Meeting:Board (2024-07-22)
See also the list of all meetings.
- Present: Jeremy Ludlow, Tom Hogarth, Amanda Lawrence, Elliott Bledsoe, Emily Mierisch, Peter Neish, Belinda Spry
- Apologies: Bunty Avieson, Kelly Tall
Meeting opened:
Date: Monday 22 July 2024
Time / time zone: 5pm AWDT / 6.30pm ACST / 7pm AEST
Meeting channel: Zoom = https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4127540823
Acknowledgement of Country
Previous meeting
Monday 17 June 2024 Meeting:Committee_(2024-06-17) 2024-06-17-Wikimedia Australia Board meeting
Moved: Amanda Lawrence; seconded: Emily Mierisch; outcome: passed
Executive Officer report [FOR NOTING]
Draft Year 2 Learning Report for WMF grant reporting
Please review the draft Year 2 Learning Report on our Grant, which is due to be submitted to WMF through Fluxx by end of July 2024. Note: currently a technical issue with Dashboards giving inaccurate data, due to an architecture upgrade to be finished soon. Please provide feedback and comments in the document by 20 July 2024. Once approved Belinda will load into Fluxx for submission to WMF.
Editathons and wiki workshops
We are receiving a steady stream of enquiries for editathons and wiki workshops. Some from previous partners such as the Australian Music Centre (from The Record project) focussed on the upcoming Art Music Awards, and some new organisations such as Artbank in Sydney, and also the Embroiderers Guild of NSW. Evaluating carefully to ensure they align with our strategic priorities.
Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) grant
We received information from the Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) that they have a grant of approx AUD$5000-$10,000 (GST free) to provide to us for Charitable purposes and “Wikipedia”. However as we don’t have DGR status the grant must be provided to an auspice organisation with DGR status and an Australian bank account, who will then transfer to us. Peter has spoken with the Australian Society of Archivists who are undertaking the necessary checks to be an auspice. Other organisations we approached (ALIA, ACER, etc) have very specific requirements around their DGR status preventing them from auspicing the grant on our behalf.
We have some time now to decide how to direct the funds to a particular focus (eg, the gender gap on wikipedia, or training in regional communities, or a First Nations Wikimedian in Residence, etc). There are reporting requirements for the grant, however ACF advises we can direct the funds into our preferred area of support.
APNIC Foundation Grant for Ian Peter archive
Planning underway.
Partner Projects 2024-25: Round 3
We are looking ahead to Project Partners Round 3 and planning for a simplified application process. We could open for EOI’s in mid August, then make offers by early October. Many organisations we’ve spoken to are interested and beginning to identify potential projects or WiR roles for an application. We will need to form a sub-committee for selection of Partner Projects soon (see Matters for Decision).
WikiCon Australia 2024 - Adelaide
The WikiCon Subcommittee has formally announced the WikiCon Australia 2024 conference:
- When: Saturday 23 November 2024
- Where: Ibis Hotel, 122 Grenfell St, Adelaide SA 5000
Please share the social media posts and encourage members of our community to attend and especially to put in a submission to share their skills and experiences. It’s advertised on the central banner on Wiki projects when you are logged in within Australia.
Submissions are open until 31 July for presentations and workshops. Depending on submissions there are plans for two streams to facilitate a “Tech Lab” for hands-on workshops, as well as a separate stream for Lightning Talks, Presentations or Round Table sessions. Plans are also progressing for pre-conference activities with a potential tour of SA Museum on Friday afternoon, and a possible Commons walk in the Botanic Gardens on Sunday morning. Venues for evening meals are also being considered.
Additionally, Sunday 24 November will be a Strategic Planning Day for the Board and staff. This Strategic Planning day will focus on the next 3 year Strategic Plan and long term outcomes. Meeting with Jacqueline Chen from Wikimedia Foundation to plan application for next 3 years.
CSU student virtual placement continues
Our student has enthusiastically commenced his 10 day (70 hour equivalent) virtual placement with WMAU.
International conferences
ESEAP: The ESEAP Summit 2025 has now been confirmed by the User Groups of the Philippines who have agreed to work together to host. No date as yet. The next ESEAP conference is in 2026 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. No date as yet.
Wikimania Poland 2024: Two WMAU scholarships have been accepted for Wikimania Poland, and Alice Woods, will also be attending. The third scholarship was declined. The unspent funds will move to next year's Wikimania funding, or possibly put towards bringing an international guest speaker travelling to Australia for our WikiCon in Adelaide. One of our members is on the COT for Wikimania and will be funded by WMF to attend the conference.
AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning online foundation course
Please continue to access the AIATSIS Learning Ground - Core training modules and if your time permits, join 30 minutes before each Board meeting to reflect on what you’ve learnt. Feel free to chat on the Slack channel. Let Belinda know if there are any issues.
Communications
Social media report: June Statistics
Total followers as of 30 June, 2024
- Twitter: 3796 (up by 22)
- Facebook: 1938 (up by 4)
- Instagram: 569 (up by 14)
- Linkedin: 272 (up by 19)
- Mastodon: 187 (up by 0)
- YouTube: 168 (up by 11)
- Eventbrite: 52 (0)
- Announce monthly newsletter: 487 (up by 4)
Graph available online showing twelve months of social media follower growth: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GHX8c/1/
On our WMAU website we published 5 news stories:
- Wikimedia Australia June 2024 Update
- ANZSI-CSU SICS-Wikimedia Australia PartnerProject: Final report (June 2024)
- First Nations Resources
- Environment Centre NT Wikipedian in Residence
- First Nations Focus Group Report
President’s report
Movement Charter Voting
WMAU held a Special Meeting to discuss the pros and cons of the vote to ratify the Movement Charter. Thanks to Alice Wiegland for attending and presenting the views of WM Deutschland which was to vote yes. Notes from the meeting are available for those who could not attend. Kelly Tall, as WMAU Board Secretary, submitted our vote which the Board agreed should be blank. This was a difficult decision and we also prepared a statement which was submitted along with the vote, [was made public on our website] on Wednesday 10 July 2024. As noted in the statement the Board is strongly committed to increasing inclusive decision-making for the Wikimedia Community and looks forward to working on the next steps for the Charter.
Results: 2446 individuals and the 129 affiliates participated in the Wikimedia Movement Charter ratification vote as well as the Board of Trustees of WMF. The Board of Trustees decided not to ratify however did propose various alternative strategies to increase inclusive and distributed governance.
Individual vote: 1,710 voted “yes”; 623 voted “no”; and 113 selected “–” (neutral). Because the neutral votes don’t count towards the total number of votes cast, 73.30% voted to approve the Charter (1710/2333), while 26.70% voted to reject the Charter (623/2333).
Affiliates vote: Out of 129 Affiliates 93 voted “yes”; 18 voted “no”; and 18 selected “–” (neutral). Because the neutral votes don’t count towards the total number of votes cast, 83.78% voted to approve the Charter (93/111), while 16.22% voted to reject the Charter (18/111).
Strategic planning day - Sunday 24 November 2024, Adelaide
The annual Strategic Planning Day for the Board and staff will be held in Adelaide following the Wiki Conference.
- Time: 9am - 1.30 TBC
As this is the final year of our current strategic plan this meeting will focus on developing our next Strategic Plan 2025-2028. Issues to consider include whether to get a facilitator for this session. A draft agenda to be made available for discussion.
Invitation to be Resident Wikimedian by Canadian INKE Research Group
The president Amanda Lawrence has been invited to be the ‘Honorary Resident Wikipedian’ for 2024-2025, a program in partnership with the INKE project, the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the University of Victoria Libraries. Some details about the program are here:https://etcl.uvic.ca/honorary-resident-wikipedian/.
This involves 2 presentations over the course of 2024-2025: One in person at the CAPOS Open Social Scholarship conference, Sydney, December 2024 and One Online in 2025. It is not clear if this invitation is related to the role as President or professional role however I would like to disclose the potential for a conflict of interest in relation to the stipend of $1000. Conflict of Interest Policy on our [here].
Secretary's report
Membership report: 2 new members (1 x VIC, 1 x NSW)
Annual members renewals: Almost all of our members have paid their annual membership renewal with 7 of those overdue. Membership is currently at 75 people.
Meetings: Adjusted calendar invites have been sent through for the upcoming Board meetings and AGM in September.
Treasurer's Report
Year 3 Budget
Funds for Year 3 now received in our bank account. Our year 3 grant is the amount of AUD 398,480. This is a continuation of the 3-year grant term starting 1 July 2022 and ending 30 June 2025. The adjusted breakdown is as follows: Year 1: AUD 291,600 (granted); Year 2: AUD 349,226 (granted); Year 3: AUD 398,480 (adjusted and granted). The updated 3-year grant amount is AUD 1,039,306.
We are managing this with a combination of our cash reserve account and 3 month term deposit account.
End of Year 2 Reporting
The requirements for reporting on finances state that we can follow the ACNC rules for reporting. We are classed as a small charity (just) with income of less than $500k. However, there is a chance that we might go over that during this financial year, so we will make provisions for review requirements and timelines to allow this to happen should we need to have our statements reviewed or audited next year.
- Profit & Loss Statement for June 2024
- Profit and Loss Statement June 2024
- Balance sheet June 2024
On the Profit and Loss statement under Trading Income there is a line for Grants Received, the amount listed is for the APNIC grant (first instalment 90%). This has now been received at the bank (9 July 2024).
Motion: That the Treasurer’s Report be accepted
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Tom Hogarth; outcome: passed
Matters for Decision
EOI and Grant application process for WMAU Partner Projects 2024-2025
Belinda Spry has drafted a plan and timeline for this year’s Partner Projects round. The budget allocation for Partner Projects is a total of $30,000. This includes specific funding for a First Nations residency of $10,000. Final project reporting would be due by 1 May 2024 to align with our reporting requirements for WMF. The suggested time frame open for EOI’s is generous and could be pulled back to one month.
Last year Elliott Bledsoe suggested simplifying the EOI application process. Interested organisations would answer a few simple questions, then we undertake a second phase of discussions/interviews to provide more information for the Grant selection panel for informed decision making. Once we clarify the simplified application process then WMAU staff are ready to start the preparation and advertising.
Moved: Amanda Lawrence; seconded: Elliott Bledsoe; outcome: passed
Proposal passed by email and documented below:
Migrate Freotopia.org into Freopedia proposal
The following proposal was provided by Sam Wilson, and reviewed by Tom Hogarth and Belinda Spry. Summary: The Freopedia project, initiated by WMAU in 2012 to enhance Fremantle coverage on Wikimedia, has seen minimal activity in recent years. Garry Gillard, who manages the extensive Freotopia site (formerly Fremantle Stuff), wishes to transfer his site to WMAU. Freotopia, housing over a thousand pages of local historical content, includes some copyrighted materials and is a significant resource. WMAU holds the freopedia.org domain, currently redirecting to the English Wikipedia project page. WikiClubWest members support integrating Freotopia's content under the Freopedia project, with potential collaboration with the Fremantle History Society for content curation and training. The proposal seeks to expand Freopedia's scope to cover Fremantle-related topics across Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, and a dedicated wiki. Sam Wilson will manage technical details, with WMAU hosting the content for up to three years, exploring long-term management solutions. This initiative aligns with WMAU's strategic priorities and could inform future content donation policies.
Motion: That WMAU
Support the renewal of the Freopedia project with freotopia.org content
Accept custodianship of the content in freotopia.org and will host the content for up to three years with an annual review
Support further investigations into how the site and content will be managed long term.
Moved: Kelly Tall; seconded: Bunty Avieson; outcome: approved by email
Matters for Discussion
First Nations Advisory Committee
In response to the recent First Nations report WMAU staff have started considering what type of response we make, and how to establish a First Nations Advisory Committee. We are aware that many First Nations people currently have a very high cultural load and are still determining or making first steps in response to the failed Voice Referendum last year.
Suggest starting with a small group of four people and approach those we’ve worked with previously on what form might work best. The Advisory Committee could meet every 2-3 months to advise us firstly, on the recommendations from the First Nations Report and Jumbunna Report (and other relevant research), secondly on ways to support existing or new projects, and thirdly, on developing culturally safe guidelines or protocols.
We could also consult with and possibly join an existing First Nations Advisory Committee already established within a like-minded organisation, eg ALIA EAG (Australian Library and Information Association’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Advisory Group focussed on Australian libraries), or the ARDC’s work on Indigenous Data, bearing mind this may not align exactly with our strategic priorities, hence not meet our specific needs.
Additionally, we could also consider in the longer term developing our own Wikimedia Australia Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
AGM Sun 15 September 2024, 7pm (AEST)
Roles, reports and nomination process
Timeline:
- 25/08/2023 At least 2 weeks prior but usually 3 weeks AGM notice sent to all currently financial members
- Saturday 31/08/2023: Nominations open. Only Secretary and President positions are automatically open. All other positions are 2 years.
- Nominations of members, by members to open positions made to agm@wikimedia.org.au (delivered to secretary, president & EO). Nomination must be seconded by another member, and accepted by the nominee (as email to the agm@wikimedia.org.au).
- Secretary loads nomination details to WMAU AGM web page
- Saturday 07/09/2024 Nominations close.
If an election is required:
- Sunday 08/09/2024 Election opens. Managed by neutral party with EO
- Friday 13/09/2024 Election closes
- Saturday 14 September 2024: AGM Proxy forms to be submitted to the Secretary contact@wikimedia.org.au
- AGM held 5pm AEST Sunday 15 September 2024 via Zoom video conference (Note: If there are not enough nominations people can nominate at the AGM meeting.)
Wikimedia Australia email addresses
Over the years many of our members have been provided with a Wikimedia Australia email address as a volunteer, and through roles on the Board. Currently we have 26 “active” email users, with some ranging from using the email every day (mainly staff and current Board members) through to one account not accessed for 7 years. As part of regular maintenance and good governance we’ll undertake checks on who still requires a Wikimedia Australia email address.
There is a brief mention in our Communications Strategy (Personal Communications - page 12) which could be improved, regarding clarity of roles (those who provide the official communications of Wikimedia Australia, versus those who are members commenting with their personal point of view). In addition, there could be a potential benefit in offering members an email address, which could follow this format: firstname.lastname@members.wikimedia.org.au to clarify between general members, and those who are current staff and Board (keeping the existing format).
Activities
WMAU and other local events 2024
- Franklin Women Women in STEM edit-a-thon - Sydney — Wed 24 July
- Franklin Women Women in STEM edit-a-thon - Canberra — Thurs 25 July
- Library and Information Week - WMAU invited to present - 2 August 2024
- Wikimania 2024 — Wed 7 August.
- Australian art music Wikipedia edit-a-thon — Tuesday 13 August 2024
- Online Community Meeting - August 2024 — Wed 14 August
- Know My Name: Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon at Tweed Regional Gallery — Sat 17 August
- WikiCon Australia 2024 - Adelaide — Saturday 23 November 2024
Events document that everyone can add to: Events and Conferences List
National activities
- IFLA Information Futures Summit, 30 Sept - 3 Oct (Brisbane)https://2024.ifla.org/
- ALACC (Australian Libraries and Archives Copyright Coalition) and CC Australia are holding a side event on Open Access on 3 October, which we will be invited to.
- Australian Internet Governance Forum, 28-29 October, Melbourne https://auigf.au/
Would be good to present something here - its free
Global activities
- Wikimania 2024, Katowice, Poland, August 2024
- Digital Rights Asia Pacific (DRAPAC) 2024, August Taiwan
- Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2024, August Taiwan
- RightsCon - February 2025, Taiwan
Meeting close: 8:45 pm
- Next Community meeting: Wednesday 14 August 2024
- Next Board meeting: Monday 26 August 2024 (note date change from 19 August)