The Royal Society of Tasmania ABN 65 889 598 100 Annual Report for 2013 THE TASMANIAN SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE 1 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA ABN 65 889 598 100 Patron: His Excellency, The Governor of Tasmania, The Honorable Peter Underwood, AC Office Bearers and Councillors for the 2013 Calendar Year President Professor Susan Jones Vice President Dr AV (Tony) Brown PSM Immediate Past President Professor Jim Reid Honorary Secretary Mr Tony Culberg OAM Honorary Treasurer Mr Peter Meyer Honorary Editor Dr Margaret Davies Honorary Librarian Lynn Davies Councillors Dr John Coll Dr David de Little Dr Albert Goede Ms Mary Koolhof Dr Diana Nahodil Mr Graeme Rayner TMAG Representative Mr Bill Bleathman Publicity Officer Ms Mary Koolhof 2 Special Projects Officer Dr Anita Hansen Northern Chapter Dr John Paull (President) Mr Brian East (Treasurer) Ms Chel Bardell (Secretary) Nominated by The Royal Society of Tasmania as Trustees of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) Sir Guy Green, AC, KBE, CVO Professor Jim Reid Contact for the North West of Tasmania Mr Andrew Bishop Honorary Auditor Mr Richard James Registered Office 19 Davey Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7000 Postal Address GPO Box 1166, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001 Telephone 03 6211 4177 Email address [email protected] Website www.rst.org.au The office is usually open Thursday mornings from 9.00 am The Society is constituted by The Royal Society of Tasmania Act (1911) of the Tasmanian Parliament 3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2013 was another busy and successful year for The Society. The annual Winter Series continues to be a major event, attracting significant audiences comprised not only of members but also a wide cross-section of the Tasmanian public. This year, the theme of the Winter Series was Future-proofing the Food Supply: food security and food innovation in Tasmania. Session One, on Tuesday 18 June, which I had the honour to chair, focused on Agricultural Innovation. Professors Holger Meinke and Ted Lefroy and Dr Tony Fist presented three stimulating and sometimes controversial talks that attracted a great deal of audience interest. The second evening, on Tuesday 17 July, was presented in collaboration with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) and was chaired by The Honourable Michael Field, Chancellor of the University of Tasmania. Professors Colin Buxton and Chris Carter discussed, respectively, sustainable marine fisheries and aquaculture in Tasmania, while Dr Gretta Pecl demonstrated the great potential of ‘citizen science’ in her talk on Redmap. This year, the Winter Series received some external financial support by a grant from Inspiring Australia; I also thank the University of Tasmania for continuing to support this important community event by providing an excellent venue and audio-visual and promotional support. Our regular monthly evening talks in both the North and the South of the state were well attended by members and friends who have enjoyed a varied and stimulating selection of talks. The annual evening of ‘postgraduate talks’ again showcased some of the excellent work being done by our aspiring Tasmanian researchers, while a record number of members and friends attended the Christmas dinner and heard a fascinating talk on echidna biology by Associate Professor Stewart Nicol. Members from both Southern and Northern Chapters took advantage of excursions to Beaconsfield to view old mine sites and foundries. Another highlight of the year was the ‘Behind the scenes’ tour of the refurbished Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). It was my privilege to represent the Society at the official opening of the new galleries. As Bill Bleathman announced his retirement from the position of Director of TMAG in December 2013, I take the opportunity to wish him well on behalf of the Society and to thank him for his significant contributions as a member of Council. This year, The Society was a Gold Sponsor of the annual Tasmanian Science Talent Search which aims to foster the next generation of Australian scientists. Representing The Society, Dr John Paull presented the prize for the best set of Intermediate Science Inquiries to The Hutchins School. We also sponsored the commemorative ‘path medallions’ that were presented to all entrants in the Science Talent Search. This year also saw the launch of our re-designed and updated website: I sincerely thank Dr Anita Hansen for the expertise that she brought to this important project. The new website is more user-friendly and I hope that members will find the ‘Recent News’ section on the first page useful and informative. We have also finalised a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Society and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) regarding the housing and curation of our library that is located in the Morris Miller Library at UTAS, and have established strong connections with Engineers Australia (Tasmanian Branch), with whom we have presented two joint events this year. I thank Dr Margaret Davies for organising another wonderful calendar of Gould bird pictures for 2014, and for her excellent work as Editor of our Journal which publishes a fine selection of refereed articles on topics of relevance to Tasmania: Volume 147 was released and mailed to receiving members in December, while issues up to 2011 are now available electronically via ePrints on the UTAS Library website. Finally, I acknowledge all members of Council and Glenda Hosking our Administrative Officer for all the hard work they do behind the scenes to keep this, the oldest Royal Society outside the UK , running efficiently and well to the benefit of all members. Professor Susan Jones President 4 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA ABN 65 889 598 100 Financial Statements Income and Expenditure for the Year ended 31 December 2013 Jan - Dec 2013 Jan - Dec 2012 $ Change Income Calendar Sales 12,645 12,921 -276 Cards 599 101 498 Christmas Function 2,520 2,520 0 Copyright 387 1,463 -1,076 Gifts and Donations 2,440 3,599 -1,159 Grants 9,800 7,400 2,400 Symposia - Income 0 0 0 Membership Dues Associate - No Papers 1,035 845 190 Full - No Papers 9,311 7,530 1,781 Full - With Papers 10,850 10,502 348 Student - No Papers 80 40 40 Student - With Papers 180 230 -50 Total Membership Dues 21,456 19,147 2,309 Miscellaneous Income 27 524 -497 Publications 3,911 2,525 1,386 Interest Earned 835 920 -85 Total Income 54,620 51,121 3,499 Expense Administration 5,763 5,850 -87 Bank Service Charges 732 -706 1,438 Books and Publications 11,969 20,472 -8,503 Calendar Expenses 5,474 5,622 -148 Christmas Dinner 2,640 2,007 633 Communications 2,185 100 2,085 Dues and Subscriptions 2,300 2,700 -400 Insurance 802 781 21 Mawson Symposium 0 3,634 -3,634 Meeting Expenses 669 738 -69 Miscellaneous 54 2,000 -1,946 Office Supplies 686 222 464 Parking Expense 209 423 -214 Postage and Delivery 2,881 2,739 142 Printing and Reproduction 288 217 71 Professional Fees - Accounting 120 110 10 Programme Expense 0 2,885 -2,885 5 RST Library 0 8,000 -8,000 Marketing/Advertising 1,877 1,993 -116 Write-off Assets 0 0 0 Transfers 0 0 0 Total Expense 38,649 59,787 -21,138 Surplus/Shortfall 15,971 -8,667 24,638 Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2013 Dec 31, 2013 Dec 31, 2012 Accumulated Funds As at 1 January 2013 61,115 101,543 Surplus/Shortfall 15,971 -8,667 Adj re Accounting Change 0 239 Funds to Foundation 0 -32,000 As at 31 December 2013 77,086 61,115 Current Assets CBA Current Account 30,811 27,504 CBA Term Deposit 50265602 maturing June 8th, 2013 10,892 10,408 CBA Term Deposit 50271439 maturing Feb 21st, 2013 30,554 18,203 Sub-total 72,257 56,115 Other Assets Publications 4,829 5,000 Medals written-off 0 0 Office Furniture etc. written-off 0 0 Library at insured value 0 0 Sub-total 4,829 5,000 Total 77,086 61,115 TREASURER’S REPORT For the financial year 2013 revenues have increased by about $4,000 over those achieved in the previous year. The main reasons for this are: Calendar & Card sale neutral Copyright income shortfall – with some claims pending Donations shortfall Grants improvement Membership dues improvement Publications improvement Interest earned improvement 6 The expenses incurred for the fiscal year are about $21,000 below the previous period, and in concert with the budget. The major expense items where: Cost of publications and calendars as per budget o Printing o Editing o Composing o Postage Website upgrade as per budget No Symposia & programs few expenses during period Marketing as per budget All others as per budget This resulted in a surplus of $15,972 for 2013. The main net contributing activities for our results were the following: Calendar, Card and Publication Sales 9,000 Donations 2,440 Grants 9,800 Copyright 387 Interest Earned 835 Membership subscriptions have been adjusted in line with inflation. This, together with new members, improved our membership revenue by $2,309 to $21,456. The very popular Winter Series of Lectures has contributed to maintaining our membership numbers and also attracting new and younger members. The fully paid-up membership of the Society now stands as follows: Current Membership Ordinary Members Life Members Honorary Members Total Total Members 363 21 6 390 North 90 2 1 93 South 245 11 4 260 Australia 25 7 0 32 Overseas 3 1 1 5 as at end December 2013 Funds surplus to day to day requirements have been invested in Term Deposits and transferred to the Society’s Foundation in accord with the budget.