Categories of Membership

There are four categories of membership:

• Full Membership, which includes galleries (exhibiting and non-exhibiting, specialist and non-specialist), overseas galleries, retailers, wholesalers, independent consultants, art centres and individual artists
• Associate membership, which includes advocacy organisations, bureaucracies, overseas galleries and any of the categories listed under Full Membership that either wish only to take up Associate Membership or have not yet met the industry experience requirements for Full Membership
• Individual Membership which includes artists and industry supporters who do not own or operate retail or wholesale businesses
• Corporate Membership, whereby an organisation joins the Association on behalf of blocks of Members, such as resource organisations and Aboriginal co-operatives.

Becoming a Member

A Member may be either an individual or an incorporated body. Membership is by invitation only and is not transferable.

• Every applicant for Full Membership must satisfy all of the following criteria in order to be accepted for Full Membership, unless decided otherwise by the Board:
• In the case of a personal applicant, be at least twenty-one years of age and have had a demonstrable industry involvement for at least five years;
• In the case of an applicant that is a company, have been dealing in Indigenous art under the same business name for a continuous period of not less than three years or have a principal that fulfils the requirements of the previous paragraph;
• During the above periods, have demonstrated the capability of complying with this Constitution and the Code of Ethics, to the satisfaction of the Board;
• Have signed a written agreement to abide by the Code of Ethics;
• Agree to permit a representative appointed by the Board, being a person that the Board considers has the appropriate expertise and independence, to scrutinise the Member's trading premises and stock in trade, from time to time.

Before granting membership, the Board must be satisfied that the knowledge of the applicant is satisfactory in the areas of:

• regulations relevant to trading in Indigenous art
• the applicant's specialised field(s) of trading; and
• the Code of Ethics of the Association.

Every applicant for membership must be proposed by one and seconded by another financial Member of the Association.

Application for membership shall be made in writing (using the Membership Application Form) to the Secretary and shall be signed by the applicant and its proposer and seconder and shall be in such form as the Board may from time to time prescribe.

The Secretary shall advise Members of the application and request them to advise the Board within 30 days as to any objection that they may have to the applicant's grant of membership.

All objections to proposed membership shall be treated in confidence, both by the objector and the Board. Within ninety days the Board shall decide the admission or rejection of the applicant and advise its decision to the Secretary. The decision to admit an applicant to membership requires a two-thirds majority of the Board.

The Secretary shall advise the applicant of its acceptance or rejection. In no case shall the Secretary be required to give any reason for the rejection of an applicant.

Any correspondence between the Association, the applicant or any objector, or any information divulged by the applicant in respect of an application for membership shall be treated by the Board as having been provided in commercial confidence.

Until otherwise varied by the Board the membership fees of the Association shall be as follows (in Australian dollars and including GST):

There is currently no application fee and membership fees for new applicants. fall due only when an applicant has been notified of acceptance.

Rights of Members

A Member (or Associate member) may, as long as its membership is current and it continues to comply with the provisions of the Constitution and Code of Ethics of the Association, describe itself as a Member (or Associate member as the case may be) of the "Australian Indigenous Art Trade Association" or "Art.Trade".

A Member may also display the logo of the Association.

An Associate member has no voting rights in the Association and does not have the right to occupy an elected Board position.

An individual member shall have no voting rights in the association and may not stand for election to the board. Individual members may, however, be appointed to the board at the discretion of its members.

Where two or more Members work as employees of or partners in the same business, they shall have only one vote.