Meeting:Committee (2024-05-20)
See also the list of all meetings.
- Present: Bunty Avieson, Tom Hogarth, Jeremy Ludlow, Elliott Bledsoe, Kelly Tall, Peter Neish, Amanda Lawrence, Alice Woods
- Apologies: Belinda Spry, Emily Mierisch,
Previous meeting
- Monday 15 April 2024 Meeting:Committee_(2024-04-15)
2024-04-15-Wikimedia Australia Board meeting
Moved: Bunty Avieson; seconded: Jeremy Ludlow; outcome: approved
Matters for noting
Executive Officer Report
Wikimedia Summit in Berlin
Amanda Lawrence (president) and Belinda Spry (Exec Officer) attended the 3 day Summit in Berlin which focussed mainly on the Draft Movement Charter with affiliates and key stakeholders providing significant feedback and suggestions. Since then the Board of Trustees have posted a response on Meta. The current timeline indicates that from 25 June―9 July 2024 there will be a Ratification vote for the Movement Charter.
Belinda also spent a day with 25 EO’s focussing on specific topics and issues for affiliates which was incredibly worthwhile. Overall it was an outstanding experience and many vital connections and potential future partners and projects identified. We received many positive comments about the impact and the strides we are making in Australia.
Partner Projects
Partner projects are all still on track and progressing well. One has already concluded, so the remaining three will wrap up at the end of this month with a full report in next month’s Board meeting.
First Nations and Wikipedia Report
Responses to the draft First Nations report have been summarised and provided to Professor Bronwyn Carlson. Waiting on her response, and planning for release by end of May (see Matters for Noting).
Draft Year 2 report for WMF grant reporting
Belinda has started drafting the Year 2 Grant report, which is due to be submitted on 15 July 2024. Staff will also add statistics, details and information where relevant. Planning to have a full draft ready for review at the 15 June Board meeting.
International conferences
Belinda Spry will be presenting with the ESEAP Prep Council, and Alice Wood and Belinda Spry will provide a lightning session on the Alice Springs Library images project. There is only one known Australian member to receive a scholarship to the Wikimania conference.
AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning online foundation course
Please continue to access the AIATSIS Learning Ground - Core training modules and if your time permits, join 30 minutes before each Board meeting to reflect on what you’ve learnt.
Staff leave
Belinda Spry is on two weeks annual leave immediately after the ESEAP KK24 conference, and will return Monday 27 May. WMAU staff are covering Exec Officer duties during this time.
ESEAP Conference
Proposal for a summit in the Philippines in 2025 and the next conference in 2026. (TBC)
Communications
'Social media report'
April Statistics
Total followers as of 30 April, 2024
- Twitter: 3733 (up by 90)
- Facebook: 1929 (up by -1)
- Instagram: 543 (up by 7)
- Linkedin: 248 (up by 3)
- Mastodon: 176 (up by 7)
- YouTube: 140 (up by 9)
- Eventbrite: 52 (-1)
- Announce monthly newsletter: 480 (up by 1)
On our WMAU website we published 6 news stories:
- EPA Victoria WiR April 2024 Update
- Art and Feminism in Australia
- Wikipedia Citation Needed AI Tool
- ANZSI-CSU SICS-Wikimedia Australia Partner Project Update
- WikiCon Australia 2024
- Open letter on the Global Digital Compact from Wikimedia Australia and the Wikimedia Foundation
President’s report
Berlin Summit
It was great to be able to attend, meet people and engage heavily in the movement charter discussion. Implications of the Charter for Affiliates in relation to hubs not entirely clear. Important to read the supplementary documents as well as the charter to understand the changes proposed. A vote to ratify the Charter will be held between 25 June―9 July 2024.
Met representatives from Whose Knowledge User Group (main website https://whoseknowledge.org/) a global campaign that centres the knowledges of marginalized communities (the majority of the world) online, including in Wikimedia projects. They may provide opportunities to collaborate on knowledge diversity and particularly First Nations communities.
WMF Global Digital Compact Advocacy
(see Meta for ongoing updates)
- Open Letter by WMF and the Advocacy Working group including Amanda representing WMAU published on 23 April 2024 can be found online https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2024/04/23/open-letter-protect-wikipedia-global-digital-compact/. (or at the Wikimedia Foundation website)
- Amanda Lawrence emailed the letter (24/04/2024) to HE Mr James Larsen, Australia's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. No response as yet.
- Open letter has a total of 216 signatures so far. These signatures represent 50 different countries, as well as 24 organizations such as Open Knowledge Foundation and Creative Commons.
- WMF has received positive responses from UN staff, Member States, and civil society organizations. Feedback has indicated these groups appreciate Wikimedia's voice in this discussion given our unique position as a tech platform that is also part of civil society, as well as our structure which encompasses WMF, affiliates, and a global volunteer community. This is GREAT because that's what we've been trying to get across!
- WMF aims to use the open letter to influence key stakeholders in the GDC process to (a) remind them of our points (b) ask them what they submitted/think as a way to hold them accountable to engaging in the process.
- They will also be using the open letter to inform the general public in multiple countries about our vision for the GDC which will be ratified in September at the UN Futures summit.
Asia Pacific Internet Governance Forum, Taiwan, 2024
Amanda invited to present by WMF on advocacy panel presentation. Unable to attend.
Rights Con 2025, Taiwan
Opportunity to participate - submissions due 1 June. See notes for discussion below.
Treasurer's Report
Year 3 Draft Budget
Waiting for feedback from Jacqueline Chen.
Overview of the Grant budget at 3 May April (10 months)
- Strategy 1: Engagement - utilised 71% (will spend on ESEAP Conference & Wikimania)
- Strategy 2: Equity & Inclusion - utilised 80% (First Nations project tbd)
- Strategy 3: Capacity Building (set costs for Staffing and Admin removed) - utilised 92%
Two new bank accounts have been opened, a Term Deposit and a Cash Reserve, both with money allocated to start accruing a higher rate of interest. Next month's Statements for Profit & Loss, and the Balance Sheet will show these new accounts, alongside our existing accounts which haven’t changed.
Moved: Peter Neish; seconded: Kelly Tall; outcome: approved
Secretary's Report
Membership Report
New members 1 new member (Victoria) Annual members renewals A majority of members will have received their annual membership renewal on 1 May. There is an error in the Xero process that is still showing the email coming from the previous treasurer. This is being investigated. However renewals are steadily flowing in.
Matters for Decision
Wikimania 2024 Poland - WMAU scholarship budget allocation
Wikimania is being held August 7-10, 2024. Scholarship applications closed 18 December 2023. Discussion of options for the $10,000 Wikimania Scholarships final allocation amounts.
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Amanda Lawrence; outcome: Passed
Red Bubble online shop
Ali has a proposal for an online WMAU shop using Red Bubble for WMAU merchandise and collateral. The aim is to have merchandise readily available for staff and members, for promotion of new and annual campaigns and events, branded merchandise for giveaways, rewards and gifts for members, to reach new and existing editors, and have merchandise easily accessible to members, event organisers as well as lone editors. RedBubble provides an option for anyone to purchase items, in addition to the items that staff hold such as stickers and postcards.
MOTION: WMAU endorse the creation of a Red Bubble account to set-up an online shop for WMAU merchandise.
Moved: Elliott Bledsoe; seconded: Amanda Lawrence; outcome: passed
Matters for Discussion
Craig Franklin Award 2024
WMAU has asked for two WMAU community members to join the Craig Franklin Award sub-committee to identify a shortlist of recipient(s) to be presented to the Board 15 July meeting, in time to present at the August AGM (date TBC).
Rights Conferences
DRAPAC and APrIGF - August 2024, Taiwan DRAPAC: It is a strategic network convening for digital rights group in the region, that will be useful for WMAU work in the future. However, it is fair to say that it is not an advocacy event per se. In addition, UN Asia Pacific regional IGF (APrIGF) will be happening just after DRAPAC. Taiwan is hosting the APrIGF and there will be possible bilateral meeting with eSafety commission network in the region, UN agencies, platform among other.
Rights Con Taiwan, Feb 2025, Taiwan
RightsCon will take place February 2025 in Asia. It will be a hybrid event. This is the digital rights conference to attend. It is hosted annually by Access Now and brings together business leaders, policy makers, government representatives, technologists, academics, journalists, and human rights advocates from around the world to tackle pressing issues at the intersection of human rights and technology. Historically Wikimedia has had a strong presence at RightsCon, with many people from this list having been speakers in previous years. There are three more RightsCon office hour sessions (May 16, May 22, May 28) as well as a detailed guide to a successful proposal.
You can see the topics and session descriptions that have been successful for Wikimedians in the past: here are details from 2023 and 2022.
Amanda Lawrence beleives it is worth attending this time as there has been so much advocacy work happening in the last year. If proposal is accepted it will require some support for travel to Taiwan.
Matters for Noting
Review of the Online Safety Act 2021
The Australian Government has commenced a period of public consultation as part of the statutory review of the Online Safety Act 2021 (the Review). Ms Delia Rickard PSM, the independent reviewer, is now inviting submissions from interested stakeholders. The period of public consultation commenced on 29 April 2024 and will conclude at 5pm on Friday 21 June 2024.
Ms Rickard is interested in the views of industry, academia, and civil society stakeholders and would welcome your insights and expertise. In addition to inviting submissions, the public consultation period is expected to include face-to-face meetings and roundtable discussions with industry and civil society organisations.
Australia’s Online Safety Act 2021 (the Act), which commenced in January 2022, protects Australians from online harms and establishes the eSafety Commissioner as Australia’s online safety regulator with powers to protect Australians who experience harm or abuse online. It addresses a range of online harms, including child cyberbullying, adult cyber abuse, image-based abuse, and the regulation of illegal and restricted content online. The Act makes online service providers more accountable for the online safety of Australians who use their services through the Basic Online Safety Expectations (BOSE) and the development of industry codes or industry standards, and provides broad powers to the eSafety Commissioner.
As part of the Government’s response to the House of Representatives Select Committee on Social Media and Online Safety Report, the Government committed to undertaking and completing the statutory review earlier than required under the Act, and within this term of Government, so that the Act can keep pace with the evolving online environment. In November 2023, the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, announced the commencement of an independent statutory review into the operation of the Act and the appointment of Ms Delia Rickard PSM to lead the review. The terms of reference for the Review can be found here.
The Review is a broad-ranging examination of the operation and effectiveness of the Act. The Issues Paper poses questions on five key topics including: Australia’s regulatory approach to online services, systems and processes protecting those who have experienced or encountered online harms penalties, and investigation and information gathering powers international approaches to address online harms, and regulating the online environment, technology and environmental changes. Further information, including the Issues Paper and the process for lodging a submission can be found online at: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/statutory-review-online-safety-act-2021.
These kinds of policies can have a major impact on WP as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) and therefore it is important we review and respond if necessary.
Jeremy Ludlow noted possible relevnat event at Wikimania - https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2024:Program/Common(s)_cause)
First Nations report
The Final Report of the First Nations Focus Groups by Prof Bronwyn Carlson is almost complete and ready to release. While this report makes recommendations to WMAU, they are provided as guidance and not directives. The final report is not back for approval, so a vote will be done via email when it has been received.
CSU Student Placement
Applications from Charles Sturt University (CSU) students for a potential 10 day placement with WMAU are being received. For the Master of Information Studies and Bachelor of Information Studies students, their placement can be completed at any stage between 15 July and 27 September 2024. MEd Teacher Librarianship students can complete the placement at any stage between 1 May and 27 September 2024.
Wikimedia UK have provided advice and a useful document Going Further WIth Student Engagement, and two blog posts for our reference.
‘Student Placements or Interns’ aligns with our Strategic Plan pillar of Inclusion, 2.2.c.1 University engagement and Wiki Scholar program.
The recommendation is to start with one Student placement as a trial, and if successful, consider two placements, depending on staff capacity and workload in the future.
Belinda Spry, Pru Mitchell, and Alice Woods have selected the participants.
Activities
WMAU and other local events 2024
- 1Lib1Ref - Drop in and Wiki sessions — Thursday 23 + 30 May 2024
- Introducing Wikipedia: A free online workshop — Wednesday 5 June 2024
- Drop in and Wiki - June 2024 — Wednesday 5 June 2024
- Online Community Meeting - June 2024 — Wednesday 12 June 2024
- WikiCon Australia - November 2024 in Adelaide - dates TBC
- See all events on our website.
Events document that everyone can add to: here
National activities
- Wikihistories Conference 2024: Wikipedia and/as Data, 19 June 2024, Brisbane
https://wikihistories.net/conference/wikihistories-2024-wikipedia-and-as-data/
- ICA Conference Conference, Gold Coast
https://www.icahdq.org/mpage/ica24 Visiting Wikimedia academics attending - opportunity for side events.
- IFLA Information Futures Summit, 30 Sept - 3 Oct (Brisbane)
- ALACC (Australian Libraries and Archives Copyright Coalition) and CC Australia are holding a side event on Open Access on 3 October, which we will be invited to.
Global activities
- Wikimania 2024, Katowice, Poland, August 2024
- Digital Rights Asia Pacific (DRAPAC) 2024, August Taiwan
- Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2024, August Taiwan
- RightsCon - February 2025, South Korea
Meeting close: 8.30 pm
- Next Community meeting: Wednesday 12 June 2024
- Next Board meeting: Monday 17 June 2024