Agony Uncle
Our Community Matters • 44 •
Signatures: what is the point? BY CHRIS BORTHWICK, THINKER IN RESIDENCE, OUR COMMUNITY
Dear Agony Uncle,
Dear Ms Lineman,
Our association’s membership application form currently requires the applicant’s signature. We would like to digitise this process, in conjunction with switching to an online system for payments, in order to make it easier for people to become members. Have other associations and not-for-profits made this change under the Electronic Transactions Act 2001, or on some other legal basis? Is it necessary for us to change our constitution? We are in the health and disability sector.
Let’s look at this on three levels:
Dottie Lineman, South Australia
1. What’s the actual problem? 2. What does the law say? 3. What, in view of (1) and (2), should you do? First, then, is any actual problem either solved or created by having an electronic signature? To put it another way, what is the point of a signature? If you look at it rationally, a requirement for a written signature on any document is pretty crazy. How does this scribble help you? How can you possibly check on it? You don’t know how
