Internet Society of Australia
A Chapter of the Internet Society
ACN 076 406 801
Held at 18:00 hrs on Thursday 25th November 1999 in the Library Board Lounge of the State Library Building, Swanston Street, Melbourne.
The Chair, Kate Lance, noted that as 14 members of the Society were present and we had received 45 valid proxies, there was a quorum present for the meeting. The progress of the meeting was also reported via an IRC session to members on the Internet. The Chair welcomed all of those in attendance. Apologies were presented for Andrew McRae, David Thompson and Paul Brooks. The Chair briefly discussed the items on the agenda.
The Chair pointed out that copies of the Annual Reports and Accounts were available in the room and on the Society's web pages at: http://www.isoc-au.org.au/AGM1999/FY99/. The Treasurer, Mr George Michaelson, noted that there had been significant financial contributions from a number of sponsors - in particular new sponsor Perth Internet, and connect.com.au and Cisco Systems.
It was noted that a lot of the funds that have become available were primarily used on funding the Executive Director's position and secretariat costs for ACMS of $400 per month.
The Treasurer commented that he felt that the Executive Director had more than proven the value of the expenditure and that the secretarial costs of ACMS were normal for an organisation the size of ISOC-AU. The Treasurer was currently working on issues relating to GST and how it would affect ISOC-AU's financial position.
The Treasurer also undertook to investigate the possibillity of appointing an accountant (as distinct from an auditor) to perform pro bono work for ISOC-AU.
There were five board vacancies and only three candidates, namely:
As per Article Article 48.1 the there was no election of directors at the Annual General Meeting and all of the above candidates were declared elected.
The Chair then thanked the departing Directors:
The Explanatory Memorandum, at http://www.isoc-au.org.au/AGM1999/Explanmem99.html was tabled by the Chair prior to votes being taken.
Results of the vote were that all resolutions were passed as below.It was RESOLVED that that Chris Booker, Chartered Accountant be appointed as auditor of the Society.
It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the Annual General Meeting and General Meeting on 17th December 1999 be accepted.
It was RESOLVED that articles 5, 6, 12, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 37, 44 and 44 be amended and a new Article 17 be introduced, as described in the Notice of Meeting at http://www.isoc-au.org.au/AGM1999/Notice99.html .
Kate Lance spoke briefly on the process of electing the new directors and welcomed a new face to the Board, David Thompson.
Kate noted that auDA is now a significant component of Internet governance in Australia and discussed ISOC-AU's integral involvement in its development and establishment. Leni Mayo contributed submissions and effort to the auDA Working Group, then Greg Watson became involved in April and was elected onto the interim Board and then the current Board of auDA.
Kate spoke about the difficulties over the year arising from the BSA legislation. ISOC-AU made representations to Senator Alston's Department with regard to the shortcomings of the legislation. Through the Executive Director, ISOC-AU's views and concerns gained a good profile across the national press. Kate expressed her appreciation for the opinion provided to ISOC-AU by Phillips Fox, at http://www.isoc-au.org.au/Regulation/PFoxBSA.html . Kate noted that ISOC-AU should now be able to stand back from the debate a little and concentrate on other core issues.
Kate spoke on the appointment of the Executive Director in early September and how we have benefitted greatly from his appointment.
Kate mentioned the Constitutional changes and emphasised that they will make a potentially very constructive difference to the operational fabric of the Society.
Executive Director Tony Hill indicated that the Strategic Plan http://www.isoc-au.org.au/Organisation/Strategic.html was now available.
Tony discussed his focus on key issues such as sponsorship, which was regarded as a key to the development of ISOC-AU, and a slow but steady growth in membership.
Tony indicated that he had set the direction of his work beyond the initial 3 months and had concentrated on helping to refine the answer to the question of what ISOC-AU was. His involvement at Comdex and Interop was very successful on this level.
The general profile of ISOC-AU had, he believed, improved. 50 - 60 organisations had been contacted in the last 3 months. Doors had been opened with good potential results. Many meetings had been attended, including the CIRCIT Annual Policy Forum.
Tony also reported that he will be the ISOC-AU rep on the Telstra Consultative Council and had also spent 2 days at the DCITA Regional Consultation meetings in Canberra. He said that regional issues were coming to the fore.
Tony discussed that the submissions on the BSA to Senator Alston had not so far been disputed by the Senator.
A submission to the National Bandwidth Enquiry http://www.isoc-au.org.au/Media/band271099.html had also been made.
Kate Lance gave thanks to all of the previous Board and to our sponsors - Connect, Perth Internet, Cisco - and to our supporters - Telstra, Phillips Fox, Deacons Graham and James, State Library of Victoria and AUUG. Solicitor Katherine Legge of Deacons Graham and James put substantial effort into preparing all of the constitutional changes. Kate also expressed thanks to Leni Mayo and Greg Watson for their work during the year on a number of issues, particularly the appointment of the Executive Director.
A member on IRC brought up the issue of regional support activities. George Fong expressed strong interest in moving forward in that area as soon as possible.
Leni Mayo suggested that the next directors meeting set up an Internet Contributor award that ISOC-AU could offer annually.
George Fong also gave thanks to Kate Lance, Leni Mayo and Greg Watson for all of the hard work that was put in to secure the Executive Director.
The meeting closed at approximately 7:30pm.
Signed as a correct and complete record of the above meeting.
Kate Lance
President, ISOC-AU