Governance

Legal structure

  • Harvard Alumni Association: The Harvard Club of Australia operates under license from the Harvard Alumni Association.
  • Harvard Club of Australia Inc: HCA is an incorporated association, established under the NSW Associations Incorporation Act 2009 and abiding by the NSW Associations Incorporation Regulation 2016. HCA is governed by an elected Board comprised of a President and five VPs. The President serves a 2-year term and VPs serve 3-year staggered terms. The Board meets four times per year and holds an Annual General Meeting. The Club Administrator also serves as the Public Officer. HCA conducts an annual audit and files compliance reports to the NSW Department of Fair Trading which regulates the NSW Associations Incorporation Act 2009, HCA also files an annual report to the Harvard Alumni Association.
  • The HCA Foundation: The Foundation oversees the endowment fund, provides tax-deductibility as a DGR2 for individual and company donors, makes investment decisions, handles regulatory compliance, and donates at least 5% of its capital each year to charitable causes, namely Club scholarships. The Foundation has two trustees – HCA Philanthropy and Perpetual Trustees. Perpetual manages the Foundation. The Foundation trustee representatives are appointed without term limits. The Foundation meets twice per year. There is also an Advisory Group associated with the Foundation for the purposes of educating members about investment management in general as well as training them for the trustee representative role.
  • HCA Philanthropy: HCAP is a tax-exempt entity established to manage the Club’s various local Harvard-taught leadership programs, to provide financial protection to the Club through limited liability mechanism, and to distribute any surpluses earned to the HCA Foundation, Australian National University and any scholarships where there’s no tax advantage from funding through the Foundation. HCAP Board members include the HCA President and Treasurer plus other appointed members. There are term limits to the appointed members.  The Board meets twice annually plus if/as needed.

 

Constitution

In 2018, following the year-long 2017 Strategic Review, the HCA Constitution was rewritten to align with the new strategy and structure of the Club. It was also rewritten to follow the model constitution format created by NSW Fair Trading under the Associations Incorporation Act of 2009. The new Constitution was ratified at the 2018 AGM.

Click here to access the Constitution.


Annual reports

See below HCA’s Annual Reports:

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009


Role Descriptions

There is a role description written for each position and body in the Club.