ARLC approves constitution changes

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Members of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) - the National Rugby League (NRL) clubs, New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and Queensland Rugby League (QRL) - have unanimously approved changes to three rules within the ARLC Constitution at a Special General Meeting today.

Three resolutions received unanimous support of members. A summary of the three rule changes are:

• The period of time a person must not be involved in the game - as an officer or employee of the ARLC, NRL, an NRL Club, NSWRL or QRL, before he/she is eligible to be appointed as an independent director of the ARLC is reduced from 36 months to 12 months.
• The method for removing a director from office changed to align with the Corporations Act.
• Capping the maximum time that a director can hold office to six years, unless there are exceptional circumstances that warrant a further three-year term at the request of the Chairman.  The rule is not retrospective and comes into force from the next AGM of the ARLC. Current Directors will be treated as being in the first year of their term, for the purposes of this rule.

Today is the first time changes have been made to the ARLC Constitution since the Commission was created in 2012.

ARLC Chairman Peter V'landys AM welcomed the outcome of the meeting and acknowledged the unity of members to support all three resolutions. While the Commission was not eligible to vote on the resolutions, the Commission indicated its support for the amendments.

"This is an important moment for the game. It is the first time since the creation of the Commission that members have agreed to changes to the Constitution, it is example of how united the game is to grow and improve the product for our fans and participants,'' he said.

"These are common sense governance changes. Reducing the time a person has to be out of rugby league before being eligible to join the Commission will ensure the Nominations Committee can consider a wider range of people associated with rugby league.

"The Commission supports the changes made today. It will ensure the Commission will continue to have the very best directors to grow rugby league."