The re-listing comes after the Nambucca Heads-based charity agreed to pause advertising the sale last year at the request of concerned community members.

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NOTA previously reported that the building would not be listed for sale over the end-of-year break, until the extent of community support for the organisation could be gauged by executive committee members.

In December a spokesperson for Nambucca Seniors told NOTA the sale was initiated as the club could not afford the building’s running costs due to declining membership.

The decision to sell the organisation’s sole asset rests solely in the hands of the charity’s committee members, at least two of whom are husband and wife team Gary and Vera Nichols.

The group purchased its clubhouse at 11 Kent Street, Nambucca Heads in 1994, with the assistance of Nambucca Valley Council.

Since then, decades of community volunteer activities, fundraising, lobbying, and community grants have led the organisation to its current position as owner of the fit-for-purpose building.

A public meeting regarding the sale of the building in December 2024, chaired by Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee and Member for Oxley Michael Kemp, attracted more than 80 attendees.

This meeting is believed to have led to approximately 70 new applications for membership to the group.

Repeated requests by NOTA to Nambucca Seniors to verify this figure have not been answered.

NOTA has been informed that around 20 of these applications may have been successful, ten have been asked to complete more paperwork and others have received no reply in more than six weeks.

Mayor Gary Lee applied for membership when the group opened their doors in early January, but like many others he had not, as of Tuesday 5 March 2025, received a reply.

“I had a discussion with Vera (Nambucca Seniors Secretary) and was asked to withdraw my application for membership, which I refused because at 71 years of age, I would like to join my local senior citizens club,” Mayor Lee told NOTA.

Diane Curran of the Nambucca Valley Writers, which currently holds monthly meetings in Ivy Pacey House, said she had received digital correspondence requesting she complete more forms for her membership application.

She told NOTA she believed the committee was stalling for time in rejecting memberships and adding hoops to jump through.

“I got a message (after many weeks) from a strange email address entitled ‘Uss Norway’ which thanked me for my interest in joining the Seniors but said that I needed to fill in another questionnaire for my application to be processed,” she said.

“My concern is that they will continue to reject or delay new members, which contravenes the charities act of the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission).

“They must have a charitable purpose that is for the public’s benefit.

“Some of us will try again, but we are not sure if they (Nambucca Seniors) actually want a solution,” she said.

In February a new governing document for the Nambucca Senior Citizens Club was lodged with the ACNC.

This new ‘constitution’ makes several key changes to the previous document.

Some of these are: deletion of any reference to the group operating a venue; the committee does not need to give a reason for declining new members; members must have been active and financial for 12 months before voting at a general meeting or being elected to the committee; regarding winding up the organisation, the phrase ‘transferred to another (not-for-profit) organisation with similar objectives’ now reads ‘transferred (may be more than one association) to another incorporated and not-for-profit organisation’.

NOTA contacted several executive committee members of Nambucca Seniors but the organisation was unavailable for comment.

Currently the Nambucca Senior Citizens Club is up to date with its reporting and documentation to the ACNC.

“As a charity evolves, its activities can change,” a spokesperson from the ACNC said.

“A charity’s leaders must ensure its activities stay true to its stated purpose or amend its governing document to ensure any new activities are in line with its purpose.

“Governing documents are reviewed when a charity is registered, when eligibility to be registered is reviewed, or when certain changes are made, such as a change to legal structure.

““Winding up a charity is one option if an organisation no longer wants to, or cannot, keep operating the way it is.” This is a permanent action and according to the ACNC must be done following its governing document and all legal requirements.

By Ned COWIE