Rules of Pollee Association Incorporated

Associations Incorporation Act 2015 (WA)

Draft for members' consideration, October 2026. These rules replace the draft model rules of Pollee Cooperative (a non-distributing co-operative without share capital) and give effect to the institutional design set out in Democracy Now (Chambers, 2026). Operational figures are set in By-law No. 1.

Company public records

https://www.pollee.net/modelrules

https://www.pollee.net/code-of-conduct

https://www.pollee.net/code-of-practice

All materials contained within these rules or contributed to the Association's site, meetings and discussion remain the copyright property of the contributor or author under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Part 1. Preliminary

1. Name

(1) The name of the incorporated association is Pollee Association Incorporated (the Association).

(2) The Association may use the abbreviation Pollee Inc. in its public communications, provided its full name appears on its formal documents as the Act requires.

2. Terms used

In these rules:

Act means the Associations Incorporation Act 2015 (WA), and Regulations means the Associations Incorporation Regulations 2016 (WA);

budget cycle means a period for which the members allocate a published envelope of funds under clause 35;

by-law means a by-law made under clause 57, and includes the Code of Conduct and the Code of Practice;

Committee means the management committee of the Association constituted under clause 36;

Constituency means a community, locality or group established under clause 50 for whose questions the Association hosts polls;

Constituency Fund means the fund established under clause 52;

constituent path and institutional path have the meanings given in clause 32;

delegate means a member to whom another member has delegated a vote under clause 21;

deliberation period means the period during which a poll is open for discussion and voting, being not less than 30 days unless these rules or a by-law provide a longer period;

digitally present means participating in a meeting or poll through electronic means, contemporaneously or during the deliberation period, in discussion and in contribution toward a decision;

digital vote means a vote cast by a member by a transaction from the member's account at a financial institution to the Yes account, the No account or the Return to Sender account for the question;

formal vote means a vote that complies with these rules and the by-laws and is received before the close of the poll;

Infomarian means a person appointed under clause 44 to provide the services described in clause 45;

in writing includes the transmission of information by analogue or digital means;

ordinary resolution means a resolution carried under clause 17(2);

participation record means the record required by clause 18;

poll means the process under Part 3 by which members decide a question;

Return to Sender account, Yes account and No account mean the accounts maintained under clause 51(3) to receive votes recording, respectively, a demand that the question be redrafted, assent and dissent;

special resolution has the meaning given in section 51 of the Act;

voting contribution means the uniform amount payable with each vote under clause 9(2);

working group means a group of members convened under clause 33 to develop a proposal on the constituent path.

3. Objects

(1) The primary object of the Association is to foster and facilitate greater civic engagement, democratic participation and public debate within the community by providing accessible digital tools for deliberation and decision making.

(2) To achieve its primary object the Association will:

• (a) facilitate informed deliberation, by providing, maintaining and moderating digital platforms that enable people to access credible information, discuss public issues and consider diverse viewpoints;

• (b) support democratic processes, by developing and delivering services that allow the secure, transparent and democratic expression of voter intent on specific public issues, and by making results available to public representatives and administrations;

• (c) promote digital inclusion, by providing human-assisted support, educational resources and training so that all community members, regardless of background, education or technological ability, can participate in democratic discussion;

• (d) foster innovation in governance, by encouraging community-led invention, innovation and enterprise through efficient, low-cost decision-making services that allow individuals and organisations to manage their own affairs; and

• (e) enhance community cohesion, by promoting sustainable development through processes by which communities may reach majority decisions on local and public matters.

4. Not-for-profit

(1) The property and income of the Association must be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects or purposes of the Association and no part of that property or income may be paid or otherwise distributed, directly or indirectly, to any member of the Association, except in good faith in the promotion of those objects or purposes.

(2) Subclause (1) does not prevent the payment in good faith of reasonable remuneration to an Infomarian, employee or other person for services actually rendered to the Association, or the reimbursement of expenses properly incurred on its behalf. Such a payment is a fee for a service and not a distribution of surplus.

5. Powers

(1) The Association has the powers conferred on an incorporated association by the Act.

(2) Without limiting subclause (1), the Association may:

• (a) host polls and deliberation for its members and Constituencies;

• (b) offer its poll service to a local government or other public body as an advisory instrument, or as a binding instrument for a defined class of decision where that body so resolves;

• (c) hold its own poll ledger, accounts and revenue independently of any body that recognises its polls; and

• (d) establish and administer the Constituency Fund.

6. Founding principles

(1) The right to choose. Every member has the right to choose on any question put to the members, to live with the consequence of the choice, and to change it. A decision of the members stands only until the question is next put, and any question may be put again under clause 19.

(2) Equal voice. Each member has one vote on each question. The voting contribution is the same for every member and every question, cannot be multiplied, and confers no additional influence.

(3) No mandate beyond participation. A decision is a decision of the members who took part in it, and is to be described as such.

(4) Secrecy of the ballot. The tally of a poll is permanent; the attribution of a vote to a member is not to be recorded or disclosed except as clause 20 permits.

(5) Open agenda. No question may be kept from the members only because no institution sponsors it.

(6) Service, not authority. Infomarians and any machine assistance serve the members' deliberation and hold no authority over its outcome.

(7) Adoption by consent. The Association's tools are offered to a community and not imposed on it. A Constituency adopts them by its own decision, in its own way, and may stop using them.

(8) This clause and clauses 17, 19, 20 and 21 are entrenched. A special resolution to alter or rescind an entrenched clause may be put only after a deliberation period of at least 60 days, and the notice must state that the clause is entrenched.

Part 2. Membership

7. Qualifications for membership

(1) A natural person is eligible for membership if the person supports the objects of the Association and agrees to abide by these rules, the by-laws and the Codes of Conduct and Practice.

(2) No person is ineligible for want of their own digital device or skills. The Association must provide assisted access to its polls and deliberation, through its Infomarians or otherwise, to any member who needs it.

8. Applications for membership

(1) An application for membership must be made in writing, by electronic means or at the Association's address, in the form approved by the Committee.

(2) The Association must give each applicant a copy of these rules and the by-laws, and written notice of any amount payable by members under clause 9.

(3) The Committee must consider each application and publish to members the name of each applicant it proposes to admit. If no member objects within 14 days, the applicant is admitted. If a member objects, the application is decided by poll.

(4) The Committee must give an applicant whose application is refused written reasons within 28 days and refund any amount paid with the application, without interest.

(5) Membership commences when the applicant's name is entered in the register of members, which must be done within 28 days of admission. The applicant must be notified in writing of the entry.

9. Fees and voting contribution

(1) No entrance fee or annual subscription is payable unless the members set one by ordinary resolution.

(2) A voting contribution, in the amount set by by-law, is payable with each vote cast in a poll. The amount must be the same for all members and all questions.

(3) A member may add an optional gratuity to a vote, in the manner set by by-law, to acknowledge the service of the Infomarian. A gratuity has no effect on the weight or direction of the vote.

(4) No member may be denied a vote for inability to pay the voting contribution. A member who is unable to pay may draw it from the Constituency Fund under clause 52.

10. Register of members

(1) The secretary, or another person authorised by the Committee, must keep and maintain a register of members containing the particulars required by section 53 of the Act, the date each member was admitted and, where applicable, the date the person ceased to be a member.

(2) The register of members must not record how any member voted.

(3) A member may inspect the register free of charge at a reasonable time. The Committee may require a member who asks for a copy of the register to provide a statutory declaration as to the purpose for which it will be used, as the Act permits.

11. Ceasing membership

(1) A person ceases to be a member:

• (a) on giving written notice of resignation to the secretary;

• (b) on death;

• (c) on expulsion under clause 12; or

(d) if the Committee, having made reasonable attempts to contact the member over a continuous period of 12 months and having given 28 days' written notice to the member's last known address, resolves that the member cannot be contacted.

(2) Not voting, or not taking part in discussion, is not of itself a ground for ceasing membership.

(3) On ceasing to be a member, any amount owed by the former member to the Association, other than a balance owed to the Constituency Fund, becomes payable.

12. Suspension and expulsion

(1) A member may be suspended for not more than one year, or expelled, if the member has:

• (a) contravened these rules, the by-laws or the Codes of Conduct and Practice;

• (b) failed to discharge the member's obligations to the Association;

• (c) prevented or hindered the Association in carrying out its objects; or

• (d) brought the Association into disrepute.

(2) The member must be given written notice of the proposed suspension or expulsion and the grounds for it at least 30 days before the close of the poll that will decide it, and a full opportunity to be heard, to call witnesses and to question witnesses called against the member.

(3) Suspension or expulsion is decided by secret ballot of the members, and is not carried unless two thirds of the formal votes cast are in favour.

(4) During a suspension the member keeps the right to vote but loses the other rights of membership, and is not entitled to a refund of any amount paid.

(5) An expelled person may be readmitted only by special resolution.

(6) Moderation of discussion by an Infomarian under clause 48 is not suspension or expulsion and is not governed by this clause.

13. Disputes and mediation

(1) This clause applies to a dispute under or relating to these rules between members, or between a member and the Association, other than a matter decided under clause 12.

(2) A party may not commence court or tribunal proceedings about the dispute until this clause has been followed, except to seek urgent interlocutory relief.

(3) The parties must meet and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute within 14 days of a party giving notice of it to the others.

(4) If the dispute is not resolved, the parties must as soon as practicable attend mediation before a mediator chosen by agreement or, failing agreement within 14 days, nominated by an independent dispute resolution body chosen by the Committee. The mediator may be a member, but not a party to the dispute or a person with a material interest in it.

(5) The mediator must give each party a full opportunity to be heard, consider any written statement submitted, and ensure natural justice. The mediation is confidential and without prejudice, and its costs are shared equally unless otherwise agreed.

(6) If mediation does not resolve the dispute within 28 days, either party may refer it to an independent decision maker appointed in the manner set out in subclause (4), who must hear both parties and decide the dispute in writing with reasons.

(7) Nothing in this clause prevents a party from seeking to resolve the dispute in accordance with the Act or otherwise at law after following this clause.

Part 3. Polls and general meetings

14. How the members decide

(1) Every question for decision by the members is decided by poll. There is no decision on the voices or by show of hands.

(2) A poll is open for the deliberation period. During it, members may discuss the question, and may cast, change or withdraw a vote at any time until the close of the poll.

(3) A member may vote:

• (a) by digital vote;

• (b) in person or by technology at the general meeting at which the poll closes; or

• (c) by any assisted, postal or other method provided by by-law.

(4) Only the member's last formal vote at the close of the poll is counted.

15. General meetings

(1) A general meeting is a gathering of members, held in person, by technology or both, at which polls close and are declared. Members participating by technology are present for all purposes.

(2) Each general meeting is preceded by a deliberation period of at least 30 days on its agenda, which begins when notice of the meeting is given.

16. Votes cast during the deliberation period

(1) A member who casts a vote on a question during the deliberation period appoints the chairperson of the general meeting at which the poll closes as the member's proxy, directed to vote as the member's last formal vote at the close of the poll.

(2) The appointment may be made, changed and revoked by electronic means at any time before the close of the poll, and is revoked if the member votes in person or by technology at the meeting.

(3) The votes so cast are counted with the votes of members present at the meeting, and the question is decided on all formal votes.

17. Counting and the three accounts

(1) Each formal vote is recorded as Yes, No or Return to Sender.

(2) An ordinary resolution is carried if the Yes votes are more than half of the formal votes cast.

(3) A special resolution is carried if it is passed by the majority required by section 51 of the Act.

(4) If a resolution is not carried and the Return to Sender votes exceed the No votes, the question is returned to its proposer for redrafting. It is deferred and not defeated, and its record, including discussion, cost estimate and any priority score, is carried forward.

(5) If a resolution is not carried and subclause (4) does not apply, it is defeated.

(6) There is no casting vote. If the votes are equal, the resolution is not carried and subclause (4) or (5) applies.

18. Participation record

(1) Every declaration of a poll result must state the number of members eligible to vote, the number of formal votes cast, participation as a percentage of eligible members, the Yes, No and Return to Sender votes, the number of informal votes, and the number of votes cast through delegation.

(2) The participation record must be entered in the minutes and published to members with the result.

(3) No officer or Infomarian may describe a decision as having a wider support than its participation record shows.

19. Putting a question again

(1) A question that has been decided may be put again on either path of origination under clause 32.

(2) A by-law may set a minimum interval before a question decided within a budget cycle is put again, but may not prevent a question from being put again once that budget cycle has ended.

20. Secrecy of the ballot

(1) The Association must conduct polls so that the record of payment is separated from the record of the content of the ballot, and so that:

• (a) the financial institution knows who paid and when, but not what the payment was for beyond the destination account;

• (b) the Association knows the account, the question and the tally, but not the identity of the member who cast any vote;

• (c) the Infomarian knows that a vote was attributed to the poll they host, but not the member or the direction of the vote; and

• (d) the member holds a complete statement of their own votes.

(2) No person may access the identifying record of a vote except in the investigation of suspected fraud with the consent of the member concerned, or where required by law.

(3) The Association must not collect or retain biometric information about any member.

(4) The methods by which this clause is given effect, including cryptographic commitments and the format of ballot records, are set by by-law.

21. Delegation of votes

(1) A member may delegate their vote on a question, or on a class of questions, to another member who is a natural person, either generally or on stated conditions.

(2) A delegation may be made, changed and revoked by electronic means at any time until the close of the poll. A delegation is a loan of the vote and never a transfer of it.

(3) A delegating member may see how their delegate voted on each delegated question.

(4) A delegate may not delegate a vote they hold for another member unless that member has permitted it.

(5) No delegation may be held by software, an automated agent or any person who is not a member. An assistant may prepare or sign a transaction under a member's own key only on that member's instruction.

(6) A delegation operates in law as the appointment of the delegate as the member's proxy for the question, subject to the conditions of the delegation.

22. Proxies

(1) A member may appoint another member as proxy for a general meeting by notice in writing, including by electronic means, lodged with the Association at any time before the close of the poll.

(2) An appointment may direct how the proxy is to vote, and the proxy must vote as directed.

(3) A person may hold proxies for more than one member.

(4) A vote given under a proxy or delegation is valid despite the death or incapacity of the appointing member, or revocation of the appointment, unless the Association received written notice of it before the close of the poll.

23. Annual general meeting

(1) An annual general meeting must be held within 6 months after the end of each financial year, at a time decided by the Committee.

(2) The ordinary business of the annual general meeting is:

• (a) to confirm the minutes of the last general meeting;

• (b) to receive the Committee's report on the activities of the Association, including the transparency report under clause 55;

• (c) to receive the financial statements or report required by the Act and any review or audit report;

• (d) to elect the members of the Committee whose terms have ended; and

• (e) to appoint any auditor or reviewer.

24. Special general meetings

(1) The Committee may call a special general meeting at any time.

(2) The Committee must call a special general meeting on the written requisition of at least 10% of the members, stating the business to be considered.

(3) A requisitioned meeting must be held within 2 months of the requisition being served. If the Committee does not give notice of the meeting within 35 days, the requisitioning members may call it in the same manner as the Committee would, and the Association must reimburse their reasonable expenses.

25. Notice of general meetings

(1) At least 30 days' notice of every general meeting must be given to every member in a manner set out in clause 59, stating the date, time and place or means of attendance, each item of business, and how and when the poll on each item opens and closes.

(2) Notice of a special resolution must set out the full text of the resolution, state the intention to propose it as a special resolution, and state the reasons for it and its effect.

(3) The non-receipt of notice by a member does not invalidate the proceedings.

26. Business of general meetings

(1) Business may be placed on the agenda of a general meeting:

• (a) on the institutional path, by the Committee or a body admitted under clause 32(2);

• (b) on the constituent path, by a working group that has endorsed a proposal under clause 33; or

• (c) by requisition of at least 10% of the members.

(2) Business under subclause (1)(b) or (c) must be given to the secretary at least 45 days before the meeting, and the Committee must include it in the notice.

27. Quorum

(1) No item of business may be transacted at a general meeting unless a quorum is present when the poll on the item closes.

(2) The quorum is 9 members present in person or by technology.

(3) If a quorum is not present within 30 minutes after the time appointed, a meeting called on requisition is dissolved, and any other meeting is adjourned to the same day, time and means in the following week. If a quorum is not then present, the members present are a quorum.

28. Chairperson and conduct of general meetings

(1) The chairperson of the Committee presides at general meetings. If the chairperson is absent or unwilling, the members present choose one of their number to preside.

(2) The chairperson may, with the consent of the meeting, adjourn it. Only business left unfinished may be transacted at the adjourned meeting, and if the adjournment is for 14 days or more notice must be given as for the original meeting.

(3) The chairperson must declare the result of each poll with its participation record.

29. Minutes of general meetings

The secretary must record in minutes the business of every general meeting and the result and participation record of every poll, and must publish the minutes to members within one month.

30. Postal and digital ballots outside meetings

(1) Where the Act, these rules or an ordinary resolution so require, a question may be decided by ballot of members outside a general meeting, conducted under clauses 14 and 17 to 21 with a deliberation period of at least 30 days.

(2) The Committee must appoint a returning officer for each such ballot, who must receive, validate and count the votes and report the result and participation record, which the secretary must enter in the minutes.

31. Members may direct the Committee

The members may by ordinary resolution direct the Committee, or rescind or vary a decision of the Committee, and the Committee must give effect to the resolution.

Part 4. Agenda, proposals and budgets

32. Two paths of origination

(1) Questions reach the members by one of two paths.

(2) The institutional path runs from the Committee, from a public body that has resolved to use the Association's polls for a defined class of decision, or from another body the members admit by ordinary resolution. A question on this path must be accompanied by the name of the sponsoring body, a named officer who may be questioned during the deliberation period, a drafted instrument and, where it commits funds, a cost estimate under clause 34.

(3) The constituent path runs from the members. Any member may raise a proposal, which enters a working group under clause 33.

(4) The Committee must record and publish, for each budget cycle and each year, the number of questions that reached the members on each path.

33. Working groups

(1) A working group is convened for each proposal raised on the constituent path and is hosted by an Infomarian. Any member may join it.

(2) The working group develops the proposal: what is asked, what it would cost, what it would displace and who would be affected. It may test the proposal by poll, amend it and test it again. Polls within a working group are drafting instruments and are not decisions of the members.

(3) A proposal proceeds to the members when the working group endorses it by its own poll and the Infomarian certifies that it is drafted and, where required, priced.

(4) The proceedings and draft history of every working group must be archived and remain open to members, and the reasoning in a proposal's development must be attributable to identifiable participants.

(5) The Committee must publish annually the composition of working groups whose proposals reached the members, so that it can be compared with the membership.

34. Pricing of measures

(1) No measure that commits funds may be put to the members unless it carries a cost estimate and a stated confidence interval.

(2) A matter whose cost cannot be estimated within the tolerance set by by-law is not defeated. It is put to the members on a declaratory track (expressing the will of the members), a procedural track, or as an instruction to negotiators.

(3) Where the supplier of a service, or a person with an interest in it, prepares its cost estimate, a second estimate must be obtained from a party without that interest. Both estimates must be published and the difference between them recorded.

35. Budget cycles

(1) Where the Association allocates its own funds, or conducts a budget poll for a body under clause 32(2), it must use a budget cycle under this clause.

(2) Envelope. The total funds available for the cycle must be published, and independently reviewed or audited, before any claim on them is made. The envelope may be altered only by special resolution, which takes effect from the following cycle.

(3) Priority. Each member receives an equal allotment of priority points for the cycle, which the member distributes across measures, subject to a cap on any one measure. Points are not transferable, cannot be purchased and expire at the end of the cycle.

(4) Direction. Whether each measure proceeds is decided by poll under clause 17. Priority points decide order, not whether.

(5) Funding line. Measures carried are ranked by total priority and funded in that order until the envelope is exhausted. A measure below the line is deferred and not defeated, and its record is carried to the next cycle. A measure at the margin may be partly funded only with the consent of its proposer.

(6) Reserve, sunset and deficit. A contingency reserve of a proportion of the envelope is held back and may be drawn only by a poll with a shortened deliberation period. Every funded measure expires after a set number of cycles unless it re-enters the priority ballot. Borrowing is permitted only for a measure whose priority exceeds a threshold, and only where the debt is charged against a named future cycle by a separate poll.

(7) For a decision committing substantial funds over several years, the deliberation period must be between 6 and 12 months.

(8) The allotment, cap, reserve proportion, sunset period, deficit threshold, costing tolerance and the meaning of a substantial commitment are set by by-law.

Part 5. Management Committee

36. The Committee

(1) The Association is managed by a management committee known as the Committee, consisting of a chairperson, a deputy chairperson, a secretary, a treasurer and between one and five ordinary committee members.

(2) A person is eligible to be a committee member if the person is a member of the Association, is at least 18 years old and is not ineligible under section 39 of the Act.

37. Powers of the Committee

(1) Subject to the Act, these rules, the by-laws and any resolution of the members, the Committee manages the affairs of the Association and may exercise its powers.

(2) The Committee must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the Association complies with the Act, these rules and the by-laws.

(3) The Committee must give effect to the result of every poll, and must publish its decisions to members within one month, except decisions on matters it resolves to be confidential for personal, employment, commercial or legal reasons.

38. Election of the Committee

(1) Committee members, including the chairperson, are elected by poll of the members closing at the annual general meeting.

(2) A nomination must be given to the secretary at least 45 days before the annual general meeting, with the nominee's written consent and a published statement of the nominee's qualifications and intentions.

(3) Where there are more nominees than positions, the members vote on each position, and the nominee with the most Yes votes is elected.

39. Term of office and removal

(1) A committee member holds office from the annual general meeting at which they are elected until the third annual general meeting after it.

(2) The members may at any time remove a committee member by ordinary resolution and elect another person for the rest of the term.

40. Vacancies

(1) The office of a committee member becomes vacant if the person:

• (a) dies or ceases to be a member;

• (b) resigns by written notice to the Committee;

• (c) is removed under clause 39(2);

• (d) becomes ineligible under section 39 of the Act;

• (e) becomes permanently unable to act because of a mental or physical disability; or

• (f) is absent from 3 consecutive Committee meetings without leave of the Committee.

(2) The Committee may appoint an eligible member to fill a casual vacancy until the next annual general meeting. If there are too few committee members to form a quorum, the remaining members may act only to fill vacancies or to call a general meeting.

(3) A person who ceases to be a committee member must, as soon as practicable, deliver to the Committee all documents and records of the Association they hold, as section 41 of the Act requires.

41. Payments to committee members

(1) A committee member is entitled to reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses properly incurred in the business of the Association.

(2) No other payment may be made to a committee member, including a fee for services as an Infomarian, unless the payment has been approved by the members at a general meeting.

42. Committee meetings

(1) The Committee must meet at least quarterly. A meeting may be called by any committee member giving at least 48 hours' notice to every other committee member, unless the chairperson decides that special circumstances require shorter notice.

(2) Committee members may take part by any technology that allows reasonably contemporaneous and continuous communication.

(3) The quorum is half the number of committee members in office, rounded up to the next whole number.

(4) Questions are decided by a majority of votes of committee members present. Each committee member has one vote, and if votes are equal the chairperson has a casting vote.

(5) A committee member with a material personal interest in a matter must disclose it, and may not vote on it or be present while it is decided unless the Committee resolves otherwise.

(6) A resolution in writing, including by electronic means, agreed to by a majority of committee members after being circulated to all of them, is as valid as a resolution passed at a meeting and must be recorded in the minutes.

(7) The secretary must keep minutes recording the committee members present, any other persons attending, declarations of interest, the business considered, and each motion voted on and its result.

43. Delegation and committees

(1) The Committee may by resolution delegate any of its powers, other than this power of delegation, to a committee member, a subcommittee of committee members, or a committee of members, with conditions it specifies. The members or the Committee may revoke a delegation by resolution.

(2) The Committee may appoint advisory committees of members or other persons, or both.

(3) A committee under this clause decides questions by poll of its members present or digitally present, its quorum is half its members rounded up, and if votes are equal its chairperson has a casting vote.

Part 6. Infomarians and Constituencies

44. Appointment of Infomarians

(1) The Committee may appoint persons as Infomarians, under a written service agreement, to provide the services in clause 45. An Infomarian is appointed by the Committee and is not a franchisee or contractor of any other person.

(2) An Infomarian must be a member of the Constituency they serve, where one has been established.

(3) The Committee may suspend or end an Infomarian's service agreement for failure to meet the standards of clause 46, and the members may end it by ordinary resolution.

45. Functions of Infomarians

(1) An Infomarian has two primary functions:

• (a) to maintain, for each poll they host, an accurate and current record of the supporting arguments and facts, for as long as the question is live; and

• (b) to cultivate proposals that are not yet polls, with the participants in a working group, to the point where they can be put to the members.

(2) In carrying out those functions an Infomarian hosts the issue page, seeks out and publishes relevant evidence from all parties, engages members in discussion, provides technical assistance, prepares or obtains cost estimates, maintains a running public tally, archives the discussion when the poll closes, administers the Constituency Fund where the Committee so directs, and moderates discussion under clause 48. The by-laws set these duties in detail.

46. Standards and limits

(1) An Infomarian must act in good faith to promote the objects of the Association, be non-partisan in research and moderation, and ensure that information provided to members is neutral and supports informed and independent decisions.

(2) An Infomarian holds no delegated authority over the outcome of any poll. An Infomarian must transmit every result without fear or favour, and an Infomarian who refuses to do so is taken to have resigned.

(3) An Infomarian may vote as a member, but may not hold a delegation or proxy on a question they host.

(4) An Infomarian must disclose to the Committee any material personal interest in a matter before the Association, and must not use the position to gain an advantage for any person or to cause detriment to the Association.

47. Remuneration of Infomarians

(1) An Infomarian is paid reasonable remuneration on a fee-for-service basis for facilitating each vote cast in a poll they host. The fee is for facilitation and is the same whichever way the question is decided. It is not a commission on any outcome.

(2) The fee attributed per vote must decline as the number of polls an Infomarian carries rises, and the Committee must set a limit on the number of polls an Infomarian may open in a period.

(3) Gratuities under clause 9(3) are paid to the Infomarian hosting the poll.

(4) The Committee must approve all remuneration, record in its minutes why the amount is reasonable by reference to the labour, hosting, research and support it covers, and review it annually so that it remains reasonable and is not a distribution of profit.

48. Moderation

(1) Infomarians moderate discussion against personal abuse, not against disagreement.

(2) Moderation proceeds by escalating warnings and periods of read-only access, as set by by-law, before a participant is excluded from a discussion, except that a participant who threatens, intimidates or incites violence may be excluded at once.

(3) A participant may dispute a moderation decision under clause 13.

49. Machine assistance

(1) The Association and its Infomarians may use machine assistance for clerical work, including summarising discussion, keeping draft histories, checking whether an argument has been made before, flagging unsourced claims, translating and maintaining the archive.

(2) Machine assistance must be disclosed to participants, must leave the full discussion record available beneath any summary, and must be substitutable so that no supplier gains a structural advantage in framing questions.

(3) Decisions remain with people. Machine assistance may not decide a question, endorse a proposal, hold a delegation, hold a share of a recovery secret, or restore or confer a member's identity.

50. Constituencies

(1) The Committee may establish a Constituency at the request of a community, locality or group, on terms agreed with it, after that community has decided in its own way to adopt the Association's tools.

(2) Wherever possible, a Constituency's Infomarians are drawn from within it, and its discussion is conducted in the languages its members use.

(3) A Constituency may stop using the Association's tools at any time, and the Committee must then provide it with a copy of its own records.

Part 7. Funds, records and transparency

51. Control of funds

(1) The Association must keep an account with a financial institution in its own name, and all money received must be deposited into it within 5 working days.

(2) Payments must be authorised by two committee members, or by one committee member and one other person authorised by the Committee.

(3) The Association must keep a Yes account, a No account and a Return to Sender account for its polls, and may keep separate accounts for each Constituency. The distribution of voting contributions between Infomarians, the Association, connective infrastructure and taxation is set by by-law.

52. Constituency Fund

(1) The Association must maintain a Constituency Fund, capitalised from a part of its share of voting contributions set by by-law, from which a member may draw voting contributions they are unable to pay.

(2) Amounts drawn bear no interest and have no fixed date for repayment. Repayment is expected when the member is able, but is not enforced.

(3) The administrator of the Fund may withdraw further credit from a member whose accrued balance and evident means show that the member is able to pay. Payments continue to be accepted.

(4) A member's balance is confidential to the member and the administrator of the Fund, and is never linked to how the member voted.

53. Financial year

The financial year of the Association begins on 1 May and ends on 30 April.

54. Financial reporting, review and audit

(1) The Association must keep financial records and prepare, review or audit its financial statements or report as Part 5 of the Act requires for its tier.

(2) The members may appoint an auditor or reviewer at the annual general meeting for a term of between 2 and 5 years, as the Act permits.

(3) The Association must publish a reconciliation of each poll's accounts against its declared result.

55. Transparency report

The Committee must publish to members each year, whether or not the figures are favourable:

• (a) the participation record of every poll;

• (b) the number of questions on each path of origination;

• (c) the use of delegation;

• (d) the relationship between the Association's revenue from each poll and the level of contention in it;

• (e) the total remuneration of Infomarians and the number of polls each hosted;

• (f) the aggregate state of the Constituency Fund; and

• (g) the composition of working groups under clause 33(5).

56. Records and inspection

(1) The books and securities of the Association are kept in the custody of the secretary, and its financial records in the custody of the treasurer, and must be retained for at least 7 years.

(2) The poll ledger and the archive of each closed discussion must be kept so that they remain accessible and cannot be edited.

(3) A member may inspect free of charge, at a reasonable time, the rules and by-laws, the register of members, the record of office holders, the minutes of general meetings, the financial statements, and the poll ledger and archives. A member may inspect minutes of Committee meetings except those parts the Committee has resolved are confidential under clause 37(3). Documents published on the Association's website may be downloaded free of charge.

57. By-laws

(1) The Committee may make, amend or revoke by-laws, not inconsistent with the Act or these rules, on any matter these rules provide may be set by by-law and on the operation of the Association generally.

(2) A by-law, or an amendment to one, takes effect only when approved by ordinary resolution of the members. The members may amend or revoke a by-law by ordinary resolution.

(3) The Code of Conduct and the Code of Practice are by-laws.

58. Altering the rules

The Association may alter or rescind these rules, or make additional rules, only by special resolution, subject to clause 6(8), and otherwise in accordance with Part 3 Division 2 of the Act. An alteration takes effect when the Act provides.

59. Notices

(1) A notice to a member may be given personally, by post, by email or other electronic means nominated by the member, or by publication on the Association's website and social media accounts together with an electronic alert to members who have supplied an electronic address.

(2) A notice to the Association may be given by post or delivery to its address, or by email to its published email address.

(3) A notice sent by post is taken to be given 3 working days after posting. A notice sent by electronic means is taken to be given on the day it is sent if that is a working day, otherwise on the next working day, unless the sender is notified of a failure in transmission.

60. Common seal

The Association does not have a common seal.

61. Winding up

(1) If the Association is wound up or its incorporation is cancelled, its surplus property must not be distributed to members or former members.

(2) The surplus property must be given to one or more bodies referred to in section 24(1) of the Act, chosen by special resolution, that have objects similar to the Association's and whose rules prohibit the distribution of property to their members, and, if the Association is then endorsed as exempt from income tax, that are eligible to receive it under Division 50 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth).

62. Schedule of charges

Item Charge Clause

Copy of the rules and by-laws Free 8(2), 56(3)

Inspection or copy of registers and records Free 10(3), 56(3)

Entrance fee and subscription Nil unless set by ordinary resolution 9(1)

Voting contribution As set by By-law No. 1 9(2)

Certification

We certify that these are the rules adopted by the founding meeting of Pollee Association Incorporated held on ............................ at ............................

.............................................. Chairperson of the founding meeting

.............................................. Secretary of the founding meeting