Delegation & Task Sharing

The management committee is a team. The law assigns specific obligations to specific named officers — but most of the day-to-day work of running a club does not legally have to be done by the president, secretary, or treasurer personally. Understanding the difference is what allows a committee to share the load effectively.

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The core distinction

There are three categories of committee obligation:

Category	Who is responsible	Can be assigned to others?
Statutory personal obligations	The named officer by law	No — the obligation is on that person specifically
Statutory committee obligations	The committee collectively	Yes — any committee member can be assigned to do the work
Operational tasks	No statutory assignment	Yes — by committee resolution or agreement

Most of the friction in small club committees comes from treating the second and third categories as if they were the first — assuming the president or secretary has to personally do everything.

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What the president must personally do

These obligations fall on the president by law and cannot be handed to someone else:

Obligation	Source	Why it must be personal
Chair all general meetings	Model Rules r.37(3)(a)	The president is required to preside — if absent, members elect a chair; no pre-assignment
Chair all committee meetings	Model Rules r.23(8)	Same — if absent, members elect; cannot be pre-delegated to VP
Hold the casting vote at general meetings	Model Rules r.38(2)	The casting vote belongs to the chairperson of that meeting
Sign confirmed minutes of each meeting	Model Rules rr.26(2), 41(2)	The Act requires the chairperson's signature — not a proxy
Sign the Level 3 verification statement (if treasurer unavailable)	s.59AB	The statement requires the personal signature of the president or treasurer

Note: the president does not have to personally prepare the documents they sign. The treasurer prepares the financial statements; the secretary prepares the minutes. The president's obligation is to review and sign.

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What the secretary must personally do

Obligation	Source
Keep the register of members	Model Rules r.13
Give notice of meetings	Model Rules r.35 (general meetings); r.22 (committee)
Keep the minutes	Model Rules rr.26(1), 41(1)
Notify OFT of officer changes within 1 month	s.68
Lodge the annual return (or arrange for president/treasurer to do so)	s.59BA
Custody of the association's records	Model Rules r.47

The secretary can have help. Another committee member can draft a notice; the secretary sends it. Someone else can take rough notes at a meeting; the secretary produces the formal minutes. The obligation to ensure these things happen is the secretary's — the work itself can be supported.

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What the treasurer must personally do

Obligation	Source
Keep financial records	s.59 — committee obligation, treasurer leads
Prepare annual financial statements	s.59A — committee obligation, treasurer leads
Sign the Level 3 verification statement (or arrange president to do so)	s.59AB
Lodge or coordinate lodging of the annual return	s.59BA

The treasurer's preparation of financial statements is a committee obligation with the treasurer leading — not a solo personal obligation. Another committee member who takes on a bookkeeping role is legitimately helping. What cannot happen is the committee washing its hands of the finances entirely and assuming it is solely the treasurer's problem.

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What the whole committee is responsible for

These obligations sit on the committee collectively. Every member shares them. Any committee member can be assigned to manage the work.

Obligation	Source
Financial records kept adequately	s.59
Annual financial statements prepared	s.59A
Financials and verification report presented at AGM	s.59B
Remuneration disclosure made at AGM	s.70D
Grievance procedure followed	s.47A
Four officer duties observed	ss.70E–70J

If the treasurer fails to keep proper records and the committee is aware of the problem and does nothing, every committee member shares in the liability.

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What can be assigned to any committee member

The following work does not have a statutory owner. The committee can assign it to whoever is best placed to do it, by resolution or by agreement:

• Coordinating hall bookings and grounds maintenance schedules
• Managing the club's email inbox and member communications
• Organising events, come-and-try days, competitions
• Maintaining the club website and social media
• Coordinating with CAQ and external bodies
• Acting as the public contact point
• Managing sub-committees (social, equipment, grounds)
• Preparing correspondence, grant applications, or submissions

These are governance and operational tasks. Assigning them to a committee member does not make that member legally responsible in the way the secretary or treasurer is — but it does mean they have taken on the work, and the committee should hold them to it.

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How to formalise task assignments

For any significant task assigned to a committee member, best practice is:

1. Record it in the minutes — "The committee resolved that [name] will manage [task] until [date/event]"
2. Set a report-back date — include it on the next meeting agenda
3. Don't assume continuity — at the start of each year, reconfirm who is doing what

This protects everyone. If a task falls through the cracks, the minutes show the committee was managing the matter responsibly.

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Sub-committees

The Model Rules do not establish sub-committees — but they do not prohibit them. A club can create sub-committees by:

• A provision in its own constitution, or
• A committee resolution

A sub-committee (grounds, social, equipment, coaching) can be given specific authority by the committee. Decisions within that authority are valid. Decisions outside it require full committee approval.

A sub-committee cannot be given authority that belongs to the management committee by law — it cannot approve the annual financial statements, change the club's rules, or bind the club to significant contracts without committee sign-off.

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The practical fix for an overloaded president

The most common committee problem is a president who feels — or is expected — to run everything. The law does not require this. What the law requires the president to personally do is actually quite narrow: chair meetings, sign the minutes, and sign off on the Level 3 verification if needed.

Everything else is either the secretary's role, the treasurer's role, a collective committee responsibility, or an operational task that can go to whoever is willing and capable.

A working committee distributes real authority — not just tasks. The difference is:

• Distributing tasks: "You handle the social media." President still accountable, still the bottleneck.
• Distributing authority: "The social committee has the committee's authority to manage events up to $500." Committee members make real decisions, take real responsibility.

The committee minutes are what make the second kind of delegation work. If it is in the minutes, it is authorised.

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Sources

• Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld) — ss.47A, 59, 59A, 59AB, 59B, 59BA, 68, 70D, 70E–70J — legislation.qld.gov.au
• Associations Incorporation Regulation 1999 (Qld), Schedule 4 (Model Rules) — rr.13, 22, 23(8), 23(9), 26(1), 26(2), 35, 37(3)(a), 38(2), 41(1), 41(2), 47 — legislation.qld.gov.au

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Related

• How the Committee Works — system design, named roles, collective obligations
• Committee — Shared Legal Duties — what every member must do
• President Legal Duties — the full list of what the president is personally required to do
• Secretary Legal Duties — the secretary's full obligations
• Treasurer Legal Duties — the treasurer's full obligations