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Running a local liquor accord

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It is important to remember many accord members are small business operators and, as such, have limited time to attend accord meetings. Whether attendees are in the meeting room or not, you should start at the scheduled time. If you wait for stragglers, you’re punishing those who have arrived promptly.

It is important to ensure that meetings are well-planned, coordinated and conducted in the most efficient way possible.

Each meeting should have a purpose, aim and authority to make decisions. A good meeting should be a forum for free and open discussion. The chairperson (referred to as coordinator in the legislation)must be completely impartial and should ensure that the meeting is efficient and fair. Any person who wishes to speak on an issue should be able to do so.

Below is a guide on to how to run an accord and suggestions on how to set it up to make it more effective and hopefully save you some time!

Setting an agenda

It is important to set an agenda for every meeting. The agenda will serve as a guide for the conduct of the meeting and ensure that time is not wasted on irrelevant items. It is also a mechanism to keep the meeting relevant to all stakeholders and address current issues.

Communication is the key to setting a good agenda. It is important for all stakeholders to have a voice in order to ascertain what the current issues are that need to be addressed by the accord.

The executive committee should meet well in advance to the general meeting, to discuss members concerns and issues, and then write up the agenda.

An agenda should have some set items on it such as adoption of previous minutes, apologies and police report. Other items are added and changed for each meeting. The agenda should be sent out along with the invite/reminder for the next meeting, as well as any other relevant information or background papers.

PDF Download the agenda template.

Developing a business plan

A business plan (or an action plan) is a document that sets out the accord’s aims. It also includes the strategies on how those aims will be carried out over a period of time. Essentially, the business plan is the tool that guides the practices of the accord and cements in place the why, how, what, who and when of the accord’s activities. It ensures that the accord is following its goals and should be monitored on a regular basis.

Producing the document does not have to be an onerous task - the best business plans will capture what is already being done well. The trick is to approach the task in a logical sequence, keep the wording simple and do not try to solve all of the issues in one go. The accord should nominate a working group which can spend some time drafting the plan before it is distributed to accord members for feedback.

Accord members need to be supportive and constructive when supplying feedback and not concentrate on irrelevant or minute details. The idea is to have a plan in place that can be easily followed and reviewed. The plan should only run for 12 months before it is reviewed. This ensures that the strategies are examined for their success and that the accord is never in danger of becoming stale as the plan continues to evolve year after year.

Procedure for developing a business plan

ESTABLISH what the issues are ?use factual evidence to establish what the issues are. Your police licensing officer will be your main source of information and can identify significant issues for your accord. Crimes such as assaults, malicious damage, drink driving, offensive conduct, fail to quit and so on can be examined to ascertain the exact nature of your issues. Other sources of information include council for noise complaints, amenity issues and so on and licensed premises incident registers.

PRIORITISE the issues ?issues that have been identified need to prioritised so that the most important issues are addressed. These issues will now form the basis of your business plan.

IDENTIFY strategies - this is how are you going to address the issues identified. Several strategies may be used to address a single issue.

NOMINATE who is responsible for the implementation ?this includes accord members and key partners such as police, council, health, transport and so on who will need to be invited to participate in strategies and be included in your plan.

APPOINT timeframes ?each strategy will require a specific timeframe for the commencement and duration of operation, particularly if you are trialling a new strategy. This also allows for a strategy to be implemented, evaluated successes noted and suggested improvements for next time strategy is considered.

MEASURE your success ?identify how you will demonstrate whether your accord initiative has been successful. Police can be helpful in providing feedback on how a strategy is progressing and providing crime data feedback for final results.

PDF Download the draft business plan.
See also: Presentation from PDF Lismore Liquor Accord 'Planning and Finding' for 2006 Liquor Accord Conference. This is an excellent and practical approach to accord business planning.

Incorporation

Incorporation is a process of creating a legal entity for an accord. There is no requirement for accords to be incorporated, nor do they need to be in order to operate effectively. Becoming incorporated is something for accords to consider individually, based on their needs and requirements. Listed below are some of the pros and cons to becoming incorporated.

By becoming an incorporated association, the accord becomes a legal body in its own right. The benefits of this include:

simple, inexpensive means of establishing a legal entity (enter into contracts, receive gifts, open bank accounts, and obtain insurance)
it continues regardless of changes to membership
the accord bears liability for its acts – this means that claims against the accord are answerable by the association, not the individual members
eligibility for government funding grants that are subject to a condition for applicants to be incorporated
members of the executive committee will have limited liability for the debts of the accord provided they follow accepted business and community standards
the accord must formulate a clear statement of objectives and approve rules that are consistent with those objectives
accord can accept gifts and bequests
accord must keep accurate and timely record keeping, such as minutes, register of members and financial records
sets out clear responsibilities for committee members
increased transparency in the operation of the accord due to reporting requirements.

The challenges for an accord being an incorporated association may include:

establishment, record keeping and reporting can be time consuming and onerous on small business operators
while minimal, there are costs involved
imposes reporting obligations on the public officer and committee members
prevents an informal structure for the running of the accord.

For more information download our Fact Sheet Incorporating your liquor accord (pdf 383 kb)

Keeping minutes

Minutes should be an accurate record of decisions at each meeting. They do not need to be overly detailed, so long as they record the important points of discussion and any decisions made.

The minutes should contain the following:

date, place and nature of the meeting
names of all those present
names of those who apologised for lack of attendance
a summary of the arguments discussed at the meeting
details of all motions and decisions passed at the meeting.

A good practice is to record an action plan or summary at the end of the minutes so that jobs are appropriately allocated and actioned.

Remember to send through a copy of your meeting minutes to your Ladu liason officer or to:

accords@olgr.nsw.gov.au

PDF Download the minutes template.

Fees

Liquor accord fee structures are often hotly debated within accords. Each accord is different and requires different resources. Fee structures should be based on individual accord needs.

We recommend that fees should be kept to a minimum and structured to cover basic administration costs. Any strategies may be funded separately to the membership fee.

Most importantly fees should not be prohibitive to entry. An accord can have a greater effect through increased participation rather than increased fees. Experience tells us that where fees are affordable, there are higher rates of participation.

Two common fee structures are:

$150 - hotels, clubs and nightclubs
$100 - bottleshops
$50 - restaurants and other licences

or
a flat fee of $50 to $100 for all members.

Accord members should be consulted and by written resolution agree upon the fee structure. Yearly reviews of membership fees should take place to ensure continued affordability in regards to proposed initiatives and budgeted projections.

A range of membership application forms are available to download.

Opening a bank account

The requirements for opening a bank account differ for individual banks and the makeup of individual accords. You do not have to be incorporated association to open a bank account, but in some instances it makes the process easier.

Generally speaking you will need the following:

certificate of incorporation (if incorporated)
copy of the accord constitution
minutes of the general meeting at which office bearers were elected
normal identification requirements for each signatory.

Contact your local bank for more information.

Obtaining an Australian Businesss Number (ABN)

An ABN is only required if the accord has a turnover of $75,000 or to $150,000 if it is deemed to be a not-for-profit entity.

To be classified as a not-for-profit entity, the accord must stipulate in its rules that any money raised must be used solely for the purpose of furthering the accords objectives, and if dissolved the money will be distributed to a like organisation.

This is covered (see clauses 7 and 25) in the draft constitution, available in Starting an accord.

Most accords will fall under this threshold, but may still obtain an ABN if desired.

For more information visit the Australian Business Register section of the Australian Taxation Office: www.abr.gov.au .

Taxation

As each accord is different it is not possible to give a definitive answer on tax obligations. Generally speaking however, most accords will exempt from income tax as they will fall under the category of non-profit associations established for community service purposes.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) allows for self–assessment, and each accord should conduct their own self-assessment. If you have any concerns in relations to tax obligation you should contact the ATO or an accountant for professional advice.

PDF Download the Income tax guide for non-profit organisations.