Meeting:Board (2025-07-22)
See also the list of all meetings.
Introduction
Meeting Details
Date and time: 15 Jul 2025 17:00 AEST/16:30 ACST/15:00 AWST
Meeting start time: 5:09 pm AEST
Meeting end time: 6:40 pm AEST
Meeting objectives
Meeting objectives: To make decisions in relation to and to discuss Budget and finalising the WMF Grant, upcoming AGM, and ICIP & IDSov Protocol next steps.
Record of attendance
Attendees: Elliott Bledsoe, Peter Neish, Kassi Hays, Jeremy Ludlow
Apologies: none
Absent: Emily Mierisch, Sharvan Rao
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Kassi Hayes; outcome: passed
Reports
Executive Officer’s report
Please find below a summary of key activities and updates:
Programs and engagements
- Planning our AGM for 2025 with a draft timeline now available. See Matters for Discussion.
- Edit-a-thons and workshops over the past month including Aldinga Library and Art Gallery of SA.
- The Ian Peter archive project has successfully completed and reports submitted to APNIC Foundation. We had a positive Teams call with the APNIC Foundation team to discuss outcomes and recommendations. Many thanks to Caddie and Cameron for their dedication and fantastic work on this project, Sam for technical advice, and Elliott for his copyright expertise.
- Initiating plans and documentation for the Partner Projects 2025–2026.
Operations and governance
- As per the Motion by email dated 26 June, the outcome of our request for additional Budget from the WMF was declined. As outlined on the meta-wiki General Support Fund Discussion tab, our triennial WMAU grant application remains at a total of AUD $1,452,867, with the grant term running from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. An adjusted budget was prepared and circulated to all Board members for approval. Full details are outlined in the Treasurer’s report.
- Preparing the Draft Learning Report for Year 3 of our triennial WMF Grant. Please provide comments by 28 July, so it can be uploaded to Fluxx by 30 July. Circulated by email on 21 July.
- Belinda has spent time supporting the recruitment, interviewing and on-boarding of the new ESEAP Hub Project Manager. Six interviews with some excellent candidates. To be announced when finalised.
- Letter sent on behalf of Elliott and Belinda, requesting a meeting with The Hon Annika Wells MP, the new Communications Minister.
Opportunities
Meetings
Met with a range of organisations, including:
- Terri Janke and company
- University of NSW
- State Library Victoria
- University of Sydney
- ESEAP Preparatory Council and post Strategic Summit debriefs
Grants
Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) grant: No update at this time.
Communications report
Social media - June analytics
| Total network size by platform as of June 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | June 2024 | Annual change |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Followers | 4248 | 4,209 | Up by 39 | 3796 | Up by 452 |
| Followers | 2046 | 2,036 | 10 | 1,938 | Up by 108 | |
| Followers | 759 | 752 | Up by 7 | 569 | Up by 190 | |
| Threads | Followers | 171 | 167 | Up by 4 | 141 | Up by 30 |
| Followers | 425 | 420 | Up by 5 | 272 | Up by 153 | |
| Mastodon | Followers | 270 | 261 | Up by 9 | 187 | Up by 83 |
| YouTube | Subscribers | 274 | 263 | Up by 11 | 168 | Up by 106 |
| Cumulative network size | 8193 | 8,108 | Up by 85 | 7071 | Up by 1122 | |
Website - Content
3 news stories were published on the website in June 2025.
- Aldinga Wiki workshop improves local history on Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Australia joins National Copyright and AI reference group
- 1Lib1Ref 2025 editors boost Wikipedia with over 1.84k new references
Website - May analytics
Analytics gathered using Matomo (stats.wikimedia.org.au).
| Total network size by platform as of June 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | June 2024 | Annual change |
| Visits | 1625
[Add “All visits” this month] |
2069
[Add “All visits” last month] |
-21.5.9% | 1105 | +47.1% |
| New visitors | 1705 ?
[Add new visitors this month] |
1705
[Add new visitors last month] |
[Add change in new visitors since last month] | [Add new visitors same month last year] | [Add change in new visitors since last year] |
| Returning visitors | [Add returning visitors this month] | [Add returning visitors last month] | [Add change in returning visitors since last month] | [Add Instagram returning visitors same month last year] | [Add change in returning visitors since last year] |
| Page views | 2806 | 3311 | -15.3% | 2048 | +32% |
| Average visit duration | 1 min 20 seconds | 1 min 27 seconds | 7 seconds | 1 min 43 seconds | -22.3% |
| Most visited page | 174
17 Inspiring Australian Women to Celebrate This Australia Day |
121 visits
From Archives to Wikipedia: Documenting Australian Feminism Through Radical Acts (May) Guest blog post by SLV Wikimedians in Residence Kerrie Burns and Ellie Watts |
Up by 53 | 107
Post highlighting local projects on Wikimedia Commons |
Up by 67 |
Email - May analytics - Announce newsletter
| Total subscribers and unsubscribes to the Announce monthly newsletter in May 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | June 2024 | Annual change |
| Subscribers | 510 | 509 | +1 | 487
[Add subscribers same month last year] |
23 |
Ticketing
| Total followers of Humanitix account in May 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | June 2024 | Annual change |
| Followers | 77 | 77 | No change | 52 Eventbrite
0 Humanitix [Add Eventbrite & Humanitix followers same month last year] |
[Add change in followers since last year] |
President’s report
Please read this report in addition to joint activities with the EO as outlined above.
Triennial Grant outcome
Belinda and I are very disappointed with the funding outcomes for Round 2 General Support Fund, particularly that, even after submitting a revised budget, our funding offer was not changed. This has significantly hampered our ability to deliver on our 10 year plan. I would like the Board to consider how best to respond to the decision and what channels we should communicate that through. I have tabled this for discussion.
ESEAP Strategy Summit
I have acquitted the travel grant that allowed me to participate in the ESEAP Strategy Summit in Manila.
Policy and regulatory matters
Social media minimum age
WMAU was invited to participate in a consultation on Australia's social media age restrictions by the eSafety Commissioner. It occurred online on 15 Jul 2025. eSafety reiterated that Legislative Rules are set by the Minister. More information regarding Rules is expected soon. The conversation was very technical and focused heavily on age assurance technology and what signals platforms should use for assuming a user is under the age of 16. In relation to unintended consequences, I was able to make the point that Wikipedia and Wikimedia platforms could come within scope of the legislative scheme’s definition, even if that was not the legislative intent.
We have not yet had a response from Communications Minister Anika Wells’ office in response to the letter we sent seeking a meeting.
Children’s Online Privacy Code
Immediately after the eSafety Commissioner’s consultation session I was approached by Kate Bower, Director, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, through LinkedIn inviting WMAU to participate in consultation around the Children’s Online Privacy Code.
Vice President role filled
I would like to formally make a vote of thanks to Emily Mierisch for agreeing to take on the role of Vice President until the AGM. I would also like to thank Emily for chairing the next Board meeting while I am on leave.
Secretary’s report
Membership
There were 3 Membership applications in June (all approved by email).
Three lapsed members removed.
June membership statistics
| Total members of WMAU in June 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | May 2024 | Annual change |
| Financial members | 84 | 84 | No change | N/A
[Add new financial members same month last year] |
N/A
[Add change in new financial members since last year] |
| Lapsed memberships | 3
[Add number of lapsed memberships this month] |
0
[Add number of lapsed memberships last month] |
4
[Add change in lapsed memberships since last month] |
N/A
[Add lapsed memberships same month last year] |
N/A
[Add change in lapsed memberships members since last year] |
| Member applications | 3
[Add number of new membership applications this month] |
1
[Add number of new membership applications last month] |
5
[Add change in new membership applications since last month] |
3
[Add new membership applications same month last year] |
N/A
[Add change in new membership applications since last year] |
Membership renewal invoices
Approx 4 invoices remain outstanding for annual membership renewals.
Treasurer’s report
Financial statements
Financial statements tabled:
- Profit and Loss Statement June 2025
- Balance sheet June 2025
Note that we had an operating loss of $11,571.23 last financial year due to spending of WMAu funds for travel, events and First Nations protocol scoping.
Last financial year we received $14,092 in donations (highest ever), as well as $9,435.86 in interest and $3000 in Sales (organisations paying for editathons), so in real terms we are starting to see some diversifying of income streams.
WMF Grant
Please refer to Out-of-session decisions regarding the approval of the Adjusted Budget (25 June) for 2025-26, in light of funding decisions by WMF. We have received notice that the WMF Year 1 funds will be paid ‘around July 21’.
Changes to Superannuation.
From 1 July 2026, employers will require super to be paid on payday and the small business superannuation clearing house, which we currently use, will be closing. Payments also need to be SuperStream compliant. Xero is a SuperStream compliant system and we have set up KeyAdmin to process payments on our behalf (as they do for our payroll).
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Jeremey Ludlow; outcome: The Treasurer’s report was accepted.
Out-of-session decisions
Documenting out-of-session decisions (sometimes called flying minutes).
Budget update
Motion by email sent by Belinda on 26 June 2025.
As mentioned in our Board meeting on 17 June, we have been awaiting confirmation from Jacqueline Chen and the Grants team regarding our revised Budget submission (29 May) for our triennial grant application. We were advised on Tuesday that the revised budget (29 May) was not accepted.
As outlined on the meta-wiki General Support Fund Discussion tab, our triennial WMAU grant application remains at a total of AUD $1,452,867, with the grant term running from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028. This amount does not include any ICIP & IDSov Protocol funding which will be discussed separately. The approved annual funding for WMAU operations is as follows:
- Year 1 (2025–26): AUD $484,289
- Year 2 (2026–27): AUD $484,289
- Year 3 (2027–28): AUD $484,289
Our Budget for 2024-25 is AUD$403,480. The new annual grant amount represents an increase of AUD$80,809 over our current annual operating budget.
In light of this, I've had conversations with Elliott and Peter to determine the best use of the additional funds. Here is a revised WMAU Budget 2025-26 spreadsheet (25 June). Please review Sheet 2, Column K for the budgeted expenditure.
This revised budget is based on our current operations, with the following alterations:
- Adjusting Alice's role from 0.8 FTE to full time
- Salary increases for staff of approx 5%
- Superannuation increase inline with Government legislation from 11.5% to 12%
- Doubling the WikiCon Australia Budget to AUD$40,000.
- Minor adjustments to insurances and bookkeeping costs
- Adding a small contribution to equipment, co-working and remote working costs
- Leaves a contingency of $4400 (approx 1%)
Please note: this budget does not include a budget line for gaining DGR status. As discussed at previous Board meetings this remains a priority to enable additional donations as a revenue stream. We are considering allocating AUD$10,000 from WMAU own funds to engage a recommended lawyer (from Maddocks) to investigate our options. We expect to recoup the $10k quickly though our regular donations and interest earned. This item is open for discussion, but will also be tabled at the next Board meeting on 15 July.
Next steps:
- Please review the revised budget
- Provide any comments or suggested adjustments
- Indicate your support (or otherwise) for the motion to approve the 2025–26 revised budget
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Jeremy Ludlow; outcome: Passed
Matters for discussion
Responding to the Triennial Grant outcome
- There was not the ability for the WMF to provide additional funding; if WMAU had been aware they would not have spent the time creating a 10 year plan and the planning for the larger grant.
- It effectively means we need to carry on our regular program of activities and support staff appropriately
- Should we put in a formal response on Metawiki in a way that is not biting the hand that feeds us; Jeremy agrees that a polite response would be suitable.
- We do need to seek out alternate income from donations and partnerships and projects
- Whether we leverage some of our own reserve funds to expedite this process.
ICIP and IDSov Protocol
Elliott and Belinda met with Shevaun Wright and Matilda Langford from Terri Janke and Company to discuss options and ideas on the ICIP and IDSov Protocol. The WMF grant provides approximately a quarter of the funding required for the fully scoped 2-3 year project. We discussed ways to potentially raise the remaining funds ourselves through philanthropic donations, crowd sourced funding and other external grants.
Shevaun advised that we could consider working with TJC on creating a guide or ‘first step’ document (maybe an Issues Paper). This could be used to generate discussion and highlight and clearly outline the questions and challenges, but also include case studies demonstrating projects and processes that have worked on Wiki (Noongarpedia, Alice Springs Public Library image collections, etc). This would be a reduced scope, but it could stand in as a protocol for a while. It would also give us documentation and outcomes to base future grant applications on.
Terri also suggested engaging a key consultation group comprised of key stakeholders and representatives (paid out of the existing grant fund). Possibly attending conferences or leveraging existing organisations such as ATSIDA and AIATSIS as well as the Lowitja Institution to promote the work and receive feedback. TJC would work with us to identify the platforms and events that would most assist the project.
DGR status
As recorded in Out-of-session decisions and in the Motion by Email on 26 June regarding our WMAU grant, the approved WMAU 2025/26 Budget does not include any allocated funds for gaining DGR status. As discussed at previous Board meetings this remains a priority to enable additional donations as a revenue stream. We are considering allocating AUD$10,000 from WMAU own funds to engage a recommended lawyer (from Maddocks) to investigate our options. We expect to recoup the $10k quickly though our regular donations and interest earned on the Term Deposit. We may also be able to receive some pro bono work due to our not-for-profit status.
Maddocks are likely to understand the nuances of our organisation.
Moved: Jeremy Judlow; seconded: Peter Neish; outcome: Approve the allocation of WMAU’s own funding to begin the DGR status process with the recommended lawyer from Maddocks in Melbourne.
AGM 2025 planning
Please review the 2025 AGM Planning document which outlines timeline, key stages and documentation.
If you have made a decision to remain on the Board or step-off please advise Elliott, Shravan and Belinda.
Are there any major changes, proposals or information we need to share with our membership at the AGM? For example, the update of the Rules of Association. What else requires input, consultation and a vote from our membership?
2025/26 Partner Projects
Community Call out has gone out with two people sending in their Expression of Interest so far.
Two members have expressed interest in being on the subcommittee; Elliott is happy to support both joining - being a part of two subcommittees may be too much for some members, and the priority would be for one to join Craig Franklin.
Emily and Kassi from the Board are also hoping to join alongside Belinda.
Craig Franklin Award and other recognition for our community
Community Call out has gone out with one sending their Expression of Interest so far (one is the same person who applied for the Partner Project community rep position).
Do we want to open a community nomination process to identify editors, organisations or projects that we may not be aware of and who “go under the radar”?
Moved: [[User:|]]; seconded: [[User:|]]; outcome:
Nominations will be open from the community and self nominations but the subcommittee can select off that list.
Subcommittee to meet in early September with the decision to be announced at the AGM.
WikiCon 2025/26
Now we have our funding update from WMF, we will allocate $20,000 of the grant funding to increase the WikiCon Australia budget, bringing it to $40,000, without using any WMAU reserved funds. This is double the budget that we used for WikiCon Adelaide, so gives us a good amount to host a successful event, and potentially support at least 10-12 scholars to attend. Now to decide the location and whether to make it a two day event. Could put the location to a Community poll?
There has been discussion on WMAU social media regarding local meet-ups to support the Wikidata Con online event, held 31 October - 2 November 2025. We can support with the reimbursement of local venue costs and catering for those who organise a local event. This would fill the “gap” left at the end of this year when people were thinking there would be WikiCon Australia.
- Start sounding out institutions in Canberra and Darwin looking at February to May 2026
- The move to early next year is a deliberate decision to change to time of year that we run it; moves us further away from the funding cycle and end of the year work commitments for people
- The Board is very supportive of a 2 day conference; the Board to have a separate strategic planning day.
- Will look into co-running it with a ESEAP hack-a-thon
Drafting of Year 3 Grant Learning Report for WMF
The Draft Learning Report to summarise our achievements, outcomes and lessons learnt during Year 3 of our WMF Grant is due at the end of this month. If you have any suggestions for significant items that should be included please advise. To be completed and uploaded to Fluxx by 30 July 2025. Will circulate by email for comments.
Policy and procedure
Policies due for review:
- HR Policy (scheduled for annual review, last reviewed April-May 2024)
- Finance Policy (scheduled for biannual review, last reviewed March 2023)
- Communication Strategy (scheduled for biannual review, last reviewed December 2023)
Legislation update
none