A few frequently asked questions about membership...
Membership: Who can become a member?
ACFCGN is an advocacy and networking group serving Australian city farms and community gardens. We expect the vast majority of our members to be organisational members...ie, the membership is held in the name of an organisation (eg, a city farm or community garden).
Organisations: Do we need to be incorporated?
Being incorporated is less important than being a group. Many groups are quite informal: the point is that to be a group there has to be some decision process. Through this process the group will indicate that it wishes to become a member of ACFCGN. The resulting membership will be in the name of the group, eg: Glovers Garden is the member. In order to vote and manage communications, your group will need to nominate an actual person (or officer role) to be the contact point for your group.
Individuals: Can an individual join?
Individuals can also join, though this is a rare situation since the ACFCGN's role is to represent organisations. Simply complete the membership form and the Committee will review your application in due course.
Voting: Who can vote?
We have two classes of membership: Members and Associates. Members vote, Associates do not. You can nominate to be in either class and the Committee will review.
Generally speaking, we expect full Members to actively participate in the governance and ongoing business of the ACFCGN. Associates join largely because they wish to support our work, but they do not have a direct stake in the governance of the organisation.
Fees: Funded vs UnFunded
We ask you to self-assess your funding situation and select the most reasonable fee. Memberships fees are the only core funding we have to pay for services and benefits to members: the point of collecting these fees is to pool them nationally and return benefits to you locally.
