Meeting:Board (2025-10-21)
See also the list of all meetings.
Meeting details
21 Oct 2025 17:30 GMT+10:30 AEDT/18:00 AEST/17:00 ACDT/17:30 AWST/15:00
Meeting start time - 06:07 pm AEDT
Meeting end time - 08:06 pm AEDT
Meeting objectives
Meeting objectives: To welcome the new Board members, and make decisions in relation to and to discuss TAROCH, Creative Commons Australia proposal, WikiCon Australia, various Sub Committees business
Record of attendance
Attendees: Jeremy, Elliott, Kerry, Peter, Emily, (Belinda ex-officio), Mylee
Apologies: Kassi
Absent Shravan
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Jeremy Ludlow; outcome:
Reports
Executive Officer’s report
Please find below a summary of key activities and updates from the past two months (since the August Board meeting):
Programs and engagements
- Successful AGM with two new Board members elected. A warm Wiki welcome to Kerry and Mylee! The vote on changing the WMAU Rules was postponed during the AGM, and will be reviewed in light of questions raised during the AGM, and considerations for DGR status.
- Edit-a-thons and workshops over the past two months include successful events at UNSW, UTS, and a very positive Wikidata Fest Day at State Library Victoria, for their staff and GLAM institutions.
- Partner Projects 2025–2026 have now been selected and offered to successful applicants. Announcements will be made on our website and circulated in newsletters and social media, and shared with each Project Partner. All WMAU staff are working to support the participants in these projects as they get underway.
- Craig Franklin Award recipients WikiClub West held a celebratory afternoon in Perth, with a meal and drinks funded by WMAU.
- WikiCon Canberra 2026 preparation continues with the National Film and Sound Archive confirmed as the venue. An initial Community call out for volunteers has been made. Discussions with Terri Janke and Company have ensured a session about this first stage of the ICIP and IDSov protocol development by Dr Janke will be at WikiCon, and potentially an information session on the preceding Friday for the GLAM community of Canberra.
- Ista, a Data Analysis and Decisions student from UNSW has commenced her internship with WMAU and is learning about Wikidata, analysing our website statistics, and researching linked open data projects. She attended the UNSW editathon in person and met with Alice, Annie and Margaret. Belinda and Elliott also met with Ista when in Sydney during the SXSW conference.
- APNIC Foundation have advised that they intend to fund Phase 2 of the Ian Peter project. We are finalising quotes for that to go ahead. Caddie and Cameron are available and will be involved in this second and final stage.
Operations and governance
- Please see Matters for Noting - Legislation update for details.
- Elliott, Belinda and Pru had a call with Jacqueline Chen (WMF ESEAP) and Farida El-Gueretly (WMF MENA - Middle East and Northern Africa) discussing and providing feedback on long term funding, development and field building from WMAU and WMF’s perspectives.
- Biyanto Rebin and Feliani, the new ESEAP Hub Project Managers are established and undertaking significant operational and administrative work for the Hub. This has taken some pressure off Belinda with regards to grant administration, however there are still governance issues being addressed by other ESEAP Hub people.
- Engaging with key staff in the Federal Communication Department and the eSafety Commissioners Office to clarify the Social Media Minimum Age concerns around Wiki projects.
- Joint submission to the Productivity Commission on Text and Data Mining (TDM) submitted with Creative Commons international and Creative Commons Australia. (See Legislation update under Matters for Discussion for full details).
Opportunities
Meetings
Met with a range of organisations, including:
- Rachel Arini Judhistari (WMF)
- State Library NSW
- auIGF conference
- Australian Queer Archives (Melbourne)
- State Library Victoria
- ACMI
- Maddocks Lawyers
- APNIC Foundation
- SA Museum
- Sarah Gilbert and Heather Ford for SXSW conference
- Melbourne Convention Bureau
- GLAM Peak meeting (note in-person November meeting in Canberra for Parliamentary Friends of GLAM event)
- Regular ESEAP calls and meetings
Grants
- We were not successful in our application for a joint grant with Wikimedia Accion Peru, through the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s COALAR fund. Belinda and Carlo (WM Peru) have discussed it was fairly rushed so we will refine and resubmit a more considered and developed application next year.
- Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) grant: No update at this time.
Communications
Social media August analytics
| Total network size by platform as of August 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | August 2024 | Annual change |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Followers | 4353 | 4324 | Up by 29 | 3864 | Up by 490 |
| Followers | 2076 | 2066 | Up by 16 | 1951 | Up by 119 | |
| Followers | 801 | 765 | Up by 20 | 603 | Up by 178 | |
| Threads | Followers | 175 | 171 | Up by 4 | 146 | Up by 30 |
| Followers | 452 | 433 | Up by 22 | 313 | Up by 132 | |
| Mastodon | Followers | 273 | 270 | Up by 3 | 194 | Up by 78 |
| YouTube | Subscribers | 285 | 281 | Up by 4 | 182 | Up by 109 |
| Cumulative network size | 8415 | 8310 | Up by 105 | 7253 | Up by 1136 | |
Website Content August analytics
2 news stories were published on the website in August 2025
- Why the Australian Dictionary of Biography matters to Wikimedians (and the world)
- Partner Projects 2025-2026
| Total network size by platform as of August 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | August 2024 | Annual change |
| Visits | 1672 | 1625
[Add “All visits” this month] |
-21.5.9% | 1844 | +30% |
| New visitors | 5130 (website hit by spam bots) | 1419 | 3711 | 1364 | [Add change in new visitors since last year] |
| Returning visitors | 383 | 254 | 129 | 480 | 97 |
| Page views | 7531 | 2814 | 229.7%
(site was hit by spam bots in August - required Sam to intervene) |
3852 | |
| Average visit duration | 1 min 23 seconds | 1 min 9 seconds | 14 seconds | 2 min 10 seconds | -22.3% |
| Most visited page | 230 | 174
17 Inspiring Australian Women to Celebrate This Australia Day |
Up by 56 | 249 | Down by 19 |
Email August analytics - Announce newsletter
| Total subscribers and unsubscribes to the Announce monthly newsletter in August 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | August 2024 | Annual change |
| Subscribers | 511 | 510 | 1 | 488 | +23 |
Ticketing
| Total followers of Humanitix account in August 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | July 2024 | Annual change |
| Followers | 82 | 77 | 5 | 60 | 22 |
Social media September analytics
| Total network size by platform as of September 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | September 2024 | Annual change |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Followers | 4370 | 4353 | Up by 17 | 3934 | Up by 436 |
| Followers | 2106 | 2076 | Up by 30 | 1973 | Up by 133 | |
| Followers | 801 | 789 | Up by 20 | 635 | Up by 166 | |
| Threads | Followers | 174 | 175 | Down 1 | 146 | same |
| Followers | 470 | 452 | Up by 18 | 334 | Up by 136 | |
| Mastodon | Followers | 275 | 273 | Up by 2 | 199 | Up by 76 |
| YouTube | Subscribers | 291 | 285 | Up by 6 | 195 | Up by 96 |
| Cumulative network size | 8487 | 8415 | Up by 72 | 7253 | Up by 1043 | |
Website Content September analytics
5 news stories were published on the website in September 2025
- Using Wikipedia in Australian Higher Education
- Save the date for WikiCon Australia 2026!
- Craig Franklin Award 2025: Congratulations to WikiClubWest
- Why do I see donation banners on Wikipedia
- WikiFest at the State Library of Victoria
| Total network size by platform as of September 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | September 2024 | Annual change |
| Visits | 2790 | 1672 | -21.5.9% | 1844 | +30% |
| New visitors | 2216 | 5130 (website hit by spam bots) | 3711 | 1364 | [Add change in new visitors since last year] |
| Returning visitors | 574 | 383 | 129 | 480 | 97 |
| Page views | 5120 | 7531 | -2411 | 3852 | 1,268 |
| Average visit duration | 1 min 44 seconds | 1 min 23 seconds | 19 seconds | 2 min 10 seconds | -22.3% |
| Most visited page | 286 | 230 | Up by 56 | 249 | 37 |
Email September analytics - Announce newsletter
| Total subscribers and unsubscribes to the Announce monthly newsletter in September 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | September 2024 | Annual change |
| Subscribers | 515 | 511 | 4 | 491
[Add subscribers same month last year] |
+24 |
Ticketing
| Total followers of Humanitix account in September 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | September 2024 | Annual change |
| Followers | 83 | 82 | 1 | 65 Humanitix | 18 |
President’s report
Annual general meeting
Thank you to Belinda and the staff for organising the AGM back in mid-September.
There was some complexity with mooted changes to the organisation’s rules that we will work through in due course. I thank the members for their enthusiasm and rigour in terms of procedure. Good governance is very important.
Also, I would like to congratulate our new Board members and welcome them to the WMAU Board: Kerry Raymond and Mylee Joseph.
And I would like to express my congratulations to WikiClub West, who won the Craig Franklin Award.
SXSW Sydney panel
I participated in a panel discussion at SXSW Sydney, speaking alongside Associate Professor Heather Ford, ARC Future Fellow and Professor in the School of Communications at UTS, and journalist Richard Cooke. The session was moderated by Sarah Gilbert, Executive Producer at the Centre for Social Justice and head of Impact Studios at UTS.
As noted above, Belinda and I also took a number of meetings while in Gadigal Sydney.
Secretary’s report
Membership
August membership statistics
| Total members of WMAU in August 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | August 2024 | Annual change |
| Financial members | 87 | 86 | +1 | Not available | Not available |
| Lapsed memberships | 1 | 0 | 1 | Not available | Not available |
| Member applications | 2 | 2 | 0 | Not available | Not available |
September membership statistics
| Total members of WMAU in September 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | Sept 2024 | Annual change |
| Financial members | 87 | 87 | 0 | Not available | Not available |
| Lapsed memberships | 2 | 1 | 1 | Not available | Not available |
| Member applications | 2 | 2 | 0 | Not available | Not available |
Treasurer’s report
Financial statements
Financial statements tabled:
- Profit and Loss Statement August 2025
- Balance sheet August 2025
- Profit and Loss Statement September 2025
- Balance sheet September 2025
Scam transactions
Westpac have refunded almost all of the transactions we’ve reported as scams, after some lengthy delays. We are considering whether to open a dedicated bank account to receive donations, with limited access with only specific people who can make withdrawals. This may prevent most of the scam transactions in future.
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Elliott Bledsoe; outcome:
Out-of-session decisions
Documenting out-of-session decisions (sometimes called flying minutes).
MOTION BY EMAIL 22 August 2025: Funding for Kerrie Burns to attend Wiki-GLAM Conference Portugal
We've received an application through our Volunteer Support Programme and require a quick decision.
Applicant: Kerrie Burns, long-term WMAU member and most recently Wikimedian in Residence for the Radical Acts partner project at State Library Victoria.
Conference: GLAM Wiki Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, 30 October – 1 November 2025. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM_Wiki_2025/Program
Presentation accepted: WikiResilience: Surviving a GLAM Partner Project (joint with Pru Mitchell).
Kerrie supplied the following information:
"Attending the Wiki-GLAM conference will provide an opportunity to represent the Australian and ASEAN region on the global stage. It will enable me to connect with the international GLAM Wiki community, to exchange ideas, learn from others’ experiences, and hopefully contribute to future collaborative initiatives. Success will be measured by feedback received from fellow Wikimedians attending the session, and also from positive outcomes resulting from connections made throughout the event. I would like to learn from colleagues who are working in the same sector and engage with fellow Wikimedians who are working to make collections and cultural works held by GLAM institutions more openly available. Learnings will also be able to inform future projects at home."
Funding Request:
- AUD $2,500 towards flights and conference registration.
Context / Notes:
- The full Volunteer Support Fund is available as we are at the start of the financial year.
- Past funding for similar requests includes:
- Geoff Barker: $1,800 to attend Wikimania Singapore 2023
- Ross Mallett: $1,500 for a camera lens for the Paralympics Paris 2024 event
- This request is slightly higher than past funding amounts but reflects the cost of international travel to Europe.
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Jeremy Ludlow; outcome:
MOTION BY EMAIL 1 September 2025: WikiCon Canberra 2026: venue and date proposal
Alice has gathered venue options for WikiCon Canberra 2026. While we had planned to wait until after the AGM (for new Board members to join), we need to move quickly to secure a date and venue.
Venue options (2-day hire):
- National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA): Rooms, tech/streaming, 25% NFP discount = $10,217 (Sat 11 & Sun 12 April)
- National Library of Australia (NLA): Rooms + catering access fee (tech support via external provider, quote pending) = $12,800
- National Gallery of Australia (NGA): Rooms + tech, no NFP discount = $23,560
(Catering not included; we’ll source separately.)
Dates:
- Best option: Sat 11 – Sun 12 April 2026 (weekend after Easter).
- No major competing events in Canberra at that time.
Budget:
- WikiCon 2026 Total: $40,000 (double last year, to support a 2-day event).
- Scholarships: ~$12,000 in 2024 for 12 people (flights + accommodation), so would expect and planning for more for 2026.
- We may be able to receive a small increase if we apply for Wikipedia 25th birthday grant and hold a birthday party celebration on the Saturday evening.
Moved: Jeremy Ludlow; seconded: Elliott Bledsoe, Kassi Hays; outcome:
Motion by Email 3 September 2025: Travel for events National and International
That Wikimedia Australia approve funding for Executive Officer Belinda Spry to attend the Wikimedia Executive Officer’s 3-day conference in São Paulo, Brazil, from 1–3 December 2025.
Rationale
- The conference provides professional development and strategic engagement with other Wikimedia affiliate Executive Directors/Officers.
- It will strengthen international collaboration and ensure Wikimedia Australia’s perspectives are represented at a global leadership level.
- Belinda will co-present, in partnership with Terri Janke and Company, on the ICIP & IDSov Protocol to inform affiliates about this major project and its relevance to Indigenous knowledge on Wikimedia platforms. Also an opportunity to co-present with Dianne from WANZ on other projects/topics.
- Belinda last attended an ED conference at the Berlin Summit (April 2024), which proved extremely beneficial and strengthened Wikimedia Australia’s global connections.
Indicative Costs
- Flights: approx A$2,300 (Adelaide–Melbourne–Santiago–São Paulo return)
- Accommodation: approx A$600 (6 nights @ approx. A$100 per night)
- Allowances/incidentals: A$500 maximum
- Total estimate: A$3,400
The total expenditure will be covered within the approved travel and conferences budget line for 2025–26. However international flight prices fluctuate quickly so a quick response will mean securing cheaper fares.
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Peter Neish; outcome:
Motion by Email 3 September 2025: Travel for events National and International
That Wikimedia Australia approve funding for Executive Officer Belinda Spry and President Elliott Bledsoe to travel to Melbourne to undertake meetings and stakeholder engagement.
Purpose of travel
The trip will include (some meetings still being confirmed):
- Meeting with Rob Gregory at Maddocks law firm to discuss progress towards Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status.
- Meeting with Laura from the Melbourne Convention Bureau to discuss Wikimania 2029 or 2030 bid, and other medium-size event bid opportunities (eg, Wiki LGBT+ global conference in Sydney).
- Meeting with Paula Bray from the State Library of Victoria to explore their Digital Strategy.
- Meetings with the National Communications Museum and the Australian Queer Archives to discuss partnerships.
- Attending the opening of ACMI’s new exhibition and seeking a meeting with Director Seb Chan to discuss opportunities for future collaboration.
- These engagements will advance key strategic priorities for Wikimedia Australia, including fundraising capacity, event hosting opportunities, digital partnerships, and sector collaborations.
Indicative Costs (based on economy fares and two nights’ accommodation):
- Flights for Belinda (ADL–MEL return): approx. A$500
- Flights for Elliott (BRIS-MEL return): approx. A$500
- Accommodation (2 nights @ approx. A$150-200 per night x 2 people): maximum A$800
- Allowances/incidentals: A$500
- Total estimate: maximum A$2,300
Expenditure will be covered within the approved travel and conferences budget line for 2025–26.
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Jeremy Ludlow; outcome:
MOTION BY EMAIL 26 September: Approval of Partner Projects Funding
On behalf of the Partner Projects Subcommittee, we present the following recommendation for Board approval.
Please note that Emily, Kassi and Kerry are on the Subcommittee and therefore recuse themselves from commenting or voting on this matter. This leaves Elliott, Peter, Mylee, Shravan and Jeremy (enough for quorum).
After careful review of all 17 applications, the Subcommittee has selected three projects for funding in the 2025-26 Partner Projects round. Each aligns strongly with Wikimedia Australia’s strategic goals of increasing participation, improving content quality, and supporting underrepresented communities.
Recommended projects for funding:
- AMaGA Digital Skills – $10,000 This project will support the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) to deliver targeted Wiki-thons designed to strengthen the representation of Australia’s regional, remote, and First Nations-owned and operated galleries, museums, and keeping places on Wikimedia platforms. By engaging directly with cultural organisations, it will expand Wikipedia entries, ensuring diverse collections, stories, and knowledge are visible nationally and internationally. It will also build long-term capacity by upskilling staff and volunteers in Wiki editing and contributions.
- Barayamal and Dean Foley – Regional Mentor Blaze – $10,000 Dean Foley, a Kamilaroi man and educator based in regional NSW, will lead this initiative to boost participation and representation from regional First Nations communities. The project will pair new editors with experienced mentors in fast, practical “mentor-the-editor” sessions. Content will focus on local business history and notable First Nations entrepreneurs, written with neutrality, reliable sourcing, and strong citations. Note: Belinda has discussed with Dean the development of the ICIP & IDSov Protocol. He was excited to hear about it, and has offered to provide information and practical examples to Terri Janke and Company as they progress this work.
- User:Pengo – Refresh Threatened Species Lists – $5,000 This project will enable User:Pengo to refresh and update the threatened species lists on Wikipedia, including creating Australia-specific lists. Nearly a decade on from his original coding, this update will correct errors, incorporate manual changes made by editors, and bring statistics up to date. It will also strengthen the integration of Australian biodiversity data into Wikimedia platforms. All code will be open source and reusable for other Wikipedia list projects globally.
This leaves $5,000 unallocated, which could be redirected to the Community Support Fund, WikiCon Canberra, or reinvested to earn interest. This can be decided at the next Board meeting on 21 October.
Finally, I want to thank the Subcommittee for their time, commitment, and thoughtful contributions throughout this process.Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Peter Neish; outcome:
MOTION BY EMAIL, FROM ELLIOTT, 7 October 2025: Motion on the Open Heritage Statement
The Open Heritage Statement has been released by Creative Commons. It was drafted by the TAROCH Coalition and released today.
I would like to put forward a motion out of session:
That Wikimedia Australia become a signatory to the Open Heritage Statement.
Current signatories can be found here: https://openheritagestatement.org/signatories
The statement (my summary):
- rightfully declares cultural heritage in the public domain as a public good, while acknowledging that the ability to access it and reuse it is not experienced equitably by everyone.
- flags claims of copyright (by way of an open licence or otherwise) in digitised reproductions of public domain material, contractual restrictions and the application of technical protection measures are often used to limit legitimate access to and reuse of public domain materials which conflict with the right to participate in cultural life and with other public interest objectives.
- takes into account the legal rules, resources, skills and technology needed to undertake digitisation of public domain material, and that these are experienced asymmetrically, contributing to a digital divide and geographic inequalities.
- identifies that there are legitimate instances where access to digitised public domain material should be withheld, such as where it incorporates Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP).
Arguably, most if not all of what is included in the Statement already apply in Australia – in best practice and/or in law. We know that the public domain is another important part of the copyright system, as is CC and open licences. This is why I feel it is important for Wikimedia Australia to show our support for international communities that do not benefit from the same certainly in their copyright law.
As many of you will know, Wikimedia Australia joined the TAROCH Coalition and I participated in the process.
Matters for discussion
Responding to the Triennial Grant outcome
Item on hold until Elliott is back around 1 September 2025
Open Heritage Statement
As per Elliott’s motion by email on 7 October, Wikimedia Australia is invited to be a signatory to the Open Heritage Statement that has been drafted by the TAROCH Coalition (WMAU is a signatory to this group).
Find out about and read the Open Heritage Statement here: https://openheritagestatement.org/
(Note: The Open Heritage Statement is part of a strategy, to achieve similar outcomes to UNESCO’s Recommendation on Open Science)
The Wikimedia Foundation signed the Statement, you can see their announcement here.
Moved:
Seconder: Kerry
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Kerry Raymond; outcome: Support: Mylee, Jeremy, Emily, Peter.
Rules of Association and DGR status
Belinda had a pro-bono meeting with Rob from Maddocks lawyers regarding our DGR status. Advice was that we don’t fit comfortably in any of the current ATO definitions for DGR status. While it’s not imperative to become a national Company Limited by Guarantee, it is fairly unusual for an organisation with a national presence to just be incorporated in one state. Victoria’s Consumer Affairs model rules are also quite slow to reflect the requirements needed. Rob encouraged us to consider reviewing our Rules, particularly our Purpose to ensure it doesn’t hinder any DGR application. He recommended that we begin talking to both sides of government and making sure they are aware of us as an organisation and also have a greater understanding of what we do and how we function (differently from Big Tech). It is likely to take some time to review and discuss with our community and members the move to Company Limited by Guarantee, so during that time we will endeavour to introduce and inform a range of politicians about WMAU. Belinda will create a “Matrix document” listing those we should prioritise, where they are located and any potential opportunities to connect with them (eg, conferences, GLAM Peak contacts, Friends of the Parliamentary Library events, etc)
Moved: Elliott
Seconder: Jeremy
Support: Emily, Peter, KerryMoved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Jeremy Ludlow; outcome: Support: Emily, Peter, Kerry
ICIP and IDSov Protocol project
The first phase of the ICIP and IDSov project with Terri Janke and Company has now commenced. Belinda and Elliott met with Terri, Shevaun, Matilda and Clare to begin working through various components, including the First Nations Key Consultation Group, and identifying key meetings or events in 2026 for opportunities to present, workshop and iterate the Guide and White Paper that will be outputs by May 2026. Terri will include a workshop at WikiCon Canberra for our editing community, and we are also planning a session on the Friday afternoon for the GLAM sector in Canberra.
Wikimedia Netherlands requested a short presentation about the ICIP and IDSov Protocol project as part of their annual WikiConNL 2025. Due to time differences and their program restrictions (Saturday 22 Nov at 10.30pm AEST for us) there was a decision made with TJC that Terri will record a short video presentation to be played, and WMAU staff will attend online and answer Q&A. We also have significant interest from WM Uruguay and Peru. Additionally, Belinda will provide a Q&A session at the Executive Directors Meeting in December, as many affiliates have requested information.
2025/26 Partner Projects
Overall we received 17 applications of a high standard. The Selection Committee met twice to review and discuss and Belinda and Kerry undertook a number of calls to seek further information and ensure proposals could be delivered effectively. Due to the timing of the AGM and the selection process of the Partner Projects, a Motion by Email (recorded in these minutes in Matters for Noting) was used to keep the timeline on track. Note that we do not have any projects with a Wikimedian in Residence this year (not intentional!). However there are significant training requirements for a large number of volunteers at AMaGA and also students through Barayamal’s Regional Blaze. We’ll invite our community to join in and assist.
ACTION: Belinda and Staff will support the three successful applications and provide regular feedback to the Board. We will invite community and members to be part of the training and mentoring of new editors. We will also provide regular updates and blog posts through our website and social media as the projects progress.
WikiConference North America incident
WMAU received an email from Maryana Iskander, also circulated on the Wikimedia-L mailing list and to our members, advising about a concerning incident at the WikiConference North America, in New York over the weekend. Fortunately all participants are safe, as the Trust & Safety team quickly took action.
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
Productivity Commission Text and Data Mining (TDM)
Access the joint submission here
Regarding the calls for submissions (by 15 September) on potential copyright exceptions for AI, to increase innovation and productivity. Creative Commons, Creative Commons Australia and Wikimedia Australia collaborated on a joint submission which is now available publicly on the Productivity Commission’s website:
https://engage.pc.gov.au/projects/data-digital/page/pillar-3-responses To download the submission, look under “Submissions” expand the “Post-interim report (468)” drop down option, and scroll through the alphabetical list to C (Creative Commons, Creative Commons Australia and Wikimedia Australia - Sub 250).
Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA)
Significant discussions and advocacy time has been spent by Belinda and Elliott around the Social Media Minimum Age legislation which comes into force on 10 December 2025. All emails and requests for calls or meetings were unanswered. However, we met two Dept of Communications staffers at the auIGF conference in Adelaide (23-24 Sept 2025) and now have direct contacts into the Dept to determine whether the Wiki platforms fall in or out of SMMA scope. At this stage most indications are that we are Out of scope, but the wording in the definitions create some confusion so we are still seeking clarity. The final decision will be made by the Minister for Communications, Annika Wells MP.
WMAU was interviewed for an article in Crikey which was intending to provide comment from a range of online platforms and services seeking clarity on the SMMA. However a long form piece specifically on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Australia’s questions was published.
Note that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner made a regulatory guidance announcement in recent days, for age-restricted social media platforms and age assurance providers.
Next steps: Belinda and Elliott to continue to push for clarity from the Department of Communications and the eSafety Commissioner, while collaborating with Rachel Arinii Judhistari from WMF.