President’s Report – November 2025

Thanks everyone who attended last night’s meeting, hopefully we have a permanent resolution to the whole liability and insurance issue. We engaged Talitha Fishburn, a Sydney barrister and Joe’s sister, to advise us on the issue.

In a nutshell there is no liability on ordinary members should the club be sued and generally no liability on committee members either so long as they act prudently and in good faith. However there is a remote possibility that choosing not to get insurance could be argued to be failing to act in good faith and could make a defence problematic. Even if a case against the club went nowhere there are still considerable legal fees that could accrue, and therefore the barrister’s recommendation is to get insurance. The barristers advice is attached.

In terms of insurance we found a policy from Marsh Insurance that will fulfill our needs, it offers 20 million dollars of coverage with an excess of $5000 for most things for an annual premium of only $1053.82. Marsh are a broker, the policy itself is from a company called SLE, who are a subsidiary of Chubb. We found that several clubs including Broken Hill bike club, the Velocette bike club and Kiama bike club have the same policy, it seems that SLE do a lot of this.

In order to fund the insurance and to build up a buffer should we ever need to stump up an excess we proposed putting up club subscriptions to $50 per annum.

The proposal to get the insurance and raise membership fees was put to a vote and passed unanimously.

I have written to the insurance broker saying we are going ahead, I expect to have the paperwork later today or tomorrow and I’m hoping to have cover in place either late this week or early next week.

I also asked the barrister for advice regarding lowering our risk profile and she recommended we appoint a safety officer, for the time being vice president Paul Roodenrys will fill the spot, from the next AGM it will be an elected committee position. Other advice was that waivers we have in place are adequate, and that we review incidents that occur and that we partner with training providers to offer refresher safety courses, such as our first aid courses and I have an idea brewing about a ride safety course in the new year. Ms Fishburn also offered a series of suggestions covering rides, that the committee have fashioned into a code of conduct as follows: 

 Ride Code Of Conduct

    A) All riders are expected to ride within their capabilities and obey road rules

    B) Mandatory briefing for group rides

    C) Nominate a lead and tail rider, where possible to have had first aid training

    D) If possible have the route pre ridden to identify hazards

    E) Rest breaks at least every 90 mins

    F) Less experienced riders should be looked after by more experienced riders

    G) Minimum protective gear consisting of approved helmet, gloves, jacket, and appropriate footwear to be worn

    H) There is zero tolerance for riding while intoxicated by alcohol or non-prescribed drugs

Moving on to other things, the Christmas Party is on 7 December, we need a $10 deposit from all who wish to attend,it can be paid via direct deposit to the club bank account at: BSB 633000 Acct 200265775 If paying by direct debit please make sure you put your name in as a reference. Cut off for paying the deposit and securing your place is next Monday 17/11/2025 

 And finally I’d like to thank everyone who helped with looking into liability and insurance, thanks especially to Committee members who assisted, especially Colin Sims who looked into insurance options, but also Mal and Andrew and Rob McKenna who attended several extra committee meetings, and Rob Hanna and Paul Roodenrys who despite being absent for part of the last month kept up with developments and were very helpful and supportive and also attended several meetings. Also thank you to Mik Dubokovich who helped find insurance policies and Joe Fishburn who twisted his sister’s arm to help us, Paul Riley who helped with suggestions for disclaimers and the many others who lent support and participated in the discussion.

Hopefully you’ll hear from me later in the week saying that the policy is in place and happy days are back.

 Till then ride well

 Michael Callaghan