Meeting:Board (2025-02-18)


Board meeting

18 February 2025

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Introduction

Date: Tuesday 18 February 2025
Time / time zone: 2pm AWST / 5:00 pm ACDT / 4.30 pm AEDT /
Meeting channel: Zoom = https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4127540823

Attendance

Attendees: Shravan, Elliott, Kassi, Peter, Emily and Belinda (in-officio)
Apologies: Jeremy
Absent:

Acknowledgement of Country

Previous minutes

Minutes of previous meeting:

  • That the minutes of the Monday 16 December 2024 meeting be accepted.
Decision
Decision: That the minutes of the 16 December 2024 meeting be accepted
Moved: [[User:|]]; seconded: [[User:|]]; outcome:
Notes:

Reports

Executive Officer report

APNIC Foundation grant for the Ian Peter archive digitisation project

Caddie and Cameron have completed an audit to document all the items in the Ian Peter collection. The WMAU scanner has been sent from Perth to Brisbane to assist with digitising. Next step is for a copyright review to be undertaken. Caddie advises that there are some records which can’t be openly licensed or made available, but many that can with Pegasus company records the priority. A meeting with APNIC Foundation staff to keep them informed of progress was very positive.

Recommendation: Given that we now understand better the complexity of copyright considerations for this grant project, it is recommended that an external copyright expert be engaged to conduct the review. This was proposed in our Grant application to APNIC Foundation. The Budget allows for $3000 of work to be undertaken in resolving copyright questions and approaching copyright holders to seek the appropriate release and licence for Wiki platforms. Elliott Bledsoe, has extensive expertise in copyright and open licensing, and is well-qualified for this role. To ensure transparency and avoid any conflict of interest, the Board should formally approve this appointment, with Elliott recusing himself from any related discussions or decisions. If approved then it will be added to the Register of Interests.

CC Australia and WMAU

CC Australia has provided this update in the form of an Auspicing Arrangement Discussion Paper to support its consideration of becoming an independent project sitting under an existing legal entity such as WMAU. This is not a proposal or recommendation at this stage. The next CC Australia chapter meeting is 19 February where discussions with their members will continue, however they advise that they have secured pro bono legal advice to support the auspicing arrangement, if a suitable legal entity is interested in next steps. Depending on what steps CC Australia takes next, WMAU may want to consider engaging the services of a legal advisor (pro bono preferred) and potentially approaching the WMF Legal Counsel Stephen LaPorte to ensure they are informed.

WMF connections

Belinda and Elliott will meet with Jacqueline Chen on 5 March to discuss the 10 year Strategic Plan, as well as the upcoming triennial grant application. The three year Strategic plan will be developed from the 10 year Strategic Plan.

Other meetings

Belinda and Elliott met with representatives and staff of various GLAM major institutions while at the FACT Symposium in Melbourne.

This included:

  • Dr Bianca Beetson (First Nations artist, Director First Nations at Queensland Museum and Board member of various NFPs)
  • Seb Chan (Director and CEO of ACMI)
  • Paula Bray (Chief Digital Officer at SLV)
  • Dr Emily Sidons (Co-CEO and Artistic Director) and Anna Prenc (Co-CEO and General Manager) at the new National Communication Museum)
  • Professor Melanie Swalwell, Professor of Digital Media Heritage, Swinburne University
  • Katie Russell (National Director/CEO of Australian Museums and Galleries Association AMaGA)
  • Emma Haddy (Curator Digital at the History Trust of SA)

Elliott was a guest speaker in a Panel session on GLAM Heritage (see President’s Report) and promoted the 10 year Strategic Plan as well as the First Nations protocol for WMAU to an audience of approximately 300 from the GLAM sector. Anecdotal feedback was positive for both.

Memberships

Belinda has followed up with GLAM Peak about official notification of our membership to be Associate members of GLAM Peak. No update so far.

Our membership with AMaGA (Australian Museum and Gallery Association) will expire at the end of April and will be renewed for a cost of $89.

Partner Projects 2024-2025

State Library Victoria project partner Agreement has now been finalised and both Wikimedians in Residence have also signed individual Agreements with the SLV. Due to concerns with our standard WMAU Agreement we have used the SLV Agreement (the SLV is unable to offer indemnity due to being a public sector agency of the Victorian Government). Thanks to Jeremy Ludlow for the legal advice. The SLV also hosted a separate successful weekend “Wikimedian in Residence” workshop on Saturday 15 February with 20 participants including guest speakers Mike Dickison, Amanda Lawrence, Kerrie Burn, Ellie Watts and members of our WMAU Melbourrne community.

SA Museum will utilise Mike Dickison as a Wikimedia Strategy Consultant. Again due to concerns with Agreement and budget we found a solution by contracting Mike through WMAU as a short term contract staffer for a few weeks, to ensure Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance coverage. Advertising to go out soon seeking an Adelaide based Wikimedian in Residence for the SA Museum partner project.

2SER-FM WiR is underway and the WiR and student WikiClubs have done some early work. Alice will meet with them in person this week (she is in Sydney for Abbvie editathon) to offer support and training.

ESEAP Strategy Summit nominations from WMAU affiliate

In response to the request to provide names of those interested in attending the ESEAP Strategy Summit in Manilla in May 2025, we have approached the community to seek interest. Those interested have been nominated as follows:

  1. Alice Woods
  2. Amanda Lawwrence
  3. Jeremy Ludlow

We wait for confirmation on which of these nominations will be successful.

Belinda will attend as a member of the ESEAP Preparatory Council and Elliott will attend in the role of President of WMAU. Costs will be covered by the Summit conference budget.

Wiki.Learn courses

James’ situation has now changed and he finds himself unable to undertake the significant work to develop a WikiCommons course on Wiki.Learn.

However he advises that the uptake of the Introduction to Wikipedia course is going very well with over 45 people enrolled, and completing the course successfully. The Dashboard for the Wikipedia course, to monitor learners contributions, can be seen here: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/WikiLearn/An_Introduction_to_Wikipedia

RightsCon Taipei

Belinda and Elliott will travel to Taipei on Friday 21 February to attend RightsCon. On Wednesday evening 26 February Belinda will present a session with Lotus Rana, researcher on the report by Distinguished Professor Bronwyn Carlson.

Elliott and Belinda will also meet with WMF Global Advocacy staff (Ziski, Rachel and Rebecca) to discuss the Australian Social Media Ban for Children under 16 years of age legislation, Digital Duty of Care, and our role in advocacy in our ESEAP region. We will discuss the scoping work for the ICIP Protocol for WMAU and our 10 year Strategic Plan. We will also meet-up with Wikimedia Taiwan staff, and approx 10 other Wikimedians from various chapters and affiliates who are also attending. We are hoping to be part of establishing an ESEAP Advocacy group for our region and will participate in a workshop planning how this group would work and what the priorities would be.

Community survey

We have made some adjustments to the dates and times for our community meetings, Intro to Wikipedia and Drop In and Wiki, in response to the community survey. We have already noticed a few new people attending the first community meeting of the year. We have also introduced a monthly WikiData community meeting with the first one this Thursday 20 February. As always these are open meetings and everyone is encouraged to attend.

AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning online foundation course

For long-standing Board members, we have now reached the conclusion of the Core Cultural training with the final date available the end of February. Please continue to access the AIATSIS Learning Ground - Core training modules to finish off.

Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) grant

No update at this stage.

Communications Report

Social media report

December Statistics

Total followers as of 31 December, 2024

  • Twitter: 4050 (up by 48)
  • Facebook: 2008 (up by 32)
  • Instagram: 666 (up by 6)
  • Linkedin: 387 (up by10)
  • Mastodon: 224 (up by 5)
  • YouTube: 214 (up 11)
  • Humanitix: 75
  • Announce monthly newsletter: 503 (up by 2)

January 2025 Statistics

Total followers as of 31 January, 2025

  • Twitter: 4063 (up by 13)
  • Facebook: 2019 (up by 19)
  • Instagram: 675 (up by 11)
  • Linkedin: 387 (up by 0)
  • Mastodon: 234 (up by 10)
  • YouTube: 219 (up by 5)
  • Humanitix: 77 (2)
  • Announce monthly newsletter: 505 (up by 2)

On our WMAU website we published 4 news stories for January 2025:

WMAU website we published 4 news stories for December 2024:

President’s report

Please read this report in addition to joint activities with the EO as outlined above.

10 year Strategic Plan

In response to the Board’s meeting on 20 January and a Community consultation meeting held last night (17 February) we will continue working collaboratively with our members and stakeholders, including ideas and feedback to refine the strategy. Consultation with our members and community will close off next week on Monday 24 February. We will aim to finalise the 10 year Plan by the end of February.

Belinda and Elliott will begin developing the three year Plan, which will be drawn from the priorities identified in the 10 year Plan. Belinda has a meeting with Jacqueline Chen to discuss the 10 and three year plans on 5 March. Our three year Strategic Plan and Grant are due for submission on 13 March 2025.

Bunty Avieson resignation

Bunty Avieson has advised that while she remains fully supportive of the Board’s direction, including the long-term Strategic Plan and the scoping of the First Nations Protocol with Terri Janke, she has decided to resign from the Board, effective 23 January 2025.

We will greatly miss Bunty’s enthusiasm and deep understanding of the Wiki community. As an accomplished editor of Australian topics on English Wikipedia, her contributions have been invaluable. Her dedication to establishing Dzongkha Wikipedia in Bhutan has been unparalleled, and her global recognition, including her term on the Affiliations Committee (AffCom), reflects her commitment to the movement.

Thank you, Bunty, for your dedication and contributions. Your passion, expertise, and leadership have left a lasting impact on Wikimedia Australia and the broader Wikimedia movement. We sincerely appreciate your time, knowledge and energy, and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Casual vacancies on the Board

With the departure of Bunty we now find ourselves in the position of having two casual vacancies on the Board, with the role of Vice President currently vacant. We don’t need to rush into filling these positions, but we should be conscious that maintaining a well-rounded and effective Board is important for Wikimedia Australia’s ongoing governance and strategic direction. Some considerations for filling these vacancies could include:

  • Identifying individuals with skills or experience that complement the current Board, such as expertise in governance, technical or community engagement. Encouraging expressions of interest from active Wikimedia community members.
  • Seeking candidates with diverse backgrounds, including regional representation and voices from underrepresented communities.
  • Deciding whether to appoint interim Board members to fill the casual vacancy or leave the positions vacant until the next AGM.

Our Rules of Association do allow us to leave the vacancies until the AGM in September, or we could appoint to fill these roles for the next six months.

This is an opportunity to reflect on the Board’s needs and ensure we continue to have strong leadership to support Wikimedia Australia’s work.

Scoping a First Nations Protocol for WMAU - Update

Work has continued over the past two months with WMAU staff and expert community members (many thanks to Pru Mitchell, 99of9 and Gnangara) all contributing to a series of workshops with Terri and her team.

The Scoping Brief document has been thoroughly discussed and revised to ensure Terri and her staff have a clear understanding of WMAU’s requirements, particularly what falls within scope and what may be possible over time through the 10 year Strategic Plan. Explicit discussions have also taken place regarding the distinct roles and responsibilities of WMAU, WMF, and the editing community. We feel very confident Terri Janke & Co understand these important distinctions and will accommodate them accordingly in their scoping report.

We expect to receive an update from Terri and her team by the end of February.

Travel to attend TAROCH Advocacy Workspace meeting

As part of my work with Creative Commons Australia on the TAROCH Advocacy Workspace I will travel to The Hague, The Netherlands to attend a face-to-face two-day meeting in late March. A reminder that WMAU is a member of the TAROCH Coalition.

As agreed at our December Board meeting, with WMAU supporting my participation in the TAROCH Advocacy Workspace meeting, Belinda has arranged and paid for my flights and some accommodation to attend the meeting. WMAU will be reimbursed for these costs.

At the December meeting I also mentioned that I might take some personal leave around the TAROCH Advocacy Workspace meeting. However I have decided against that. Instead, as I am already in Europe it makes good sense to take a few days to visit Wikimedia Deutschland in Berlin. I’m arranging meetings with key staff from WMDE and WMF including Fransika Heine, Nicole Ebber, Alice Weigand, and Heike Gleibs. We are also arranging a meet-up with Wikimedia Netherlands EO Sandra Rientjes and some of her staff. WMAU will cover the costs of train travel between the Hague and Berlin, and accommodation to facilitate these meetings with WMDE, WMF and other key stakeholders. If there are any questions, topics or information that the Board would like me to either share or gain from this visit then please raise them with me. Likewise, if anyone has any recommendations on people I should try to meet with, please let me know. Three priority areas that I will raise are as follows:

  • Our WMAU 10 year Strategic Plan
  • First Nations Protocol for WMAU
  • Questions around long term resource and grant funding for regions, and the establishment of the interim Global Resources Distribution Committee (GRDC) 2 year experiment.

FACT symposium hosted by ACMI

I spoke last week at the FACT symposium at the invitation of Seb Chan from ACMI. The panel session focussed on “Future practice in the GLAM sector” and was chaired by Katie Russell from AMaGA (Australian Museums and Galleries Association). Approximately 300 people from across the GLAM sector were present, with many constructive conversations and meetings.

I was offered a speaker's fee of $300 plus superannuation for speaking which I have added to the Register of interests.

National First Nations Advisory body for the GLAM sector

In response to conversations at the FACT symposium there has been a suggestion that through AMaGA and other peak bodies there might be an opportunity to create a First Nations Advisory Body for the GLAM sector (rather than individual Advisory Bodies for a large number of individual GLAM institutes). This would firstly reduce cultural/colonial load for First Nations people who are constantly called up to provide repetitive advice and knowledge, and secondly it would assist many organisations in the GLAM sector with consistent cross-sectoral guidance. As members of AMaGA we will continue these discussions and provide updates to the WMAU Board as they develop.

Reminder to update key Board documents

In light of the changes to the Board, please update our WMAU Board Matrix 2023-25 and also consider if you need to add any information to our WMAU Register of interests.

Secretary's report

Membership report

New members - Six new members approved by email. Membership currently at 86.

Treasurer's report

Profit & Loss and Balance Statements

Due to Summer holidays over December and the Strategic Planning meeting in January, there are two months of financial reports provided:

Profit and Loss Statement December 2024 Balance sheet December 2024

Profit and Loss Statement January 2025 Balance sheet January 2025

Transfer of banking account to President and Secretary is close to completion.

Motion: That the Treasurer’s Report be accepted

Decision
Decision: That the Treasurer’s Report be accepted.
Moved: Peter; seconded: Elliott; outcome: approved
Notes:

Matters for Decision

Changes to the 2012 Model Rules (Nov 2023)

Three meetings before the AGM 2025 we will contact the membership and advise them of the proposed changes to our Rules of Association which will be presented for a vote.

Proposals passed by email and documented below

N/A

Matters for Discussion

Changes to the 2012 Model Rules (Nov 2023)

The Association Incorporation Reform Regulations 2023 came into effect on 18 November 2023 and will affect a number of Victorian incorporated associations.This includes 2 key areas: new reporting thresholds based on income which was reported earlier and changes to the Model Rules.

The Regulations have introduced some changes to the model rules. The key changes are to:

  • support associations to use modern communication technology, including at meetings (rules 9, 18, 35, 62)
  • introduce new processes for disciplinary appeals. If a member appeals against a decision to discipline them, that appeal will no longer be decided by the general members of the association at a general meeting. The appeal must now be considered by an ‘appeals subcommittee’ of unbiased people appointed by the committee (rules 23-24)
  • clarify the rules for appointing and paying a mediator to resolve an internal grievance (rules 27-28)
  • require the committee to maintain a conflict of interest register (rule 65), and
  • improve grammar and interpretation in a variety of clauses.

You can read the new model rules here.

Current WMAU Rules https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Rules

A list of changes is provided here

Option 1. Adopt the rules in full including with our previous addition of 2 year terms and with or without a change to the Term of Office wording (6)

Option 2. Just make changes as per those indicated in the document. (May not be all the changes)

Timing

Organise a special meeting OR

Wait until next year (2025) to make changes.

Action: Board to decide what action to take on adopting the new rules and the Terms. Board suggests waiting until the next AGM 2025 to present the proposed changes to the Members.

Volunteer Support applications

Received two applications from volunteers for Board consideration, noting that we don’t have enough funds left in this budget line considering the amounts requested in these applications.

  1. application for $2000 to attend a conference to present on Noongarpedia. Difficult to establish which conference and when it will be held. I responded requesting further information but have not heard back yet.
  2. application for $3500+GST to support mentoring of a Wikimedian to add information on Northern Australian grasshoppers with scientific information, photographs and expert research, on Wikipedia, Commons and Wikidata. Belinda has suggested to this team that they consider restructuring their application into phases, where we could fund a small component this financial year, and the remainder next financial year. They are re-working their application to offer this as an alternative option.

Both applications will be reviewed with the new Assessment Rubric when full updated details are provided by the applicants. However these items are presented here for discussion and feedback now, as they are over the threshold of $2000 in the Financial delegation policy.

Action: Board to consider whether a Committee is needed to assist in evaluating these Volunteer Support applications.

Board casual positions

Should we consider approaching some people as casual Board vacancies to fill one or more vacant positions? Role of Vice-President is unfilled.

Matters for Noting

Subcommittees

Subcommittees Board members:

Membership subcommittee : Emily, Jeremy

Grants (Volunteer Support grant, and/or Standing Grants): Elliott

Finance committee? (Elliott, Peter, Belinda and 1 other?)

Activities

WMAU and other local events 2024

Upcoming 2025:

  • Franklin Women - ABBVie in Sydney on 19 February. Estimate 20 people (Alice)
  • 2SER-FM - Sydney on 20 February (Alice)
  • Artbank - Sydney on 7 March (Ali and Annie)
  • Women’s Art Register - Melbourne on 8 March (Pru)
  • Anne Dangar and Ethel Carrick exhibition/NGA - Canberra on 15 March. Numbers tba (Alice)
  • La Trobe University, Immunology students - online on 31 March (Belinda and Alice)

National activities

Global activities

  • RightsCon - February 2025, Taiwan
  • ESEAP Strategy Summit, 23-25 May 2025, Manilla Philippines

Meeting close: 6:20 pm (AEDT)

  • Next Community meeting: Wednesday 10 March 2025
  • Next Board meeting: Tuesday 18 March 2025.

Strategic Plan due for submission on 13 March 2025.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

Volunteer Support grant

The WMAU Volunteer Support grant submission process and policies need a review - currently there is no indication of funding minimum or maximum, and guidelines could be improved - as a result we don’t get many applications. Application form is very simple.

Consider: What kind of minimum and maximum do we want to provide - e.g. could it cover international airfares for people to come to Australia? Or travel internationally? Suggest a standard of $2000 with a max of $3000 with justification.

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