Friday, 14 November 2025

 Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (21:24): (2121) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Consumer Affairs regarding a large fee that the Probus Club of Bendigo has been asked to pay. The overarching Probus organisation, Probus South Pacific Limited, has encouraged clubs to register their new constitution with Consumer Affairs Victoria. Consumer Affairs Victoria recently informed the Bendigo club that the cost to register an updated constitution has increased to $437.10. For some small Probus clubs with only a few members who are retirees, this is a significant cost. Probus South Pacific has asked the Minister for Consumer Affairs to waive or reduce these fees for member clubs, but their request was declined. The local Probus club member who brought this to my attention has also been in contact with Premier Jacinta Allan’s office as his local member. I note the response provided by their office from the minister’s office is that a review of fees was undertaken by CAV and applied the government’s Pricing for Value guide. To quote the response:

As a result of this work, changes were made under the new regulations to the prescribed fees payable to the Registrar to ensure the incorporated associations scheme is operating at cost recovery and that fee amounts accurately and fairly reflect transaction costs.

It is important to note that Victoria applies a much higher fee than other states and territories, which range from just $23 to $84. The response, also from the office of the Minister for Consumer Affairs, provided background information on the CAV fees and indicated that clubs can decide when to update their rules and that CAV can also consider waiving fees for changing a club’s rules. To quote directly from the correspondence:

CAV can also consider waiving fees for changing a club’s rules. These requests can be made when a club submits new rules for assessment and waivers are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

I note that my colleague Ms Crozier has also asked the Minister for Consumer Affairs to address this issue after she was also contacted by a Probus club in her electorate. As there are over 400 Probus clubs across Victoria, rather than expecting each one to be considered on a case-by-case basis, the action I seek is for the minister to reconsider this exorbitant fee and reduce the financial burden on Probus members across the state.