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Canberra Today 22°/26° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

New association represents ACT clubs

A NEW association representing Canberra’s community clubs will be launched today (May 19) by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr. 

Andrew Barr

Canberra Burns Club president Athol Chalmers has been appointed as chair of the new body and says its establishment marks a step-change for the ACT’s community club sector.

“We have worked hard to shape an operating model, culture and philosophy that will see Canberra Community Clubs take a proactive, consultative and solutions based approach to ensuring that our clubs are able to rise to the challenges that confront them” he says.

“The Canberra Community Clubs Board will have a minimum of two independent directors with one representative from the community sector.

“No more than five positions will be available at board level for representatives of individual clubs and the people in those positions will be a mix of individual Club Board representatives and club CEOs.”

The Canberra Community Clubs foundation Board also includes Yellow Edge Founder Andy Gregory as deputy chair, Belconnen Soccer Club CEO Geoff Long, Tradies Group CEO Rob Docker, Hellenic Club CEO Ian Cameron and Lifeline Canberra CEO Carrie Leeson.

Mr Chalmers says the club movement has to let go of many of its legacy issues and thinking.

“Like virtually every other industry sector, rapid digital disruption, changing consumer demands and changing demographics mean that our industry needs to be innovative and imaginative and look for new opportunities to evolve and remain contemporary,” he says.

Canberra Community Clubs has also put responsible gambling and harm minimisation firmly on its agenda.

“Clubs need to be a bigger part of the solution to this problem, both to protect and care for our members, and because it is clearly an issue of concern in our society,” Mr Chalmers says.

Another important area of focus for Canberra Community Clubs is to shape a club industry in Canberra which is a sustainable mix of large, medium and small Clubs.

“A diverse industry structure is vital. It helps deliver a variety of member experiences, preserves and promotes Canberra’s cultural and ethnic diversity, and contributes to improved social inclusion through support for a range of community sport, music, artistic and other critical community activities,” he says.

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One Response to New association represents ACT clubs

Chris says: 19 May 2017 at 9:28 am

Interesting that this comes on the same day that it is found the clubs are short-changing the community.

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