Enid Anderson wrote about the early years of the Trained Masseurs Association in her book “Golden Jubilee”. The Association started in the Provinces - each branch starting independently.
Enid Anderson wrote about the early years of the Trained Masseurs Association in her book “Golden Jubilee”.
The Association started in the Provinces - each branch starting independently. Auckland printed its first rules in 1922, in 1923 membership was 62, in 1948 it was 70. Wellington started about the same time, with no given date. In 1932 the Wellington membership was 50.
The NZ Trained Masseurs Association was formed in 1923. The affairs were managed by an Executive consisting of delegates appointed by the districts on a basis to 2 for the first 20 and one for every 20 additional members. The Officers were a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer to be elected from the delegates. Travel expenses made the running of this association very difficult, to make it easier the first Executive were all from Wellington. Delegates paid all their own expenses, and there were no AGMs except in conference years. There was disagreement about Wellington running the Association and in 1927 Christchurch members were appointed to the Executive.
The Authority clause caused differences with the Dominion Association and in 1934 Wellington Branch resigned from the Dominion Association. A new Wellington Association was formed in 1935 with good support, and in 1936 the membership was 53, reaching 100 in 1966. There is no account of the beginning of the Canterbury Association, but it was in existence by 1923 - in 1932 membership was 15 and in 1947 it was 35. The Otago Association was also in existence by 1923. Their membership in 1932 was 17, in 1947 it was between 30 and 40.
In 1929 rules were printed and it was decided that the President and Vice-President could hold office for not more than two consecutive years. There was much discussion about the number of delegates each District Association should have until in 1932 it was finalised that the proportion was one for every 10 members or part thereof.
Until 1944 there appears to have been continual wrangling about the rules of the Association, it was not until 1949 when the Physiotherapy Act was passed that the rules became settled, in 1951 the new rules were approved and printed. At this time the name of the Association was changed to the NZ Society of Physiotherapists.
Despite the new rules the structure and function of the Society remained much the same, it was not until 1962 that radical changes were considered. The then President Mr.J.H.Pow suggested the Council should be enlarged to 18 and meet monthly, but this was thought too unwieldy and expensive. Another proposal was that there should be four Vice-Presidents one from each branch, each with a vote. In 1965 it was resolved that each branch would have one vote for each practising member and each Vice-President 10 votes.
By 1970 the efficiency of Council was again being questioned and alterations suggested by Mr. K.Ritson were approved, cutting down the number of Council members and the number of votes. Council now consisted of President, one Vice-President for each branch, one voting representative from each branch and additional voting representatives on the basis of one for every 50 practising members. It was asked that special Committee be formed by members from one branch.[1]
In 1974 this sub-Committee considered who could present remits to Council. In September 1975 the qualifying groups were the Private Practitioners Association, Charge Physiotherapists Association, and the Physiotherapy Students Association. At this stage it was considered that the Committee could be disbanded, but it was decided the Committee would keep a watching brief. The suggestion was made by Mrs. de Cateret in 1976 that Council should meet more often than twice a year because of the amount of business. It was decided more of the work could be decided by Executive Committee, and that they could meet mid-year. The result was that national executive and national council met alternately, usually in Wellington. .
At this time the structure of the Society was -
The National Executive and the National Council met alternatively usually in Wellington. Sometimes there were as many as fourteen people at the meetings.
In September 1976 the President (Dorothy Gordon) thought the Society was not functioning well, and it was decided to set up a Committee on the Structure and Function of Council to investigate this - the members to be Dorothy Gordon, .Mr. McKenzie and .Pat Wood.[2] This Committee came up with a variety of proposals and costs, which were then circulated to branches.
A number of changes were made - one being that the National President be elected for a 2 year term with right of re-election for a further term. The number of Vice-Presidents was a contentious topic. Grace Wilson wrote an Editorial for the Journal November 1977, in which she wrote about the restructuring being considered for the Society, and the lack of feedback from certain branches. February 1978 saw a complete revision of the rules including election of officers, terms of appointment and boundary changes. The rule changes were checked by a solicitor and approved by the Justice Department. At this time it was decided to centralise membership records. From this year a completely new structure of the Society was planned.
In March 1979 all branches were requested to urgently review their aims, objectives, terms of reference and membership and to report back in writing by the next Executive meeting. In 1979 a new structure with Regional Councils was planned - there was much dissension about this, and two remits in March 1979 and September 1979 suggesting that it be delayed until 1982 were lost.
The President Gay Wood wrote an article in the May 1979 Journal - she felt we had discussed our future, our past, our needs, capabilities and our faults with the Commission on Chiropractic, and were now at a crucial stage in our development, and that the profession must decide its priorities. Michael Lamont wrote an Editorial for the November 1979 Journal about the proposed restructuring. Participation in the Society was dwindling, the rules of incorporation were old and very vague, and the democracy of the organisation was too cumbersome and slow to be effective.
Executive had discussed the structure and function and draft set of rules, the restructuring would begin by electing the President by postal ballot early in 1980. In that year the existing branches would be dissolved, and in their place three regional groups formed representing all the various smaller branches which would now be able to form with a minimum of 10 members. The idea of this was that it would give groups at smaller places such as Palmerston North, Whangarei and Hawkes Bay direct access to a Regional Council. There would be complete reform from the top management to the lower levels.
Names for shadow Regional Councils were suggested in November 1979, and the Councils became effective on 1 January 1980. The proposed structure was for the branches to send representatives to three Regional Councils - Northern, Central and Southern. National Executive would consist of one representative from each Regional Council and the National President.
Committees were - Journal, Fellowship, Education, MRC, Finance, Complaints and Discipline, WCPT
SIGs were - Hospital physiotherapists, Charge physiotherapists, Student physiotherapists, NZMTA, NZPPA.
The Newsletter for April 1981 wrote of the first meeting of the “New Look” Executive with the President Gay Wood, and Pat Findlayson (Auckland) Margaret Dare ( Central Region) and Enid Whiteling (Southern Region)
This Committee discussed the question of the continuation of the Committees already formed - Education, WCPT, Finance, Journal, Salaries and considered that two new Committees were necessary - ACC and Legislative matters.
Some rule changes would be considered to ratify at the 1982 annual general meeting. In his Annual Report for 1981 the President Michael Lamont noted that some new branches had been formed, however there were still problems with the method being a “double barrelled affair. Members must have communication by involvement.
It became apparent early on that this structure was not going to work. By May 1981 Gay Wood had published a paper about the structure of the Society, this was circulated to branches for comment. When the branches replied by October 1981 most felt there was need for change. When Michael Lamont wrote his Editorial for the November 1981 Journal he noted that the broad objective of giving the thinly spread membership a more positive and direct voice had been attained. However technical problems would need to be reassessed because the formation of policy within branches had a long, slow tortuous process of upward movement to the National Executive. It was also proving very expensive. The appointment of the General Secretary meant the Society had an overall coordinator and gave an office base which improved communications.
The restructuring of the rules led to discussion about compulsory membership - a most contentious issue.
On 13 February 1982 a special meeting was called to consider possible changes to the Society structure. It was decided to set up a Management Review Committee to look into and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of the Society’s rules, policies and administrative procedures.
[1] Golden Jubilee 1923 - 1973
[2] Executive Minutes 25-9-76
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