Key office-holder positions going unfilled as groups face shutting down

ORGANISATIONS of all kinds across the Myall Coast are suffering from a lack of volunteers willing to take on critical office-holder positions.

Even groups that have no problem attracting members are having a hard time motivating people to assume leadership roles.

Every legitimate community group has at least four roles that must be filled in order for the group/club to officially continue.

These are filled at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and are President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary.

A President must demonstrate leadership, practically done by chairing meetings, sticking to a meeting agenda, keeping order, calling for votes on relevant issues, and consciously avoiding autocratically calling the shots.

A Vice President typically does little in the normal course of business, but must be ready to step in at any time should the President become unavailable, mainly to ensure meetings have an official chair.

Treasurers keep the books and produce ever-necessary finance reports, which are made public for all in a given group to peruse – promoting fiscal responsibility and longevity.

The Secretary’s job has several practical responsibilities.

“A Secretary prepares agendas for committee and general meetings, usually monthly, sends them out to all who need [them], then keeps the minutes at the meetings, correspondence in/out, and keeps an eye on the snail mail and email account,” explained Ann Scully, a veteran volunteer committee member of many Myall Coast groups.

“Organisational skills, some basic writing, and people skills are very helpful for the Secretary’s role.

“Many people might be frightened of taking on responsibilities, or they may even feel that their working life is over, so they are happy to sit back, but we make sure that there is plenty of help along the way.

“Several of us enjoy volunteering for committees because we don’t want to see the clubs vanish, but also we see it as an extension of our working lives – others take on the challenge and discover they have a talent that was hidden away for a long time.”

The Probus Club held its 2026 AGM on Friday 6 March.

Of the 100-plus members, just enough were found to fill the important Committee and Office-Holder roles.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, office holders have to be talked into the role, rather than the robust local-form democracy that would be preferable.

Several local groups have held their AGM’s since the start of the year, and many have begun resorting to splitting up the secretarial roles into several parts, in hopes that a few members may step up for smaller responsibilities.

So far, however, it is not working, with almost the same number of groups – many of them well-known in the area for the community services they provide and facilities they maintain – on the brink of ceasing to exist.

Other groups, like Hawks Nest Probus, have worked out succession plans whereby a Vice President one year moves into the President’s role the next year, and a mentoring role after that, keeping the support structure strong and lasting for years.

By Thomas O’KEEFE