Council met 3rd October 2018. The following note is a summary of the key points discussed at the meeting for the information of members, intended to promote transparent management of Institute affairs and member engagement. These notes have been approved by Council but are not a substitute for the meeting minutes.
A number of members remain unfinancial for the 2018-2019 financial year. This isn’t unusual for this time of year. Reminder notices have been sent by email. Unfinancial members have been ineligible to exercise benefits of AIG membership, including acting as a Competent Person in compliance with the JORC Code since 30 September 2018. Members who remain unfinancial at 31 December 2018 may be required to reapply for membership. You can check whether you are currently financial using the member search facility on the AIG web site.
Council approved a revised Registered Professional Geoscientist application review process proposed by the AIG Registration Board.
AIG Student Bursary recipients for 2018 have been selected and were approved by Council. All bursary applicants will be advised of the status of their applications (successful or unsuccessful) prior to the list of recipients for 2018 being announced.
Work has commenced on a series of short, focussed JORC Code training modules for both geoscientists and other “end-users” of public exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves reports. Pilot courses will be run in Townsville early in 2019. A course explaining the role of the JORC Code and Competent Persons for early career geoscientists is also in development. Council discussed a micro-accreditation module under which multiple, short, linked training courses can be completed towards satisfying a training objective, rather than requiring course participants to enrol in a single, long training course. The longer-term objective is to have courses available for delivery, face to face, across Australia or on-line. The subjects of these courses will also be expanded to cover practical skills required by early career geoscientists with time. Member involvement in this process will be welcome.
A proposal for establishment of a Nominations Committee, to help ensure Council has the requisite skills to manage and further develop the Institute, was considered.
Council accepted Michael Edward’s resignation as Chair of AIG’s Ethics and Standards Committee, with an expression of sincere thanks to Michael for his work in this important role over a number of years. Jacqui Coombes has agreed to replace Michael in this role. An announcement of Jacqui’s appointment will be made shortly.
James Llorca tendered his resignation from Council. A process to fill the casual vacancy created by James’s resignation was initiated. Council sincerely thanked James for his work in the management and development of the Institute.
Stuart Masters resigned as an AIG representative on the JORC Committee. A process to select a new representative was initiated.
Proposed changes to AIG’s Constitution and Code of Ethics, intended to improve the fairness of AIG’s Complaints and Ethics and Standards processes were received from Ashurst, a leading, Australian, national law firm. The proposed changes are currently being prepared for consideration and endorsement by members at an Extraordinary General Meeting, probably in early 2019.
A revised Privacy Policy, developed for AIG by Ashurst, was approved by Council and published on the AIG web site.
Council discussed the potential benefits of engaging a Chief Executive Officer to increase public representation of AIG members’ interests on professional and community issues.
Council approved AIG joining the Digital Object Identifier consortium to enable DOIs to be added to AIG publications, making them easier to search for, locate and reference, and potentially making AIG publications a more attractive platform for authors.
Andrew Waltho met with Edumine during October. The meeting discussed how AIG members could become involved in developing training materials for delivery, globally, using Edumine’s platform and receive remuneration for their work. The dialogue with Edumine is ongoing.
AGCC2018 will be held in Adelaide during Earth Science Week (14-19 October). After AGCC2018, the focus will shift to AEGC2019 to be held in Perth during 2-5 September 2019. AEGC2019, being convened jointly by ASEG, PESA and AIG, will build on the success of AEGC2018 in Sydney last February.
Any of the topics discussed in this summary may be discussed with any Council member. Contact details appear at the back of each issue of AIG News.The next Council meeting will be held 14 November, 2018. Papers for the meeting, including branch and committee reports, should be submitted by 24 October.
Andrew Waltho
