Meeting:Board (2026-05-21)
See also the list of all meetings.
Meeting objectives
Meeting objectives: Make decisions regarding Wikimania Paris 2026 and also Australian host city Wikimania bid for 2029. Confirm date for WMAU AGM 2026.
Record of attendance
Attendees: Mylee Joseph , Kassi Hayes, Kerry Raymond, Elliott Blodsoe, Jeremy Ludlow, Peter Neish, Emily Mierisch, Alice Woods (ex-officio)
Apologies: Belinda
Absent:
Matters for noting
Reports
Executive Officer’s report
Please find below a summary of key activities and updates from the past month:
Programs and engagements
- Australian Wikimania bid (see also Matters for Discussion):
- WikiCon Wellington: A great conference and the keynote on our First Nations Protocol project went well. We connected with some Maori and Indigenous people who were in full support, as well as a lot of general support from the WANZ community. The WANZ program was very relevant and interesting with sessions ranging from the path to being an Admin, a workshop on next steps for WANZ in planning their own Indigenous Strategy, through to students showcasing their internship work at Auckland Museum. We also had a meeting with the Board and staff of WANZ. All agreed it’s highly beneficial to ensure reciprocal conference attendance at WMAU and WANZ in the future. We’ll also maintain and build our collaborative work on shared campaigns and competitions (WikiScience, Coordinate Me and #1Lib1Ref) as well as sharing relevant social media.
- Partner Projects 2025–2026. While all three projects are progressing, the AMaGA project has been delayed, and discussions are lined up to look at next steps and whether to extend their grant deadline or to revise the grant deliverables.
- ICIP and IDSov Project: Terri Janke and Company (TJC) advise that the final ICIP Guide will be ready for proofreading by the end of May, and ready for publication and distribution by the end of June. The Issues Paper has commenced and is expected in July. The proposal for the First Nations panel session at Wikimania has been accepted and will be the Keynote in the Equity stream. Belinda has been coordinating with Terri and her team, as well as with the other First Nations panelists and the ESEAP Hub to arrange travel and for pre-conference Zoom calls to plan the panel session.
- ESEAP community conference Kaohsiung: A wonderful 3 day conference with approx 140 Wikimedians, including 7 (potentially 8) Australians. Belinda, Ali, Alice, Jeremy, Alex Lum, Amanda Lawrence, Ista Triani (previous WMAU student intern) and Venus Lai (childhood in Australia). Amanda and Belinda hosted a day for the Women’s track, and Belinda worked with the ESEAP Hub Steering Committee to host the Hub track. Alice presented on her work in Northern Territory entries in Wikidata. Belinda met with many WMF staff and Maciej from the WMF Board of Trustees. Full program with links to slides and etherpads available here. Recordings will be available in the near future. Next year’s ESEAP Strategy Summit will be hosted by the Japanese User Group (JPUG) in Osaka.
- APNIC / Ian Peter archive: Digitisation phase is almost complete with just a handful of oversized documents being scanned at QUT. Caddie will have completed the oral history interviews by now and will begin preparing them for the archive. On target to be completed on time and on budget.
Operations and governance
- Reminder - Please leave a birthday message on our Australian virtual birthday card.
Opportunities: Meetings
Met with:
- National Gallery of Australia, Dr Nicholas Sparks, Simon Underschultz and Tina Baum
- Staff of Museum of Discovery (MOD) at Adelaide University. Belinda attended an invite-only “Future Themes Forum” day.
- Business Events Sydney, Tania Barnes
- WM Aotearoa New Zealand Board and various members during WikiCon Wellington
- Elliott met a wide range of people during his trip to Paris for the UNESCO event. Please see his President’s report for details.
Grants
- N/A
Communications Report N/A
President’s report
Orphan works panel at ALIA National Conference
- It was great to talk about the APNIC–WMAU partnership working on the Ian Peter Archive and the huge potential the orphan works scheme brings to releasing collections items in the archive.
- There was lots of interest in the Archive and this work as an example of what the scheme is designed to do.
- The session was well attended and there were many questions during and after the session.
WikiCon Aotearoa New Zealand
- Sharing information with Aotearoa New Zealand colleagues and community about the WMAU work with Terri Janke and Company to develop an Indigenous Content Guide was a very important opportunity to develop stronger awareness and understanding while opening pathways for greater cross-Tasman collaboration in support of Indigenous communities’ engagement with wiki platforms.
- There was significant interest in the Guide and the process that led to it.
- WANZ are progressing their own Indigenous Strategy, and it was great to meet with Mawera Karetai who has authored their Māori Engagement Strategy Scoping Paper.
- The meeting with WANZ Board and staff was also important for reaffirming strong relations between the chapters and exploring ways to deepen that.
Open Heritage Statement event at UNESCO
- On 29 April 2026 I participated in the ‘How Can Equitable Access to Heritage Help Solve Global Challenges?: An Exploratory Dialogue’ event hosted by Creative Commons at UNESCO House in Paris, France. I spoke about WMAU’s work with Terri Janke and Company as . Videos from the event are now available to view online.
- This was a valuable opportunity to signal WMAU’s support of the Open Heritage Statement in an international forum.
- I spoke to lots of people before and at the event, including:
- Brigitte Vézina, Director of Policy and Open Culture, Creative Commons
- Anna Tumadóttir, Chief Executive Officer, Creative Commons
- Fiona Romeo, Director of Content Enablement, Wikimedia Foundation
- Lucy Crompton-Reid, Chief Executive, Wikimedia UK
- Patricia Díaz Rubio, Directora Ejecutiva, Wikimedia Chile
- Johanne Bouchard, Human Rights Officer, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Erna Lilje, Curator, Indigenous Knowledge and Material Culture, Wereldmuseum Leiden
- Michael Lampe, Cultural Ambassador, Government of Aruba
- Jennryn Wetzler, Director of Learning and Training, Creative Commons
- Dee Harris, Director of Open Culture Storytelling, Creative Commons
- Beverley Francis, Project Support TAROCH, Creative Commons
- Claire McGuire, Policy and Advocacy Manager, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
- Susanna Ånäs, AvoinGLAM
- Alessandra Luciano, Head of Coordination of Cultural Digital Strategy, Ministry of Culture, Luxembourg
Meetings
- While in Paris I met with:
- Cédric Tarbouriech, Président, Wikimédia France, Michael David Miller, President, Wikimedia Canada and Luis Cristóbal Carrasco, Chair, Wikimedia Chile
- Lisa McCabe, Senior Manager, Movement Communications, Wikimedia Foundation, Adélaïde Calais, Responsable communaté en ligne/Coordinatrice Wikimania, Wikimédia France, Xavier Cailleau, Responsable partenariats et affaires publiques, Wikimédia France and Rachit Sharma, Wikimedia Foundation.
- I had dinner with a number of Wikimedia people, including Florence Devouard, Lisa McCabe, Adélaïde Calais, Xavier Cailleau and Rachit Sharma.
- While in Sydney I met with:
- Samantha Jones, Head of Development, Biennale of Sydney
Secretary’s report
Membership
One new application
March membership statistics
| Total members of WMAU at 31 March 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | This month | Last month | Monthly change | April 2025 | Annual change |
| Financial members | 96 | 96 | 0 | ||
| Lapsed memberships | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not available | Not available |
| Member applications | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | |
Treasurer’s report
Financial statements
Financial statements tabled:
- Profit and Loss Statement April 2026
- Balance Sheet April 2026
WMF Grant expenditure - high level summary
Total Approved Budget: $484,232
Total Expenditure to Date: $408,453
Total Remaining Funds: $75,779
Overall Position
- Percentage of budget spent: 84%
- Percentage remaining: 15.64%
| Strategy/Category | Budget allocated ($) | Expended ($) | Remaining ($) | % remaining |
| Strategy 1: Engagement (includes WikiCon Canberra) | 76,000 | 77,868.35 | -1,868 | % |
| Strategy 2: Equity & Inclusion | 24,800 | 16,442 | 8358 | x% |
| Strategy 3: Capacity Building | 40,000 | 33,234 | 6,7667 | 15% |
| Staff & Administration | 343,432 | 280,908 | 62,524 | x% |
| TOTAL | $484,232 | $408,453 | $75,779 | 15.64% |
Year 2 Budget
Year 2 Budget for WMAU and options for the next Phase of the FIrst Nations Protocol (including Implementation of the ICIP Guide) has been submitted through the WMF Fluxx platform. Should hear an outcome from Jacqueline possibly by the end of May 2026.
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Kerry Raymond; outcome: Passed
Out-of-session decisions
Documenting out-of-session decisions (sometimes called flying minutes).
MOTION BY EMAIL: Wikimania Paris_Subcommittee for WMAU to send community member (6 May 2026)
Hi Belinda,
As requested Mylee, Kerry and myself formed a subcommittee to look through the applications received for Wikimania Paris (via WMF). Unfortunately, despite your request for further information from WMF, we could only assess each applicant against their user contributions and our knowledge of them.
Based on our conversations we have selected Alex Lum (User:Canely) to receive the WMAU support due to:
- The length of time and size of contribution to Wiki including as a former board member (former president, vice president and secretary)
- He has not attended a Wikimania since Singapore 2023 (he does attend ESEAP)
- That he is a user with extended rights (administrator) and will, hopefully, mentor some new admins as well in future
- His ongoing willingness to help and assist WMAU including at WikiCon Canberra, WikiFest at SLV, etc
- He often assist in crises on-Wiki
- He will do a good job on reporting back to WMAU and sharing what he has learned
- In a difficult time for travel he is an experienced traveller
Unfortunately we struggled to reach consensus as far as a second or third choice but please come back to us if, for any reason, Alex is unable to attend.
Cheers
Alice
Hello Board members,
Please find attached a Motion by Email with the selection by the WMAU Travel Funding subcommittee.
This person will receive travel funding of up to AUD$5000 to attend Wikimania, as discussed in a previous Board meeting.
MOTION:
Alex Lum (User:Canley) is selected as the WMAU travel funding recipient and will receive up to AUD$5000 to attend Wikimania Paris 2026.
Please see details supporting this decision in the email attached below, provided by Alice and the subcommittee.
Note that Kerry and Mylee are recused from this Motion as they are subcommittee members who made this decision. Many thanks for contributing and assisting with this Kerry and Mylee.
Please comment with your decision, so that we may progress this as soon as possible.
Regards
Belinda
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Kassi Hays; outcome: Passed
URGENT Motion by email: Wikimania registration opportunity (6 May 2026)
Dear Board members,
URGENT MOTION BY EMAIL please respond within 36 hours (COB 7 May 2026).
As you are aware, the Wikimania Paris tickets are booked out. However both myself and Elliott received emails from the Wikimania organising team this morning offering us each an opportunity to register. We're required to respond within 48 hours or this opportunity will be passed to the next people in the waitlist. We have also been advised that this will not affect our allocation of 2 registrations for WMAU. Currently these two places are being held firstly for the WMAU Travel Fundee (potentially Alex Lum), and one more open registration, yet to be decided.
With the First Nations Panel session led by Terri Janke now locked in as the Keynote opening the Equity stream on the second day of Wikimania it is important for us to have good representation from WMAU. The Wikimania organising team are likely to offer an additional panel registration for Shevaun Wright as a co-author of the ICIP Guide. It would be good to have both Elliott and myself there to answer questions and make key introductions, as well as to support Terri and Shevaun and the other First Nations speakers on the panel.
After discussions with TJC they will use their allocated contingency (AUD$10,000) remaining in their ICIP project funds for their travel to Paris. We have started discussing with them to organise some side events at Wikimania for Terri and Shevaun to do 'practical walk through workshops' for the Guide, as well as introductions to key WMF staff and affiliates.
I am being funded by ESEAP Hub as the Chair of the Steering Committee. On reviewing our WMAU budget we still have AUD$9000 in contingency for the ICIP project that we can access to support Elliott to attend Wikimania as President of WMAU. We would use approximately AUD$5000 depending on costs of flights due to geo-political instability.
MOTION
That WMAU approves funding for Elliott Bledsoe to travel and attend Wikimania Paris 2026.
Please feel free to discuss, but stay aware that we need to purchase and register his Wikimania ticket by COB 7 May or this opportunity will go to the next person.
Apologies for the urgency,
Best,
Belinda
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Kassi Hays; outcome: Abstain: Elliott Bledsoe Passed
Matters for discussion
WMAU Wikimania Paris 2026 registrations
Registration for Wikimania 2026 sold out within 24 hours and many people remain on the waitlist.
Belinda and Elliott have received and paid for registrations through the Wikimania eventyay system to ensure we secure some tickets. Belinda has advised the Wikimania COT of Alex Lum, our WMAU travel funds recipient and we are waiting for him to receive a registration too.
Ali Smith received a WMF Scholarship and will be funded by WMF. Belinda will be funded by the ESEAP Hub in her capacity as Chair of the Steering Committee of the ESEAP Hub. Her registration will be counted under the ESEAP allocation and not in Australia’s allocation.
The First Nations panel session in the Equity stream has been accepted by the Wikimania Program team and we are now in the process of planning with all Panel participants.
At this stage it appears Belinda, Ali, Alex and potentially Elliott will be the only representatives from Australia, although Terri and Shevaun will attend as speakers. There are 2 self funded attendees from New Zealand. Belinda is also aware that there is very low representation from the entire ESEAP region, likely around 30 people, out of the 1200 who will be attending. This is mainly due to the registration window only being open during hours that prioritised Europe (nighttime in the ESEAP region) and selling out in under 24 hours.
A reminder that we keep next year, Wikimania Santiago 2027 in Chile in mind and plan for attendance there noting the direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Santiago and that Australians don’t need Visas to enter Chile.
Please see the outstanding Motion by Email, in Matters for Noting, regarding Elliott’s attendance at Wikimania. We have enough contingency in the ICIP Project budget and some residual funds in the WMAU budget to cover.
NOTES: Tickets have been arranged for Alex; who is receiving the WMAU travel support
Belinda and Elliott now also have tickets
All speakers on the FN panel now have tickets
Gnangarra will also be attending as a member of the steering committee
Australia’s Wikimania bid 2029
Which location? We need to decide at this meeting as the deadline for submissions is 1 June, with all information on the meta-wiki page finalised by 15 June 2026.
Belinda received a proposal from Business EVents Sydney (BE Sydney) that they prepared in February for the WMF Travel team. Now received updated bid document for 2029. There have been a number of Wikimania Core Organising Team (COT) announcements and alerts shared recently advising that Bids for 2028 and 2029 must be submitted by 1 June 2026, with all information on meta finalised by 15 June.
Discussions with Maciej (WMF BOT) and Rachint Sharma (WMF Comms team) advised there are only 4 countries that could host Wikimania in the ESEAP region (in no particular order): Australia, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. Belinda has been strongly advised by multiple WMF staff and some community members to choose one city and present it, for a strong, clear, decisive bid. A separate meeting during the ESEAP Conference in Kaohsiung discussed the Australia bid and that the ESEAP Hub could endorse and support to provide a stronger bid. Belinda also received very strong support from various affiliates, User groups and attendees at the ESEAP Conference in Kaohsiung that they would definitely support and endorse an Australian bid.
Please keep all documents provided below commercial in confidence:
- Business Events Sydney bid for 2028 Wikimania (prepared in Feb 2026) and provided to WMF Travel team. NOTE: Now received 2029 BID DOCUMENT RECEIVED 19 MAY 2026
- Melbourne Convention Bureau - previously supplied
- Business Events Perth - Expression of Interest
- Darwin Convention Centre - Expression of Interest
NOTES:
Discussion around whether we do or don’t need to choose a city for our Wikimania bid; there are various voices in the conversation including WMF staff, Wikimania steering committee members and community members.
Jeremy had discussions with Wikimania steering committee members and a host of Wikimania Katowice stating we did not have to choose.
The formal EOI does not require a specific venue or city.
However, Elliott thinks it may be too overwhelming to suggest 4 so believes we should recommend only 1 or 2. We need to be mindful of the long running conversations that have been happening with the Melbourne Tourism Bureau.
It will help for the Wikimania bid to have direct support and engagement from WANZ and/or ESEAP with strong involvement on the steering/organisation committee.
There is strong support from the board to present two cities; one being Perth and the other Sydney or Melbourne.
Should focus on the public criteria for selection rather then strong feelings about a particular country.
Informal vote held:
Sydney - 4
Melbourne - 1
Date for WMAU AGM
Proposing the date for the next WMAU AGM could be Sunday 20 September. If we can confirm this or finalise another appropriate date in September then we’ll book this in the WMAU calendar and begin to let members know. We will also begin checking on each Board member’s terms to see who remains, who could be re-elected, and who has reached their full term and must step down.
Notes: Sunday 20 September, 2026 at roughly 5:00pm.
Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) update
Elliott will provide an update on the Creative Commons proposal and CLG.
NOTES: Move this item to June Board meeting.
WMAU Safe Spaces Policy / WMF Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC)
To progress discussions during the Strategic Planning Day on taking a more proactive approach with training and implementation considerations. Some free WMF UCoC Training is now available:
- Overview
- Module 1: Establish a shared understanding of the UCoC
- Module 2: Identification and Reporting (UCoC - Violations)
- Module 3: Complex cases, appeals and closing - DRAFT
Another idea is to fund any of our members who wish to undertake the AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning course (recognising some will have already completed through their workplace) and that WMAU purchase a number of seats/licenses for 2026/27 financial year. Costs are approximately $100-150 per participant, depending on which level of the course they select.
ACTION: All Board and staff to do the UCoC training before the end of July 2026.
WikiCon Canberra and Strategic Planning Day reflections
Any final comments or feedback are welcome, and it would be great to hear each Board member's key takeaways.
NOTES
Jeremy and Kerry’s feedback received at WikiCon tabled formally.
Policy and procedures
N/A