Minutes f the 45th Annual General Meeting f the Australian Sciety fr Micrbilgy held n Tuesday 4 July at 12 nn in the Grand Ballrm 1, Htel Grand Chancellr, Hbart, Tasmania 1. Welcme The President, Prfessr Ry Rbins-Brwne welcmed all members present t the meeting and rang the Nancy Atkinsn Bell t signify the pening f the AGM. There were 11 FASM s present and 20 MASM s. 2 assciate members als attended the meeting. 2. Aplgies Peter Traynr 3. Minutes f the 44th AGM Mtin: That the minutes be accepted as a true and crrect recrd was prpsed by Jn Iredell, secnded Dena Lyras. Mtin carried. 4. Business Arising frm the Minutes Items addressed as part f reprts 5. Presentatin f the Annual Reprt and Branch Reprts by the President Presented by Ry Rbins-Brwne Burnet Hayes award was cancelled by the UK sciety. Cuncil decided t increase travel awards verall. Als, Ry has been cntacting micrbilgy scieties in the Asia Pacific regin with a view t setting up new relatinships. Tw Fenner and tw Pittard award winners this year, and ging frward. Have increased the number f peple n the judging panels fr thse awards. Held ur first AusME cnference in in Melburne February. Was a great success thanks t Linda Blackall and the NSAC fr their wrk n this. Will talk t BacPath fr a similar arrangement. DL and RRB will attend BacPath in September and discuss strengthening ties with ASM. Clinical micr meeting, struggling t get it ff the grund. All these small meetings, put the pressure n the annual meeting. Smething t think abut in future.
Retirements - Chris Burke, Editrial Bard chair at least 10 years. Replaced by Ipek Kurtbke - Peter Timms, NEQB chair, replaced by Julian Rd - TuckWeng Kk, NEQB Registrar has stepped dwn. Replaced by Gary Lum (lking after FASM) and Kate Seib (lking after MASM) - Rd Bwman, chair f WFSC, retired. Replaced by Tny Jennings - Fina Daga has stepped dwn as WA chair. Replaced by Charlene Kahler. Science and Technlgy Australia - They have been engaging with ASM mre than previusly. They run a number f events t which we send ASM members. State Branches t make issues knwn that they may wish t be put frward t STA. 6. Reprt frm the Vice-President Scientific Affairs Presented by Dena Lyras ASM nw has 4 natinal theme chairs in place. They helped rganise this cnference and Brisbane. Tm Riley, Damian Purcell, Linda Blackall and Mark Schembri. Feedback can be given t Dena abut the scientific aspect. A new frmat fr ral presentatins t replace traditinal sympsium and prffered paper sessins has been develped by the exec. It cmprises three 20-minute talks and three 10-minute talks. Kate Seib is chair f the LOC fr the 2018 cnference in Brisbane, and. Nick West is the scientific chair. Invitatins are ging ut tw speakers in plenary sessins. Cnference spnsrship. We have changed ur practice f supprting scientific cnferences directly (ther than ur wn). As we want t funds peple rather than meetings, we will be making travel awards available fr ur members t attend any apprved cnference. Research Trust and the awards that previusly fell under NSAC, will nw be managed by the Exec. Three VSP speakers are in the current cnference prgram. In additin, Michael Cha, an editr f Nature Micrbilgy, is visiting the area, mstly at Nature s expense, We are trying t arrange mre f this type f thing in future. 7. Reprt frm the Vice-President, Cmmunicatins Presented by Jack Wang Scial media status 1000 fllwers last year. Nw at 1500. Our activity last year 250k impressin. The last 6 mnths, we ve already hit that. Twitter and Facebk used the mst. Old schl media that is press releases are very expensive. Subscribed t GTWebinar. Any talks that yu feel yur membership wuld be interested in, get access t the service s that they can reach further audiences. YuTube channel is hard t prduce gd quality vides. Prm vides abut ASM Cmmunicatin ambassadr prgram
One rep fr every state branch. Mstly student r ECR. Great experience fr thse invlved. Netwrking is the reward but als $100 discunt n their registratin. 8. Reprt frm the Chair, Natinal Examinatin and Qualificatins Bard Presented by Julian Rd Changes t the FASM a new pathway Made it easier t allw mre peple t g t FASM. It s in peratin nw. FASM pathway is divided int 3 alternatives t suit researchers, teachers r labratry scientists. All items are submitted nline, and applicatin fees have been ablished. Mtin That the reprts (Agenda Items 5 t 8) be accepted was prpsed by Jn Iredell, secnded Anthny Baker. Mtin carried. 9. Presentatin f the Financial Reprts by the Vice-President, Crprate Affairs Presented by Cheryl Pwer Audit results are in and psted n the website fr everyne t see/review. Research trust is lking healthy fr award payuts. Investments are in the frm f hybrid shares. Research trust is tpped up each year frm Sciety funds. Many members als dnate t the research trust directly. It s imprtant that we declare all funds f the sciety t avid cntravening the laws under which we are cnstituted. The financial reprt must include funds held by state branches, SIGs etc. Mst f the branches are in a healthy psitin. When lking at the financial reprt, need t remember that ur incme represents a 9-mnth year, as we have changed ur financial year frm 1st July- 30 June, t 1st April-31st March. Cnference last year made a small prfit. After giving 20% t the WA Branch, the residuum ges t the Research Trust. Sciety als has investments and shares. CP likes t keep the sciety audit separate frm the cnference audit. Mtin: That the Annual Accunts f the Sciety be accepted was prpsed by Ry Rbins-Brwne, secnded by Stephen Graves. Mtin carried. 10. Determinatin f Annual Subscriptin Fees N plans t increase the fees fr the annual subscriptin fees. 11. Appintment f the Auditr Cheryl Pwer advised retaining the services f Eric Twnsend as the Sciety's auditr fr the cming financial year and prpsed the auditr be appinted by the Sciety. Mtin: That the auditr is reappinted, was prpsed by Stephen Graves, secnded by Tny Della-Prta. Mtin carried.
12. Mtins t amend the ASM Cnstitutin The fllwing mtins were read ut by the President. 12.1 Mtin 1. That Clause 9(ii) f the ASM Cnstitutin be amended t read: (ii) has satisfactrily cmpleted tw years f pstgraduate wrk t advance the discipline f micrbilgy. 12.2 Mtin 2. That Clause 14.1 f the ASM Cnstitutin be amended t read: 14.1 An applicatin fr membership as a Member f the Sciety shall be prpsed by a Fellw r Member f the Sciety. The prpser shuld persnally knw the applicant, but this requirement may be waived by the Cuncil in its discretin frm time t time. 12.3 Mtin 3. That That Clause 14.2 f the ASM Cnstitutin be amended t read: 14.2 An applicatin fr membership f the Sciety, whether as a Member r therwise, shall be made in the frm determined by the Cuncil and be accmpanied by the fees prescribed as payable by the Cuncil. 2.5 Mtin 4. That Clause 30 f the ASM Cnstitutin be deleted: 30. DIVISIONS OF THE SOCIETY. The Cuncil may establish as many Divisins f the Sciety as is deemed apprpriate t represent the scientific interests f the Sciety s membership, prvided it is satisfied that there will be sufficient Members, Fellws and/r Hnrary Life Members cmprising the membership f each Divisin as will enable it t carry ut its functins. There shall be n residential qualificatins fr membership f a Divisin. The Special Interest Grups (SIG) within the Sciety shall reprt n their activities t the assigned Divisin Chair wh will represent them n NSAC. The Chair f each Divisin will be respnsible fr versight f natinal activities in that Divisin s area f interest assisted by the Chair Elect r Immediate past Chair. They will als be respnsible fr crdinating the scientific cntent f the Annual Scientific Meeting. Each Divisin shall cnfrm t such rules and have such pwers, functins and duties as are determined frm time t time by the Cuncil in the By Laws. All assciated clauses shall be amended accrdingly. 12.6 Mtin 5. That Clause 10 f the ASM Cnstitutin be deleted: 10. SENIOR ASSOCIATE MEMBER Any persn: (i) wh has graduated with a diplma r equivalent in micrbilgy; and (ii) has at least five years r equivalent emplyment pst qualificatin; shall be eligible t apply t becme a Senir Assciate Member. All assciated clauses shall be amended accrdingly. 12.7 Mtin 6. That Clause 14.4 f the ASM Cnstitutin be amended: 14.4 A Student r Sustaining member may receive ntices f all general meetings f the Sciety and be heard, but shall nt be entitled t vte nr eligible t hld ffice n the Cuncil. This Clause shall prevail t the extent f any incnsistency in this Cnstitutin. The assciated definitin f Vting Member in clause 51 shall be amended
accrdingly: 'Vting Member' means any Member wh is a Member, Fellw, Hnrary Life Member r Assciate Member. 12.8 Mtin 7. That Clause 32.1 f the ASM Cnstitutin be amended: 32.1 The Cuncil f the Sciety shall cnsist f the fllwing fficers and delegates all f whm shall be Fellws, Members r Hnrary Life Members:... It was agreed that the mtins abve culd be vted n as a singular vte. Mtin: That the abve mtins t change the ASM Cnstitutin be adpted was prpsed by Jn Iredell, and secnded Cheryl Pwer. Mtin carried unanimusly. 13. Office Bearers fr 2017/18 all members f the Executive Cmmittee will retain their psitins fr the next 12 mnths, but are actively seeking their replacements Jack will end in July 2018, when Rebecca LeBard will take ver Dena will end in July 2018. and Kate Seib will take ver Ry s term will end in July 2018; Dena will take ver. As Dena is nw filling tw rles in exec, Jn has agreed t stay n as immediate past president fr anther year. N replacement has been fund fr Cheryl, wh will cntinue as Acting VP, Crprate Affairs, until a replacement is identified. 14. Clsure f the meeting Meeting clsed at 1:18pm