Melbourne Forum
Leave of Absence
1. Purpose
The purpose of this document is to set out the rules around granting leave of absence from Melbourne Forum to existing financial members.
2. Definition
Member – a financial member of the Melbourne Forum with no monies outstanding on current membership or events.
Board – the elected board of the Melbourne Forum.
Leave of Absence – a defined period during which a Member can remain a member of Melbourne Forum without paying membership fees.
3. Circumstances of Leave of Absence
Melbourne Forum seeks to attract leaders and aspiring leaders in society. The Board understands that given the type of people it attracts, that the circumstances of individual members can change such that it becomes difficult or impossible for them to attend events and hence derive value from their membership. Circumstances giving rise to such a change include both career and personal circumstances.
To enable people in such a situation to retain their membership, not have to reapply for membership or pay any joining fee on their return, the Board has created a Leave of Absence.
4. Applying for a Leave of Absence
Members can apply for a Leave of Absence by sending a written request to the Executive Officer prior to the membership cut-off date.
5. Duration of a Leave of Absence
Leave of Absence will generally be granted for an initial duration of one year. These can be granted by the Executive Officer. Requests for a longer term will be considered and must be referred to the Membership and Communications Committee for approval.
6. Rights during a Leave of Absence
Leave of Absence members will be able to retain their membership of Melbourne Forum for the duration of the Leave of Absence. During their Leave of Absence, members will continue to receive MF communications. Access to the MF website Members Areas will be withdrawn and the Leave of Absence member will not be able to book events at Member prices.
7. Re-joining at the end of a Leave of Absence
At the conclusion of the LOA period granted under 5 above, the Leave of Absence member will be sent an invoice for membership for the coming year. Payment of that invoice will signify the end of the Leave of Absence period and rights will be restored.
8. Termination of Leave of Absence Members
Should a Leave of Absence member not pay for their membership at the end of the Leave of Absence period and fail to request (and/or fail to receive acknowledgement of acceptance of) an extension of their membership, their membership will lapse. Any request to re-join will require payment of a joining fee.
9. LOA Administration Fee
The board may from time to time direct the EO to charge a modest administration fee to Leave of Absence members on application to cover the cost of administration associated with the LOA process.