VIC Rules in Club Constitution - Legal for Secretary to be Female?

[David Lovell]

Hi, I have a question regarding a rule in a club constitution.

Rule no 22.1. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, the secretary shall keep in his custody or under his control all books, documents and securities of the association.

There are 2 more rules as well in our constitution that also refer to the secretary as either he, him or his.
What I would like to know is that under these rules, would it be legal for our club secretary to in fact be female?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Louise4007]

Hi I have a question regarding a rule in a club constitution.
Rule no 22.1. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, the secretary shall keep in his custody or under his control all books , documents and securities of the association.
There are 2 more rules as well in our constitution that also refer to the secretary as either he, him or his.
What I would like to know that under these rules would it be legal for a our club secretary to in fact be female?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi David

Yes, it would be legal. Sex discrimination encompasses unfavourable treatment to a person based on their sex or sexual characteristics & is unlawful in Australia. For instance, for a female club secretary to be elected by club members & then refused the position say, by management, because 'we only wanted a male secretary' equates to discrimination on the basis of one's sex.

This law is covered by the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act,1984 section 5.