LAUNCESTON ART SOCIETY INC
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LAUNCESTON ART SOCIETY INC
CONFLICT RESOLUTION POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Date approved: 16th January 2023
Review Date: January 2025
Contravening the Rights and Responsibilities
of Launceston Art Society (LAS) Members
The LAS Code of Conduct Handbook (CCH) documents the rules and behavioural standards required of all LAS members.
It is the first point of reference for members when conflict arises.
Initially, should conflict arise between members, it is the responsibility of the complainant to try to resolve the conflict by negotiation with the offending member. The guidelines documented in the CCH for negotiating initial resolution, are re-iterated as follows:
Breaching the Code of Conduct – initial steps to be taken:
a) the complainant should make direct contact with the alleged offending member, verbally or in writing and an attempt to resolve the conflict should be made in a respectful manner by both parties.
b) if the behaviour of either party becomes threatening (either physically or
verbally) the offended party must withdraw from the meeting, document what
has occurred and immediately report the matter to an LAS executive member, ie
Public Officer, President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer.
c) a resolution should encompass agreed, positive outcomes.
d) the complainant and the alleged offending member, reserves the right to
document a record of the meeting.
e) if discussion between the two parties does not yield a satisfactory outcome, the complainant may decide if the matter is worth pursuing.
f) if the complainant decides that it is not, it is the complainant’s responsibility to
put aside the complaint or to pursue the matter according to the following
guidelines or withdraw his/her LAS membership.Page 2 of 4
1. If the matter is of sufficient importance to the complainant, then that member is
encouraged to pursue the following guidelines:
a) the complainant advises the alleged offending member that contact will be
made by the complainant, with the committee secretary, requesting
independent mediation.
b) contact is made verbally or in writing. (At this point, the complainant is not
obliged to detail the grievance, but is simply requesting unbiased mediation).
c) both parties involved in the dispute must agree on the mediator, whose role is
not to advise, but to manage, suggest impartial resolutions and document the
discussion between the two parties.
d) Each party reserves the right to have a support person present, apart from the
impartial mediator.
e) Each party must agree to the presence of support persons, no more than one
per member and whose presence is in a non-advisory capacity.
f) the mediator ensures that the process is conducted in a respectful manner, one
that ideally results in a satisfactory outcome, and documents the discussion for
future reference.
2. Should a satisfactory outcome for both parties be unachievable, the complainant
proceeds to formalize the grievance with a written document detailing the
complaint.
a) the complainant is then responsible for lodging the grievance with the LAS Secretary.
b) the Committee Executive will deal with all alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct prior to Committee meetings.
c) With due consideration to breaching confidentiality, the Executive will decide on what action should be taken, referencing the procedures outlined in the LAS Code of Conduct.
d) Where confidentiality is not compromised, the allegation is tabled for discussion at the next Committee meeting.
3. When the steps outlined in Breaching the Code of Conduct fail to resolve the
complaint, and when it is established by the Executive and potentially thePage 3 of 4 Committee, that the complainant has a valid grievance pertaining to breaches of the Code of Conduct, the grievance will be dealt with as follows:
Step 1 Verbal Warning - for initial and minor breaches: a verbal warning shall be
delivered to the offending party in private by two members of the Executive.
For repeated and more major breaches, an authorised letter from the Committee
Secretary, requesting an explanation of the alleged breach shall be sent to the
offending member.
Step 2 Written Warning: for repeated and more major breaches, following a letter
requesting an explanation of the alleged breach, the Committee shall send a letter to the member requesting the offending member to desist from similar actions in future.
Step 3 Membership Suspension: for persistent, repeated and major breaches, a notice of suspension and its duration decided by the Committee, shall be delivered in writing by hand (if possible) by two members of the Committee.
Step 4 *Membership Expulsion: for ongoing, persistent, repeated and major breaches and demonstrating no sign of compliance, a letter approved by the Committee,
advising the offending member of Expulsion, shall be delivered by hand (if possible) by two members of the Committee.
* Refer Constitution Expulsion of Members Rule 34 sub rules (1) & (2)
Grievance Procedures and Appeal Process (See Constitution, Expulsion of Members,
Rules 34 Sub rules (2) (b) – (3) (c) and Rules 35 & 36)
An LAS member has the right to appeal against Code of Conduct decisions made by the Executive and/or the Committee.
Initially, the appeal will be conducted informally via a mediation process conducted by a
professional, independent, impartial mediator. The appointed mediator must be
approved and agreed to by the complainant, the respondent and the Executive.
If independent professional mediation is unsuccessful in facilitating a resolution, then the respondent LAS member can formally initiate the Launceston Art Society’s Conflict Policy and Procedures.Page 4 of 4
Ideally, the matter should not reach Arbitration stage, as this can be a protracted
course of action and cause a great deal of anxiety to all involved.
REVIEW
a) The Conflict Resolution Policy and Procedures (CRP&P) is a policy document to be reviewed by the Committee, bi-annually or if change is required, in the
interim. It does not require Constitutional amendment.
b) The CRP&P document will be available on the LAS website, thereby enabling
access to financial members.
c) All current members will be advised of the document and sent the link to it by
email.
d) Access to the CRP&P for non-IT members will be available in hardcopy and will be mailed to a member’s postal address on request.
e) On application for new membership, the link to the document
(www.artlas.org.au) will be included in each new member’s ‘letter of
acknowledgement’, sent out by the Membership Officer.
f) Relevant documentation, such as an overview of causes and prevention of
conflict, a complaint form and excerpts from the LAS constitution pertaining to
Expulsion of Members, will be available on request.
DOCUMENT PREPARED AND CIRCULATED BY:
Carolyn Riley (LAS Vice President & sub-committee Chairperson)
Sub-committee:
Carolyn Riley, Shirley Pitt, Gerry Jensen & Mary Stary
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