without authorization, and that no officer has access to information which is not relevant to their business requirements
  • to provide support and advice to people regarding their membership, and
  • to provide support and advice to the Board of the SCA Ltd Australia regarding issues that relate to membership of the corporation

Targets

The Registrar should seek to ensure that:

  • Less than 5% of members have to wait more than a week for confirmation that their payment has been received
  • Less than one person per month gets the wrong membership card, or a card with errors on it
  • The majority of members are satisfied with the timeliness, accuracy and quality of the support and advice that they get relating to their memberships
  • The majority of Board members and Kingdom officers are satisfied with the timeliness, accuracy and quality of the support and advice that they get relating to members and the registry

Delegated authority

The Board has delegated the following areas of responsibility and authority to the registrar:

Eligibility for membership

The Registrar is responsible for ensuring that all applicants for membership satisfy any conditions specified in the constitution of the SCA Ltd Australia. They have the authority to reject a membership application from any person who does not meet those conditions.

They are authorized to refuse a membership application from any person who has previously had their membership of the SCA Ltd Australia, or its affiliates, revoked. They are responsible for ensuring that all applications for membership are validated against existing records of members who have had their membership revoked, including the SCA Ltd Big Book of Banishments.

Where they have reason to believe that an applicant for new or renewed membership may not be able to demonstrate compliance with the SCA Australia Code of Conduct, they are authorized to defer processing of a membership application, referring the application to the Board for decision.

Membership commencement and expiry

The Registrar is responsible for setting the start and end dates of a given membership, in accordance with any criteria set in the constitution or policies of the SCA Ltd Australia.
They have the authority to pre- or post-date the commencement of a membership by a period of up to one month from the actual date upon which payment is received, if they believe that is appropriate to recognize delays in processing or other special circumstances. Membership end dates will be determined by the class of membership, calculated from the start date.

Membership fees

The Registrar is responsible for ensuring that all membership fees have been paid in full before confirming a membership has been created or renewed.
They do not have the financial delegation to vary or waive fees, or to impose financial penalties of any kind. Where directed by the Board to register a membership at a rate other than the standard fees, they must ensure the registry accurately records the actual fee paid, and the authority under which it was varied from the standard fee.

Communication with members

The Registrar is responsible for ensuring that all members are notified in a timely fashion of events affecting their membership, including:

  • Confirmation of payment and acceptance of applications for membership or renewal
  • Impending expiry of membership
  • Expiry of membership
  • Change of membership status, including:
    • Changes of recorded name, address and contact details
    • Changes of membership class, from minor to adult
    • Changes to data retained under legislative requirements (eg Victorian weapons regulations)
  • Data breaches affecting their membership records

They are authorized to issue individual, group and organization-wide communications to members, where necessary to disseminate or elicit information relevant to membership of the SCA Ltd Australia.

They are responsible for responding to requests for information relating to membership in a timely fashion, and for providing accurate and complete advice on membership policy and procedures. Where members seek information which is external to the SCA (eg, advice regarding Victorian weapons regulations) they should provide directions to the relevant external authority on a best-efforts basis – but they aren’t required to maintain expert knowledge on those matters.

They must refer any issues where they do not have delegated authority to the Board for a decision. Where the Board provides a decision that can be used as a precedent for future decisions, the Registrar is authorized to follow that precedent in future, without going back to the Board.

Data access and protection

The Registrar:

  • is responsible for maintaining membership records in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. They are authorized to consult with relevant technical support people on an as-needed basis to ensure that the systems used to store membership data are adequately secure.
  • is not responsible for testing the security of IT systems used in support of the Registry. They are responsible for maintaining records of any discussions or advice received from technical support staff, relating to the security of, and access to registry systems.
  • is responsible for ensuring that members of the Board, and officers of Lochac or its Australian groups, have access to information about members necessary for the effective performance of their duties. Where practical, information that is needed on a repeated basis should be made available on a self-serve basis through standard reports.
  • is authorized to provide statistical information about membership of the SCA Ltd Australia to any person. They are responsible for ensuring that such statistical information does not breach member’s privacy through the exposure of personal information.
  • is authorized to provide details of members’ status and contact information to any officer or Board member who identifies a business requirement for this information. They are responsible for ensuring that officers and Board members seeking this information are provided with no more information than is necessary for the performance of their duties, and that the recipients are advised of their obligations to protect personal information provided to them.
  • is required to provide any member with full details of their membership record, in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles, upon request. They are required to correct membership records where the member identifies errors.

Further Information

For further information on the above duty statement, please contact the SCA Ltd Secretary by sending an email to secretary@sca.org.au or by writing to:
The Secretary
Society for Creative Anachronism Ltd
PO BOX 4160
WESTON CREEK ACT 2611

Revision History

First Draft: 1 June 2020
Adopted: 1 July 2020
Next Review: 1 July 2021