Membership
A membership that asks something of you
Members are the body that holds this organisation to account. That is a duty rather than a title, and it is the reason admission is governed by rules rather than by enthusiasm.
What membership is
ACHRC is a society. Its members constitute the General Body, which receives the accounts, considers the Executive Committee’s report, and decides the matters the rules reserve to it. Membership is therefore the mechanism by which this organisation is answerable to somebody other than itself.
It follows that we would rather have a small number of members who read the papers than a large number who lend their names. If you are looking for a way to support the work without taking on that duty, volunteering or donating is the more honest fit, and we will say so if your enquiry suggests it.
Categories
Ordinary members have the full rights the rules confer, including the vote at the General Body. Associate members participate and receive papers without the vote. Student members are associate members on concessional terms, intended for people who want the practice of reading an organisation’s accounts before they ever have to run one.
Subscription rates are fixed by the Executive Committee and communicated with the rules when we write back. They are set to cover administration, not to raise funds — fundraising is what the donation route is for.
How admission works
The form below is an enquiry. On receiving it we send you the rules of the society and the current subscription. If you still wish to proceed, admission is considered under those rules. We do not admit anyone who has not read them, because a member who has not read the rules cannot perform the only function membership exists for.
What we expect of members
- Participate — attend the General Body, read what is placed before it, and vote on it.
- Declare any interest that could reasonably be read as one, before the matter is discussed.
- Keep confidential anything learned about a complainant, permanently and without exception.
- Never represent ACHRC as a government body, and never promise an outcome on its behalf.
- Accept that the society is non-partisan, in your conduct as a member as well as in ours.
What membership is not
- Membership does not create any right to legal representation by or through ACHRC.
- It does not give any authority over staff, volunteers, or the handling of a particular case.
- It does not confer any statutory power, badge, or identity that can be used before an office.
- It does not entitle a member to any share of the society's income or property.
On your privacy
Member records are held in the statutory registers of the society. They are not published on this website, not shared with any third party, and not used for anything other than the administration of membership.
Read the privacy policyEnquiry
Ask for the rules and the subscription
Nothing here commits you to anything. We will write back with the rules of the society so that you can decide with the document in front of you.
Prefer to write directly? Email [email protected] and ask for the rules of the society.