Meeting:Board (2026-03-17)
See also the list of all meetings.
Meeting Details
Date and time: 17 Mar 2026 17:30 GMT+10:30 AEDT/18:00 AEST/17:00 ACDT/17:30 AWST/15:00
Meeting channel: Zoom
Meeting start time 06:03 pm AEDT
Meeting end time 07:51 pm AEDT
Meeting objectives
Meeting objectives:
Record of attendance
Elliott Bledsoe, Kerry Raymond, Kassi Hays & Shravan Rao
Apologies:
Emily Mierisch, Jeremy Ludlow & Mylee Joseph
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Elliott Bledsoe; outcome: Passed
Executive Officer’s report
Please find below a summary of key activities and updates from the past month:
Programs and engagements
- Partner Projects 2025–2026. All funded projects are progressing. Pengo continues work on the Lists project, Dean (Barayamal) has nearly completed development of an “Learn to edit Wikipedia - First Nations edition” online course to support First Nations people learning to edit Wikipedia and is also working on Wikipedia articles for the NSW Aboriginal Land Council directory. Alice is supporting the Newcastle region partners of the AMaGA project. The Newcastle team experienced delays due to difficulties finding a suitable date and available venue to bring their volunteers together however, in-person workshops and meetings are now scheduled for early May.
- WikiCon Canberra 2026 planning is well advanced. Catering has been confirmed, presenters have received guidance on presentation requirements, and “behind-the-scenes” tours at the NFSA are confirmed. Please use this link to register and share widely with your networks. Over 45 participants have registered to date with a total attendance expected to be between 80 and 100 people.
- Following the success of our WikiScience photographic competition WMAU will participate in two further international campaigns. In collaboration with WANZ, we will again support the #1Lib1Ref campaign in May–June. After strong participation from our community last year, we will also join Wikidata Coordinate Me 2026 (last years Coordinate Me 2025). This covers three platforms WikiCommons, Wikidata and Wikipedia and builds our engagement with the international community. We plan to participate annually in these three global campaigns.
- ICIP and IDSov Project: Terri Janke and Company (TJC) has advised that a draft of the ICIP and IDSov Guide will be available approximately two weeks prior to WikiCon Canberra. The intention is to circulate the draft to members and the broader community ahead of the conference to allow time for review. A 90-minute practical workshop at WikiCon will provide an opportunity to discuss the Guide and work through examples.
- Wikimania: Belinda, Elliott and Jeremy have held discussions with Wikimania with Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) and Lisa McCabe from WMF. Please see Matters for Discussion.
- Belinda held an editathon for Friends of Parks & Nature SA in Adelaide. Small but enthusiastic group that will meet on a monthly basis.
- APNIC / Ian Peter archive: Digitisation of the collection is nearing completion and is significantly ahead of schedule. Oral history work is underway, with interviews being conducted with Ian Peter’s colleagues and associates in Australia (in person) and internationally (via Zoom).
Operations and governance
- Reminder - Please leave a birthday message on our Australian virtual birthday card.
Opportunities & Meetings
Met with:
- David Hampton (Head of Exhibitions & Cultural Collections) regarding AMaGA partner project
- Dean Foloey (Barayamal) Partner Project
- Jamila Javanshir and Hunter Bayer from Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB)
- Dianne WM Aotearoa New Zealand
- Melanie Pauer, a CSU Masters of Library & Information student on her placement with us
- Barbara Klen, CEE Hub
- Regular ESEAP and ECC calls and meetings
Grants
- N/A
Communications
Social media - February analytics
| Total network size by platform as of February 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | February 2026 | Annual change |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Followers | 4424 | 4367 | +57 | 4088 | +336 |
| Followers | 2287 | 2254 | +33 | 2030 | +257 | |
| Followers | 848 | 838 | +10 | 691 | +157 | |
| Threads | Followers | 183 | 181 | +2 | 157 | +30 |
| Followers | 511 | 504 | +7 | 395 | +116 | |
| Mastodon | Followers | 301 | 296 | +5 | 241 | +60 |
| YouTube | Subscribers | 312 | 309 | +3 | 228 | +84 |
| Cumulative network size | 8866 | 8749 | +117 | 7830 | +1036 | |
Website February analytics
3 news stories were published on the website in February 2026
- Open platforms, open minds, respectful practices: ICIP & IDSov Guide for Wikimedia Australia
- Get ready for WikiCon Australia 2026
- Wikimedia Australia February 2026 Update
| Total network size by platform as of February 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | February 2025 | Annual change |
| Visits | 7515 | 3834 | -38.3% | 2803 | +168.1% |
| New visitors | 7174 | 3447 | -39.7% | 1561 | +198.4% |
| Returning visitors | 341 | 387 | -21.5% | 399 | -14.5% |
| Page views | 3571 | 8015 | 3483 | +92.4% | |
| Average visit duration | 17s | 34s (new visitors)
2 min 26s (returning) |
56s | -69.6% | |
| Most visited page | 293
(WMAU help/info page) |
507
(WMAU help/info page) |
292
(WMAU help/info page) |
||
Email February analytics - Announce newsletter
| Total subscribers and unsubscribes to the Announce monthly newsletter in February 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | February 2025 | Annual change |
| Subscribers | 528 | 529 | +1 | 505 | +23 |
Ticketing
| Total followers of Humanitix account in February 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | February 2025 | Annual change |
| Followers | 113 | 105 | +8 | 77 | +36 |
President’s report
Upcoming speaking engagements
- More details for the Creative Commons Open Heritage Statement dialogue event have been made available. The event is called ‘How Can Equitable Access to Heritage Help Solve Global Challenges?: An Exploratory Dialogue’ and is taking place as UNESCO House in Paris, France on 29 April 2026. There are three panels: Global Perspectives on Open Heritage and Education to Address the Climate Crisis, Global Perspectives on Open Heritage and Ethical Artificial Intelligence and Global Perspectives on Open Heritage and Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability. I am participating in the final panel.
- I will be flying after the event in Paris to get to Wellington in time to participate in WikiConWellington WikiCon 2026 where Belinda and I will be giving the keynote presentation.
- I have accepted the invitation to speak at the ALIA National 2026 Conference in May on the panel titled Freeing the Orphans: The Work Begins discussing orphan works and the Ian Peter Archive project.
- Franziska Putz, Senior Movement Advocacy Manager, Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation, invited me to participate in a panel at Wikimania 2026 titled ‘From Online Safety Laws to Movement Lessons: What Brazil, Australia, and the UK Teach Us About Influencing Policy’. If I am unable to attend, Belinda will participate on behalf of WMAU.
Regulatory updates
- There is no further update on the Copyright Amendment Bill 2026 at this time.
Secretary’s report
Membership
The four membership applications for which we required additional information (see January Board minutes) will be ignored due to lack of response.
No further applications received.
February membership statistics
| Total members of WMAU in February 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | Sept 2025 | Annual change |
| Financial members | 100 | 99 | 5 | 87 (from AGM report at 12 Sept 2025) | 13 |
| Lapsed memberships | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not available | Not available |
| Member applications | 0 | 3 | 3 | Not available | Not available |
NOTE: Some new applicants yet to pay their membership invoice
Treasurer’s report
Financial statements
Financial statements tabled:
- Profit and Loss Statement February 2026
- Balance Sheet February 2026
Donations in 2025/26 are now well above the amount we received in the financial year 2024/25.
Grant expenditure - high level summary
Total Approved Budget: $484,232
Total Expenditure to Date: $302,710.14
Total Remaining Funds: $181,521.86
Overall Position
- Percentage of budget spent: 78.4%
- Percentage remaining: 21.6%
| Strategy/Category | Budget allocated ($) | Expended ($) | Remaining ($) | % remaining |
| Strategy 1: Engagement (includes WikiCon Canberra) | 76,000 | 33,134 | 42,865 | 56.4% |
| Strategy 2: Equity & Inclusion | 24,800 | 13,924 | 10,875 | 43.85% |
| Strategy 3: Capacity Building | 40,000 | 29,126 | 10,873 | 27.18% |
| Staff & Administration | 343,432 | 226,525 | 116,907 | 34.04% |
| TOTAL | 484,232 | 302,710 | 181,521 | 37.5% |
New Account
In an attempt to reduce our exposure to fraudulent transactions we propose to set up an additional transaction account with Westpac. We would then have one account for receiving donations (our existing transaction account) and this new account for payments that we make.
The new transaction account will have the following signatories:
- Treasurer
- President
The following account rules will operate: 2 to sign for transactions and for updating any account rules. There are no changes to the current online administrator access.
Note: Signatures refer to transactions that occur in a branch. Online access is managed separately and can be configured by WMAU authorised online bank administrators.
Motion: That the setting up of a new transaction account be endorsed and approved.
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Elliott Bledsoe; outcome: passed
Out-of-session decisions
Documenting out-of-session decisions (sometimes called flying minutes).
None
Matters for discussion
Wikimania bid
As mentioned at the February Board meeting the Melbourne Convention Bureau has provided us with a more detailed submission for an Australian Wikimania bid.
Note that the document states 2028, but likely our preference for 2029.
Technology solutions for WikiCon Canberra
Ali has researched options regarding technology similar to the OWL. https://owllabs.au/products/meeting-owl-3 Ali is also liaising with the Novotel team to see what their current set-up is in the room we have booked for the Strategic Planning Day, and whether we can bring our own conferencing device.
She advises these two devices provide similar capabilities within a close price bracket:
- Philips Smart Meeting https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/philips-smart-meeting-hd-audio-and-video-conference-solution-phpse0550
- eMeet meeting capsule https://www.harveynorman.com.au/emeet-meeting-capsule-360-video-conference-camera-with-8-mics-hi-fi-speaker-and-ai-powered-autofocus.html
ACTION: Check with NFSA on what conferencing tech they have in the Workshop room for round the room discussions. Room and Zoom Managers need to maintain room etiquette so that noise is reduced and one-three speakers at a time (as far as possible). Test well in advance of WikiCon to ensure a smooth experience for presenters and people on Zoom call. Board is happy to purchase an OWL.
Strategic Planning Day
Currently we have the following topics scheduled for our Strategic Planning Day:
- How is implementation of the 3 and 10 year WMAU plan going? Discuss with members to prioritise key areas and actions. Pulse check. Where do we need to get more sophisticated in metrics and methodology?
- A “What we heard” report from the workshop during WikiCon Canberra to engage with members and attendees, providing opportunities for them to give feedback, input and ideas - Kerry and Jeremy
- Closer look at membership engagement and building stronger relationships between WMAU. Data collection around Australian editors.
- Communication Strategy and Content Strategy. Thinking about how to engage members and community in email conversations on topics using the members mailing list. Create genuine two-way communication.
- Short discussion on Partnership and building relationships with key organisations.
Which session should be prioritised and scheduled during the morning when Jacqueline is attending? Noting that Jacqueline has confirmed her attendance with Belinda, and advised that she is hoping to learn more about our strategic planning process. She has also asked if there is anything she should be aware of or prepare prior? Is there any information that we wish to hear from her about?
ACTION: Belinda to develop an agenda for the Strategic Planning day, and advise Jacqueline Chen of the key questions from WMAU Board.
Travel Support Applications — WikiCon Wellington 2026
Wikimedia Australia received two applications for travel support to attend WikiCon Wellington 2026. As available funds are sufficient to support one applicant only, Board approval is required to select one application for funding.
Board members were asked to review the two applications provided in this document.
Moved: Kassi Hays; seconded: Kerry Raymond; outcome: The Board approved the award of travel support for WikiCon Wellington 2026 to Ash
Policy and procedures
Policies are now updated.