Huskisson Woollamia Community Voice envisages a future that recognises and maintains the built, natural and cultural values of our local area. We accept and want future growth and planning to co-exist with the existing size and feel of the built environment to maintain our magnificent views, our historical tree-scapes, and both our European and Indigenous history and heritage. We aim for collaboration between the council and the community for a harmonious future.

The Huskisson Woollamia Community Voice (HWCV) is the Community Consultative Body (CCB) representing the views of the Huskisson and Woollamia villages to the  local government authority, Shoalhaven City Council.  The main administrative centre for Council is in Nowra on the south coast of NSW, Australia.  The HWCV is an incorporated association under NSW Office of Fair Trading Model Rules.

The goal of the HWCV is to provide the Huskisson and Woollamia community with a forum for influencing the future of Huskisson, Woollamia and the Jervis Bay area generally.

The HWCV is open to all ratepayers and residents of Huskisson and Woollamia, who are members automatically.  We do not require membership fees.  All visitors from outside our CCB are welcome, but naturally enough, visitors don’t have voting rights.

To provide a two way communication link with Council, other government agencies and non-government organisations who make decisions that affect us

Provide residents and rate payers with a voice to raise issues of concern for discussion and exchange of ideas without fear of any vested interests or bias dominating

Promote understanding of issues and the decision making processes of Council and other government agencies and how we can have our views heard

To represent the community consensus view, and to assist all other views in being heard

To remain independent of any other interest group

To have fun and promote community spirit through a range of community projects

Two guidelines are in operation. These, though slightly different, nonetheless operate simultaneously.

1. Guidelines for Conduct of Community Consultative Bodies, Shoalhaven City Council.
   •  Revision adopted February 2013, review Dec 2016  – 132kb
   •  Public exhibition June 2011, draft showing proposed edits  – 225kb
2. NSW Office of Fair Trading – Model Rules for Associations 2016. Link – 210kb

30 August 2016 – Changes to NSW association laws – start on 1 September 2016 – Summary(70kb) of the changes

NSW Fair Trading Registry Services – Tel: 1800 502 042

Amendments to enhance the way incorporated associations are administered and to clarify the way associations operate start on 1 September 2016.

After public consultation over a 3 year period, the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 will be amended and the existing Regulation replaced with a new Associations Incorporation Regulation 2016 on 1 September 2016.

Together, the changes to the Act and the new Regulation will assist associations comply with the legislative requirements and improve governance.

The key changes include:

• the official address of an association will now be an address in NSW where the public officer can generally be found and where documents can be served on the association by post (but not a post office box)
• a new provision for keeping financial records and minutes of meetings electronically and providing that financial records be kept for at least 5 years
• amendments to the model constitution: these changes will automatically apply to all associations that have adopted the model constitution. If an association has its own constitution and it fails to address a matter in Schedule 1 of the Act, the provision in the model constitution relating to that matter will automatically apply
• allowing for electronic ballots if this is permitted under an association’s constitution
• the fee for lodging the annual statement of financial affairs has reduced for Tier 2 [small] associations (gross receipts less than $250,000) and has increased for Tier 1 [large] associations. In general, fees have been revised to reflect the amount of work required to process the documentation
• clarifying the duties and liabilities of committee members
• removing the need to reserve a name before lodging an application to register an association or change an association’s name.
• For one year from 1 September 2016, any association wishing to update its constitution as a result of the amendments to the legislation will not have to pay a fee to register the change.

To find out how the changes to the association laws will affect associations, visit the Changes to the associations incorporation laws page on the Fair Trading website.