How to Join Landcare Victoria Inc.

Joining Landcare Victoria as a Member Group comes with access to the many services we offer. One of the key benefits is access to our insurance package which is tailored to cover environmental volunteer organisations' highest needs, to give groups peace of mind when conducting landcare activities.

Landcare Victoria’s insurance package, which covers all financial Member Groups, consists of three policies:

• Public and Products Liability cover
• Voluntary Workers Personal Accident cover
• Association Liability cover

In addition to insurance, we also offer advice, governance support, grant and asset management auspice support, access to our fundraising facility, training and development opportunities, useful resources, and more! Learn more here.

All registration applications must be approved by the Landcare Victoria Inc Board and must comply with our Rules of Association.

Applicants for full membership must:

• Be an organisation, not an individual
• Operate as a not-for-profit (and if the organisation has a governing document, it must have a not-for-profit clause)
• Have at least five members
• Have documented purposes (e.g. a Statement of Purpose, or if incorporated, a governing document such as Rules or a Constitution which contains the organisation's purposes) and these must be similar to the purposes of Landcare Victoria Inc (refer to the Constitution of Landcare Victoria Inc).
• Conduct activities similar to "normal Landcare activities" which are therefore coverable by our insurance package

No. Member Groups may be Landcare Groups, Landcare Networks, 'Friends of' Groups, Conservation Management Networks, Land Management Groups, Sustainability Groups, Coastcare Groups, Farm Tree Groups, or many other types of environmental volunteer organisation. The main thing is that your organisation meets our membership requirements, as described in the question above.

No. Member Groups may be unincorporated associations, incorporated associations, or other formal legal structures, provided they are operating as a not-for-profit.

We recommend that unincorporated groups should incorporate when they are able to, as this makes the group a legal entity that stays the same even if its members change. More information about independently incorporating may be found here.

You will find our current fee schedule on the Application Form. Fees are levied on a tier system, with the group's reported annual expenditure determining which of the 5 tiers the group will be assigned to each year. The fee paid includes access to Landcare Victoria's member services and cover under our insurance package for the membership period.

We do not charge fees pro rata. Please note, even if a group joins part-way through a membership year, they are given insurance cover for claims arising from their entire membership period.

For the first half of any membership year (between July and December), an annual subscription is the only option to register (providing membership and insurance from 1 July to 30 June). From January to June, a 6-month subscription is also available (providing membership and insurance cover from 1 January to 30 June). All memberships then renew annually on 1 July.

Normal landcare activities include holding meetings, weed & pest control, planting/revegetation, giving land management advice, holding workshops/field days/walking tours, and much more. You will be asked to declare your group's activities on the Application Form.

Other activities are not necessarily problematic, but please be sure to note any additional activities when you apply - these may require additional risk management processes or a one-off insurance extension (sometimes incurring additional costs), upon notification to our insurer.

All applicant groups must submit their purposes in some form. If your organisation is incorporated, it will have adopted a governing document (also known as Rules or a Constitution) which includes a section describing the purpose(s) of the group. In this case, submitting a copy of your governing document satisfies the need for the Board to sight your organisation's documented purposes (to ensure they are in alignment with our own).

However, if your group is unincorporated, it may not have adopted a governing document. Instead, you should submit the organisation's Statement of Purpose.

One of the first things a group should do after forming is to document the reason(s) for the group's existence - Why is the group being formed? What does it hope to achieve? This is your Statement of Purpose, and it should be the driving force behind the actions your group takes to achieve its goals. This document may take many forms - for some groups it is a single paragraph, others may have a list of dot-points - the main thing is that it outlines the intended purpose(s) of your organisation (for example, to protect and enhance the natural environment in your region, to educate the local community on sustainable land management practices, etc.).

Yes! Please submit the document your group adopted. Even if you used the Model Rules template, your group will have added details such as the group name, the group's purposes and your financial year. Our Board must sight these details before it can approve your application.

Please be assured, member contact information is not shared with any third parties - please see our Privacy Policy for more information.

The membership list supplied must include at minimum the full name and address for notice (postal or email address) for each member. Also include any positions held by members within the group, such as office bearer/committee roles (President, Committee member, etc.). If your organisation has employees, please include each staff member.

A template is available here to ensure all required information is included.

Please do not include associate members without voting rights and children 15 years of age or under.

If your organisation is a network, please include a list of each independent subgroup in the network (just the group names, not all members of those groups). An independent subgroup is an organisation (such as a Landcare Group or Friends group) which is a member of your network, and which operates in some way independently of the network (for example, it has a committee which makes decisions independently of your network committee, it manages its own membership applications and fees, it has its own bank account or ABN, etc.). If you're unsure whether the subgroups in your network should be considered independent or not, please contact us to discuss.