Executive Officer's report

Executive Officer’s report for 2026 AGM

Group photo of WikiCon 2026 Canberra attendees with WP25 Birthday Cake. Gnangarra CC BY-SA 2.5

2025–26 has been another busy and productive year for Wikimedia Australia. We’ve continued to grow our impact through our programs, partnerships and advocacy, but most importantly, through our community.

Everything we do is guided by our community and our commitment to growing free knowledge and making it more representative, accessible and inclusive.

WikiCon Canberra was a particular highlight. Bringing our community together at the National Film and Sound Archive gave us an opportunity to learn, share and strengthen relationships. It was wonderful to welcome new people alongside long-standing contributors, some of whom have been part of the Wiki movement for more than 20 years. The feedback confirmed just how valuable these opportunities to connect in person are for our community across Australia.

Events

Slide outlining WMAU's events and engagements during 2025-2026, presented at the AGM 2026.

Alongside WikiCon, we hosted or participated in 83 events, reaching more than 1,280 participants. Of these, 445 people tried editing for the first time. Other activities included online Drop-Ins, Community calls, information sessions and conference presentations.

Photos in the slide show Wiki workshops, one delivered by Mike Dickison from Aotearoa New Zealand to some experienced Adelaide Wikimedians. As well as pictures from editathons at the Australian Society of Archivists conference, and the Underrepresented Scientists editathon at Uni of NSW.

We are particularly proud of expanding our online Drop-In sessions, including Wikidata drop-ins, and strengthening our collaboration with Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand through shared conferences, 1Lib1Ref campaign and the Wiki Science photo competition. Some local in-person editing groups have started meeting regularly in Canberra and Adelaide that are steadily growing. This is in addition to the very active WikiClubWest over in Perth who are well established.

On the success of this, we’ve recently commenced the Commons Catch-up too. Please come along and enjoy these open sessions which are for anyone in our community.  

Dashboard statistics

Dashboard for WMAU 2025-2026 events activities, presented at AGM2026

Here is our Dashboard from the whole year, with almost all our editing events. These programs and activities helped people develop their skills and contribute to Wikimedia projects.

Across our programs, volunteers improved over 61,000 articles, created more than 8,500 new articles, and added more than 4,000 images to Wikimedia Commons.  Over 20 million words and 92,000 references added, all leading to 133 Million article views.

These are impressive achievements, and I want to thank all our volunteers who contributed their time, knowledge and expertise to achieving these statistics, but importantly, improvements to open knowledge.

Equity

One of our most significant areas of work has been our commitment to First Nations knowledge and knowledge equity.

The key note speakers Thérèse Ottawa (Canada), Terri Janke (Australia), Michelle Collipal (Chile) and Migoto Eria (Aotearoa New Zealand) taking part in the Respecting Indigenous Knowledge in Open Spaces keynote address at Wikimania 2026. Image: BindiS  CC BY-SA 4.0

Collaborating with Terri Janke and Company, resulted in the development of the Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Guide, alongside the CultureStrong White Paper.  Most of the work was completed during the 2025-2026 financial year, including community consultation at WikiCon Canberra.

This crucial work is underpinned by the WMF’s Knowledge Equity pillar which supports: Prioritizing knowledge and communities left out by power and privilege, and removing social, political, or technical barriers.

The Guide asks us to approach Indigenous knowledge with greater care, respect and cultural awareness, and to recognise the authority of communities over their own knowledge.

Terri Janke presenting as a part of Respecting Indigenous Knowledge in Open Spaces, Keynote adress at Wikimania 2026.

I know my report is supposed to cover the financial year up to 30 June 2026, but I couldn’t resist sharing some photos here from Wikimania Paris where Terri launched the ICIP Guide and CultureStrong white paper, and facilitated a keynote session alongside other First Nation speakers: Thérèse Ottawa (Canada), Terri Janke (Australia), Michelle Collipal (Chile) and Migoto Eria (Aotearoa New Zealand). The session information and recording is available on Eventyay here.

The ICIP Guide, CultureStrong paper and key note session were very positively received by the international Wiki community at Wikimania. Here are some responses in a Diff post, blog post and a short Linked.In post.

Partner Projects

Our Partner Projects supported a range of important initiatives.

We funded Pengo to improve the coding behind Wikipedia’s threatened-species lists and develop tools to help maintain them.

Wikidata Fest 2025, State Library Victoria, showing Tim Sherratt presenting.

We also supported Barayamal to develop an Introduction to Wikipedia course for First Nations editors, now beginning to be used by high schools.

While the AMaGA project experienced delays, we continue to work towards establishing this important national partnership.

Building on our previous Partner Project work with State Library Victoria, we also held a successful Wikidata Fest Day for GLAM staff in Melbourne, with the Library expressing interest in making it an annual event.

We look forward to the impact and benefits these projects provide our community and broader Wiki ecosystem.

ESEAP regional engagement

Australians at the ESEAP Conference 2026. AlphaLemur CC BY-SA 4.0

Our work also extends across the ESEAP region - East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

As Chair of the ESEAP Hub Steering Committee, I’ve been pleased to work on strengthening regional collaboration and supporting the Hub in its first year of funding.

ESEAP Conference 2026 Day 1. Trainholic CC BY-SA 4.0

Our Australian participation in the ESEAP Community Conference in Kaohsiung was an important opportunity to share experiences and build relationships. Alongside our collaboration with Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand, this work helps create a stronger, more connected Wikimedia movement.

Closing

These are just a few of our highlights. We are a relatively small organisation, but the impact of our work is much greater than our size might suggest.  That is only possible because of the commitment of our volunteers, members, partners and supporters.

I want to give a huge thank our staff, Ali and Alice, for their enormous contribution over the past year. Their commitment, energy, joy and professionalism make such a difference.

I’d also like to sincerely thank Elliott and the Board for their support, guidance and insights, and everyone across our community who contributes their time, expertise and ideas, often behind the scenes.

Every edit, event, partnership, project and conversation helps us move towards our vision of a world where everyone can share in the sum of all human knowledge.

There is plenty more to do, but we can look back on this year with real pride and look forward to the year ahead with confidence and enthusiasm.

Thank you.