Australasla PACIFIC EXTENSION NETWORK (Inc.)

AUSTRALASlA PACIFIC EXTENSION NETWORK (Inc.) A0029919P ABN: 81 760 842 687

Management Committee Teleconference MEETING #056

Thursday, Septpember 22, 2005 5.00pm (NZ), 3.00pm (EST), 2.30pm (SA), 1.00 pm (WA)

M I N U T E S

1. Present:, John James, Greg Owens (GregO), Jess Jennings, Greg Cock (Gregorio), Cynthia Mahoney, Rosemary Currie, Neale Price.

Apologies:, Neels Botha, Jane Weatherley, Darren Schmidt, (Jennifer Repper, Tracey Gianatti, Jeff Coutts)

2. Welcome: John James (President) welcomed all to the teleconference and particularly Neale for his first one.

3. Record of Meeting

Minutes of the last teleconference meeting #055, taken as a true and correct record of the meeting. Moved: John James Seconded: Greg Owens

4. Matters arising

Goal 1: To be Recognised as the Peak Body

Management DAFF Project: Nurturing young extension professionals – future leaders in Rural Australia. Gregorio will discuss the issues of the local coordinators feelings about their roles (not enough clarity about organisation/roles and surprised by the amount of work that was needed) and best practice facilitation with Amabel at the NRM Symposium in Toowoomba. John has sent a survey on Mentoring around to the MC for comment and will fine tune it and send it to the membership soon and results will enable progress in the development of an APEN mentoring scheme. Action: John The other issues arising from the project are part of APEN’s core business and the issues are being progressed: Development of policy and advocacy for the extension profession/discipline within SELN, NEFA and Derek Foster’s group from the Melbourne Forum, Creating processes to ensure extension officers are well supported with clear direction and goals when they begin new positions (Jane’s group, SELN) and Professional development and training – APEN, CRRI-Q.

The possibility of going back to DAFF or some other funders was raised to help progress the issues. Neale commented that the Minister for DAFF had made a speech recently emphasising the role of extension. When are applications due for Young People Rural Network Grants? Roe to find out. Cynth mentioned that the need for such leadership courses was there for other people – not just young extension professionals. Acton: Roe

AGM: Tuesday November 15, 2pm EST (3pm Daylight EST) by teleconference. A second email will be sent to the membership about it soon. Action: Roe The positions on the MC due for election are: . Secretary/Tasmanian Regional coordinator (RC)– Jane is still searching for another person to nominate for the position. . NT RC – GregO’s nomination form has been received, . Vice President – as Gregorio is resigning at this AGM, the position will be filled from the elected committee, . President – Neale Price’s nomination form has been received. . Vitorian RC – Cynth has told John that she will not be continuing in this role and is looking for a replacement within DPI Victoria. . Editor – There was no response to the an eBulletin with “Positions Vacant” asking for a volunteer for this position. Tony Dunn was suggested and Jess asked to ask Tony if he is interested. Jess asked for information on the role. John and Roe will email Jess with this information. Action: Roe/John APEN Patron –The idea of an APEN Patron put to the members in the “Positions Vacant” eBulletin elicited only one responding email. Jo Millar suggested Cathy McGowan would be a good person to ask as she knows many influential people in Canberra and elsewhere. Or maybe she would make a good patron

1 herself? Other people that Jo suggested were Richard Bawden, Bob Fisher, Tim Fisher, John Anderson, Heather Mitchell and Joan Kirner.

John suggested that a decision be taken on who to approach by voting on a list of criteria – well known, ability to open doors, affinity with APEN and knowledge of APEN and asked Roe to send around an email to the MC to get the process happening. Action: Roe/John

Cynth suggested that the Patron would have to be “looked after” by the MC and kept informed by contact. If the Patron was to be the Minister for AFF for example and the incumbent changed then we would be able to change the Patron if we felt the new person did not have affinity with APEN. Jess commented that he felt that a retired minister such as Tim Fischer would be a less dangerous option.

The “P” in APEN: A free “Overseas affiliate” membership which provides no hardcopy mailing and no voting rights to the member needs to have a proposal put to the members and to be moved at the AGM for voting on. Action: Neels/ Roe/John

Commercial relationships: The eBulletin, asking for Expressions of Interest has not yet had any response. Another separate email needs to be sent to the membership. It was suggested that it should be mentioned in ExtensionNet as well and this was done in passing in the report on the APEN/RDS leadership workshops. It was suggested that it go on the website as well – using different media approaches is a good idea. People could be targeted and the MC is to send ideas of people who may be interested to Roe. Action: All MC/Roe Neale also suggested that to be inclusive we should put it out via the email networks. Detail what APEN is and what we do and ask for Expressions of Interest. This information would go on the website. Action: Roe

Poster competition: This was for a poster about APEN – what it is, its benefits and how to join, for use at conferences etc The prize was to be a year’s free membership. There were no enquiries and no entries (closing date was September 1st) despite telling people via eBulletin, with the membership renewal letter and through the WA poster workshops.

Finances Jess went through the finances and budget sheets (attached). A deficit is showing for the period related to a transfer between APEN bank accounts done on either side of the June 30 2005 end of financial year cut off. Assets (cash in bank accounts) have improved significantly because of memberships ($11,466), payments for the NRM Symposium ($12, 810) and the APEN/CVCB capacity building workshops ($1,240) . They now stand at about $40,506. Membership stands at 498 with 55% financial. Membership renewal reminders are about to go out.

Motion: The accounts that have been as listed on the attached are passed for payment. Moved: Jess Jennings Seconded: Greg Cock Carried

Roe said the rough budget for 05/06 still needs to be further refined. Action: Roe/Jess

A proposal regarding increased membership fees needs to be developed for the AGM. Action: Roe/Jess

Evaluation Jane reported through Roe that the MC and Members evaluation surveys are well in hand and that they will go the MC for comment and go on-line for filling out by members. The results will be ready prior to the AGM. Action: Jane

Marketing Cynth commented that chasing sponsorship was in progress for the conference but not for APEN. The conference prospectus has been done but in most cases there is a need to also fill out a specific application for the particular funder – eg GRDC. A challenging, time consuming process! Conference signage: Roe has had a quote through Snap Printing for $580 for a foldaway banner. This compares to $850 from another company on the web. Roe was asked to go ahead and get the banner organised. Action: Roe Website: On-line registrations have been used for the NRM Symposium in Toowoomba next week. There have been a lot of teething problems but basically the system works and there is the ability to pay for memberships on-line as well.

2 Cynth commented that the Conference website is been a challenge and frustration with $88 per hour being charged for work done as a result of earlier poor communication. It seems to be heading in the right direction. Goal 2: To have a vibrant and effective network

Regional and cluster support, and membership services Regional reports: NT: GregO reported that they are getting ready for the CVCB roadshow workshop. He has linked the APEN website to the department’s intranet. GregO was asked to email the details of how he achieved this to the MC. Action: GregO QLD: John reported that the NRM Symposium in Toowoomba is to be held on September 28/29th. There are 125 registered to date with about 75% being non-members. The objective of introducing APEN to the NRM sector is already well in hand. People will be encouraged to join by offering 50% price for new memberships at the symposium. Membership forms and conference information will be in the satchel. Gregorio commented that the Symposium has tapped into an area of need and could be the topic for another roadshow. NSW: Jess reported that the Wagga Wagga roadshow workshop is the only known activity. Vic: Cyth reported that the Melbourne Cluster is busy with the conference. Robin Segrave has agreed to organise the venue etc for the APEN/CVCB roadshow workshop. Tas: Roe reported that Jane had said the promotion for the Leadership workshop coming up in November has been ramped up. SA: Gregorio commented that the level of interest and awareness of the CVCB roadshow is good and needs to be captured. WA: Roe reported that Pam I’Anson is organising the CVCB workshop venue etc. NZ: Neels sent a report by email saying “the Practice Change conference we're organising is well under way and will take place 4 October here in Hamilton. We have 65 registrations so far and anticipate to get more participants on the day. As in the previous years it’s a joint event between my team (AgResearch Ltd) and APEN (NZ).”

John encouraged the Regional coordinators to build a good phone/email relationship with their Cluster Coordinators. This will make it easier when help is needed to promote events locally etc. They become the vital link in the APEN.

Internal Communication An issue of ExtensionNet is with the printers.

Goal 3: There are professional development opportunities for members

International Conferences, APEN Forums APEN 2006. Cynth said that the conference preparations are going well. Progress is being made but sponsorship is a major issue. Land and Water Australia have provided $5000 and an application to the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal for $5000 is with FRRR. The other Research & Development Corporations approached had said they don’t sponsor conferences. Cynth asked for help or links with people from the MC. Dairy Australia was suggested as worth another try. Action: Roe To date there have been 65 abstracts and the closing date is next week. Kate Andrews, Neil Barr, John Connell are some of the keynote speakers. Cynth commented that in terms of the future, there had not been a lot of handover of information for the conference committee. A sponsorship database and communications database is being developed by the committee to handover to the next committee. It would be great to be able to handover to someone at the conference. How do we identify the next group for the International conference to be held in 2009 (and the national forum in October/November 2007)? Roe to send an email to the Regional coordinators asking if they would like to have an International Conference in their backyard in 2009. Action: Roe

Support from DPI Victoria is very valuable and allowing volunteers to be involved. A lot of resources are required. They need a professional organisation to help. Perhaps APEN could form a partnership with a professional event organiser? Perhaps SELN could be lobbied? Ask NSW DPI – Geoff Warr or Ellen Howard. Action: John

GregO commented that he had been successful in getting sponsorship from Primary Industry Superannuation and Horticulture Superannuation by pointing out the commercial benefit of their involvement in the conference

3 Neale commented that recently there had been an article in the Weekly Times about R & D corporations. VFF are after funding themselves but NFF may be worth a try.

It was suggested that for the next ExtensionNet the recent speeches from the Minister for AFF Peter McGouran and the NFF President be included. Action: Darren contact Neale and Jess

Awards for Excellence in Extension: These have been mentioned emails and in the renewal letter with a closing date of November 3rd, 2005. So far there have been no inquiries or applications. This needs to be put on the website and notice sent to members. An application for sponsorship by GRDC is being considered at their next committee meeting. Action: John and Roe

Conference collaboration: Jess reported that a teleconference had been held between Mark Butz (APEN/Australian Facilitators Network (AFN)), Kevin Balm, Carla Rogers (AFN) and Jess, Jennifer (APEN/AFN) and Roe (GregO an apology) on Friday September 16th. He was disappointed with the meeting as it felt like a step backwards with the AFN members wanting; (1) to see if the International Association of Public Participation and International Association of Facilitators would be interested in being included; (2) to take the idea back to their network to find out what kind of event, when and where, (possibly Canberra autumn 2007) and (3) discuss the issues that could be covered when bringing the groups together. They will report on progress at the next teleconference, December 9, 2005. Kevin Balm saw the main benefit in sharing the science and the art of the process/discipline that is used to carry out the activities that all have in common. They felt it was too soon to look at format etc. Jess said he felt under 50% confident that it would proceed.

Gregorio commented that this feels like de ja vue – trying to form alliances with good intentions and it becomes difficult. A small start in the local area may be easier. A possible event may be a roadshow/workshop on best practice NRM facilitation inviting AFN to help with it.

Cynth commented that AFN is a lot broader (not only NRM) and it is good to be exposed to different fields of interest.

Jess was encouraged to continue working on the idea and to keep the MC informed. Action: Jess

Roadshow: The APEN/CVCB “Capacity Building: what, why and how” workshops’ registrations are coming in with 37 to date and at least one for each workshop. Venues have been organised for them all: DPI& F facilities for Toowoomba and Mareeba, Darwin Business Park, Berrimah for Darwin, Technology Park, Bentley for Perth, Hawker Centre, Adelaide University for Adelaide, Economics & Commerce Building, Melbourne University for Melbourne and the NSW DPI Wine & Food Industry Training Centre for Wagga Wagga. Another notification needs to go out soon. Roe to liaise with Anne Currey. Action: Roe

Goal 4: The members and their profession’s interests are represented.

Research/representation National Extension Framework for Australia (NEFA)/ The State Extension Leaders Network (SELN): Jess asked John whether he had received minutes from the Sydney meeting. John will follow up with Geoff Warr. Jess is interested to define was APEN will do through NEFA and what items SELN will take on. He hopes to progress this at the NRM Symposium, Toowoomba. Action: John/Jess Extension Handbook: Jess plans to email suggested authors to see who may be interested in contributing and in meeting during the conference at Beechworth. There is a need to address the audience and market. Action: Jess

5. Other Business – Jess mentioned that Dairy Australia are holding a forum and wondered if it they could link with APEN perhaps or whether other industries could to host farmer conferences. He asked whether there had been farmer conferences/associations in the past. Roe told him that there had been an Australian Farm Management Society started in Albury Wodonga as an off shoot of AIAS in about 1973. Members had been extension people, researchers, agribusiness and farmers. Annual conferences were held for about 25 years. Unfortunately it had to fold due to sponsorship problems in the late 1990’s.

6. Next teleconference: AGM05, Tuesday November 15, 2005 2pm EST John thanked everyone for their participation in what was a valuable teleconference.

4 John James Rosemary Currie APEN President Minutes Secretary Budget, list of cheques, membership attached

Action List Goal Who When Done What 1 JJ, RC 13/10 Have special resolution re including Rule 8 to members for voting on at AGM 1 JJ 20/10 Mentoring survey to membership 1 GC 29/9 Talk to Amabel about best practice facilitation at workshops 1 RC 7/10 DAFF funding availability 1 RC 13/10 Follow up with Horrie Poussard re PEN final report 1 RC 7/10 Secretariat tender to MC for consideration 1 JJ, RC 17/10 Notify members re AGM and elections, proposals to vote on, editor, patron, commercial relationships, overseas affiliate membership – all separate emails 1 JJ, RC 13/10 Commercial relationships on website 1 RC, Jess 20/10 2005/2006 budget 1 RC, Jess 13/10 Increased membership fee proposal 1 GC 7/10 Talk to John Cornish about being on MC 1 JW 7/10 Will source Tasmanian Regional coordinator 1 JW, JJ 7/10 Web based MC and Members surveys 2 All 20/10 RC’s contact CC’s – develop relationship 2 All Ongoing Suggestions for Enet articles to Darren 2 DS 7/10 Contact Neale and Jess re McGouran and Pres NFF speeches to go in ExtensionNet 2 Jess 7/10 Asking Tony Dunn if wants to volunteer for editor starting Nov 2005 3 JJ, GO, Ongoing Progress conf with Jess C and Jo RC, CN 3 CM 20/10 Talk to Gavin re closing Melb Chapter account and getting conference account 3 JC, NB, 13/10 Award(s) for Excellence in Extension -advertise RC 3 RC 29/9 APEN Signage for Conference 2006 3 RC 13/10 Email RC’s re who wants International conf in their back yard? 3 JJ 13/10 Discuss supporting International conf with Geoff Warr 3 Jess, JR, Ongoing Progress conference collaboration idea with AFN GO 3 JJ Ongoing Progress Roadshow with John McK 3 RC 7/10 Liaise with Anne Currey re workshop reminder 4 Jess Ongoing Progress NEFA/SELN 4 Jess 30/5 John Petheram re inclusion of his Extension handbook workshop idea in Conference