Meeting:2026 AGM/President's Report

President's Report 2025-2026

Elliott Bledsoe, 17 September 2026

I’m pleased to reflect on the year through the four pillars of Wikimedia Australia's Strategic Plan: Growing free knowledge, Striving for knowledge equity, Building a stronger organisation, and Celebrating our community.

These pillars help us understand not just what we have achieved, but the kind of organisation we are working to become.

Growing Free Knowledge

A table of people working hard at the Know My Name edit-a-thon at the National Gallery of Australia Research Library adding women artists to Wikipedia

Growing free knowledge remains at the heart of everything we do, and again we have had an increase in the number of events we deliver and participate in.

Over the past year, we continued to strengthen Wikimedia Australia's role in advocating for the conditions that make free and open knowledge possible.

Advocacy has been a particularly important part of my work as President. A practical example is our work on copyright reform. Wikimedia Australia made a submission to the Senate inquiry into the Copyright Amendment Bill 2025, including our interest in an orphan works scheme. The scheme came into effect in April 2026, an important development for organisations seeking to make collections accessible.

WMAU is also part of the Attorney-General’s Department’s Copyright and AI Reference Group (CAIRG) and continues to be involved in that process.

Our advocacy is increasingly about being present where these important policy discussions take place, building relationships and ensuring that the interests of free knowledge are represented. Broadly, and together with our Wikimedia Foundation colleagues, we monitor a number of policy domains for their potential impact on free knowledge and the Wiki platforms. This includes online safety, privacy, copyright and other areas.

We are also tackling some difficult and wicked problems, particularly from AI and the rapid changes in the open knowledge ecosystem.  

Strive for Knowledge equity

Knowledge equity is central to our vision of a world where everyone can share in the sum of all human knowledge.  

Our work with Terri Janke and Company on the Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Guide has been a major example of this pillar in action.

The Guide was informed by consultation with our community, including a workshop at WikiCon Canberra. It was launched at Wikimania Paris, alongside the CultureStrong White Paper. This work encourages us to approach Indigenous knowledge with greater care and respect, and to recognise the authority of communities over their own knowledge.

All of this is in addition to our long-term work in gender equity, continuing in Art + Feminism and joining Wiki Loves Pride 2026.

We continue to recognise that knowledge equity is a long-term commitment. There is more to do to ensure that knowledge and perspectives that have been underrepresented are included and accessible. It is an important step in helping Wikimedia Australia and the wider movement engage with under-represented and Indigenous knowledge more thoughtfully and responsibly.

Building a Stronger Organisation

Building a stronger organisation means developing the relationships, governance and capacity that enable Wikimedia Australia to sustain and grow its work.

Our participation in GLAM Peak, the Attorney General’s Department’s Copyright and AI Reference Group and other national and international discussions has helped strengthen our connections across the cultural heritage and open knowledge sectors.

Internationally, our engagement with the Open Heritage Statement has also helped connect our work in Australia with a broader movement advocating for open cultural heritage. This work saw us have the opportunity to present at UNESCO in Paris.

These relationships are important because they help us learn from others, share our experiences and contribute to a stronger, more connected Wikimedia movement.

Wikipedians attending the tour of the National Library of Australia

Celebrating our community

Finally, I want to recognise the people who make Wikimedia Australia what it is.

As Belinda has described, this has been a year of considerable activity, from WikiCon Canberra to our events, partnerships and online community activities. It is wonderful to see new people becoming involved alongside our long-standing contributors, and to see the enthusiasm and expertise that people bring to our community.

As President, I am particularly grateful to our volunteers, members, and partners. Their contributions make our work possible and help ensure that Wikimedia Australia remains a welcoming and active part of the global Wikimedia movement.

Thank you to my fellow Board members for bringing your energy, commitment and insights to our meetings and the work that we do. Likewise a big Thanks to our staff.

WP25 Cake at WikiCon Australia 2026

In closing…

Looking across the four pillars of our Strategic Plan, we can be proud of the progress we have made this year.

We have continued to grow free knowledge, work towards greater knowledge equity, strengthen our organisation and celebrate the community that brings it all to life. As we look to the year ahead, we will continue to build on these relationships and opportunities, ensuring that Wikimedia Australia's voice is heard in discussions about the future of open knowledge, cultural heritage and access to information.

There is still much to do, but we have a strong foundation to build on and an engaged, growing community.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Wikimedia Australia's work this year, and I look forward to what we can achieve together in the year ahead.