[LINK] Australian Shareholders' Association

[Roger Clarke]

> On 27/10/20 5:00 pm, Stephen Loosley wrote:
>> The Government has announced it proposes to make permanent the
>> ability of companies to hold online-only virtual AGM meetings ...

On 30/10/20 9:17 am, Tom Worthington wrote:
> I am surprised any legislation is needed for this. ...

The usual words used to describe the problem are 'legacy issues' and
'failure to use technologically neutral expression'.

Corporations Act s.249L
Contents of notice of meetings of members
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca2001172/s249l.html
(1)  A notice of a meeting of a company's members must:
(a)  set out the place, date and time for the meeting ...

Worse still:

s.249R
Time and place for meetings of members
A meeting of a company's members must be held at a reasonable time and
place.

And the let-out provisions are partial only, i.e. a place must be used:

s.249S
Technology
A company may hold a meeting of its members at 2 or more venues using
any technology that gives the members as a whole a reasonable
opportunity to participate.


Even more so than before my entanglements with legal processes during
the last 12 months over the ACS matter, I suggest that the default
assumption needs to always be that 'the law is an ass unless clearly
demonstrated otherwise, and even then any expensive lawyer will be able
to get a judge to overturn the sensibleness and recover ass-ness'.

___________________


> ... I would have thought
> that a meeting by video conference is a "meeting". After all this allows
> broader access to meetings than a physical room of limited size does.
> When President of the ACS I chaired a meeting of our National Council by
> video conference.
> 
> Also it is odd that the Federal Government would be keen for other
> organizations to have virtual meetings, when it doesn't want to do so
> itself. The National Cabinet was postponed because the Prime Minister
> did not want to have it without his staff beside him physically in the
> room. Also use of virtual or hybrid meetings of parliament has been
> limited.
> 
> 


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University