Start a club

Do some research to find out whether a club like yours already exists, where your club should sit at RMIT (e.g. with RUSU or RMIT Sports & Creative). Ensure you check the following:

• The club doesn’t belong with RMIT LINK (sports and creative club).
• The club doesn’t already exist at RUSU.
• The club doesn’t replicate a RUSU or University Department or Service.

If you think your club is suitable, and it comes under the administration of RUSU Clubs, you then need to check your club will meet RUSU's Standards. You must consider ALL of the following points:

• Will it be democratic?
• Does it promote discrimination?
• Does it promote violence or militarisation?
• Is it really just a business?
• Is it primarily for the benefit of an external organisation?
• Is it a fundraising to pay for academic materials or to complete academic assessments?

RUSU won't always accept new clubs, and there may be specific reasons that RUSU may not support your new club idea. It is worth thinking about the following points before contacting the RUSU Clubs team:

• Your goals &/or activity plan are not achievable (usually because of the financial and/or practical resources you need).
• University insurance won’t cover your activities.
• The club may bring RUSU into disrepute with the University, the City or other parties.
• Your idea is really a campaign, not a club.
• Your club is not sustainable.
• We’re not allowed to accept your club due to SSAF laws.

Ensure you have thoroughly checked over all of the points in Step 1, above. Based on what you have read and researched, if you believe your new club idea would be supportable, the next step is to formally notify RUSU Clubs of your request to start a new club.

To do so, contact us via email at rusu.clubs@rmit.edu.au with an outline of your new club idea. Be sure to include the following information:

• A club name.
• The clubs’ aims - what it wants to achieve, and how it will improve the student experience at RMIT.
• What the club will actually do – the sort of events and activities you might offer to your members.

Note, awaiting feedback from the RUSU Clubs team could take up to four weeks during peak times. Feedback usually consists of one of the following three options:

• Option 1: Your club idea is not acceptable and your application is refused.
• Option 2: Your club idea needs some further development to move to the next stage (RUSU Clubs will provide further details).
• Option 3: Your club idea is suitable to apply for Provisional Affiliation straight away.

If your new club is suitable to apply for provisional affiliation, you will be granted access to some clubs resources to assist you, and you will be given a timeline to complete the “Full Affiliation” process (for either Calendar Year or Mid Year intake).

The provisional affiliation process requires you to do the following:

• Find FOUR other students who are supportive of your club, and who are willing to put their name to the Provisional Affiliation application.
• One of the four must then complete the online provisional affiliation form. The online form requires:
• The proposed club name (plus one alternative option).
• The contact details of the four students.
• The club’s proposed aims.
• The club’s proposed activities and events.

Once your provisional supporters and the completed online form have been assessed by RUSU Clubs, you will be contacted with one of the following two outcomes:

• Approved: You will now be sent the instructions, deadline & templates in order to complete the full affiliation process.
• Denied: Accept feedback from the RUSU Clubs team, and adjust your application if you would like to try again.

Decide whether or not you will use the Model Clubs Constitution or if you want to change it - any changes have to be approved by your Clubs Officer to make sure it is still consistent with the Model.

Once your club is granted provisional affiliation, you must do the following so that your club can become fully affiliated:

• Sign up at least 20 RMIT students members (Full members) to your club.
• Call and hold your Inaugural General Meeting (IGM) to formally start the club.
• Arrange a meeting with the club’s elected Inaugural Executive with their Campus Clubs Officer to finalise the Inaugural Affiliation

At your IGM, you need to do ALL of the following steps:

• Vote to approve the Club Name.
• Vote to approve the Club Aims.
• Vote to approve the Club membership fee.
• Vote to approve the adoption of the Club’s Constitution (a document which sets out how your club operates).
• Vote to elect the Club Executive.
• Vote to approve the Club’s Annual Activity Plan.

After your clubs' IGM, arrange the meeting with your Executive and Clubs Officer. Your clubs' elected executive must all attend this meeting. You need to bring:

• The signatures of the first 20 RMIT student members your club, and any additional member sign ups you have achieved.
• The Minutes from your IGM (must be presented as a written record) .
• The Completed Affiliation Document (given to you by the RUSU Clubs Officer when pre-affiliation is approved).
• The clubs' Commonwealth Bank Client Number (instructions for opening a bank account will have been provided when pre-affiliation was approved).

Clubs must re-affiliate every year! Re-affiliation involves almost the same process as the Inaugural affiliation process:

• Hold an Annual General Meeting.
• Club Executive present annual reports.
• Vote for changes to club name/aims/fee/Constitution.
• Elect the next year’s Executive.
• Approve the next year’s Annual Activity Plan.
• Complete the next year’s affiliation document.

Once this process is complete, the new club executive meets with the RUSU clubs Officer to finalise re-affiliation.

There are specific rules that ALL clubs must follow:

• Only enrolled RMIT students may be club Executive.
• 75% of a RUSU Club members must be currently enrolled RMIT students (Full Members).
• Club members must re-join their clubs every year.
• Core funding is based on the number of RMIT student members in your club.
• A club which fails to re-affiliate the next year is considered “lapsed”.
• A club which fails to re-affiliate within 2 years is considered not to exist anymore.