The Annual General Meeting of Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. will be held on Saturday, 28 October 2023, via video conference, at:
- 14:00 AEDT (NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS)
- 13:30 ACDT (SA)
- 13:00 AEST (QLD)
- 12:30 ACST (NT)
- 11:00 AWST (WA)
Teleconference Information
The videoconference technology used will be Zoom.
Topic: EFA AGM 2023
Time: Oct 28, 2023 02:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82963536480?pwd=mrzXu0T6UT9nMHo5cb6pbpDCrb0jcY.1
Meeting ID: 829 6353 6480
Passcode: 054958
One tap mobile
+61280156011,,82963536480#,,,,054958# Australia +61370182005,,82963536480#,,,,054958# Australia
Dial by your location
- +61 2 8015 6011 Australia
- +61 3 7018 2005 Australia
- +61 7 3185 3730 Australia
- +61 8 6119 3900 Australia
- +61 8 7150 1149 Australia
Meeting ID: 829 6353 6480
Passcode: 054958
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/keAZKWY5Fl
Meeting Agenda
The meeting will consider the following matters.
- Confirmation of Minutes of the 2022 AGM
- Presentation of the Annual Report
- Presentation of the Annual Accounts
- Election of Board Members
- Appointment of the Auditor for FY2023-24
The meeting is anticipated to run for no more than 1.5 hours.
Meeting Documents
Non-Member Participation
Non-members are welcome to join the meeting as observers but may not vote.
Non-members may only participate in discussion of agenda items if invited to do so by the chair of the meeting.
Voting
Voting at the AGM is open to all EFA members, regardless of their membership type, who joined prior to the close of nominations for board (17:00 AEST on Saturday, 30 September 2023), and who are financial at the commencement of the AGM.
If you are unsure of your membership status, please email [email protected].
If you are unable to attend the AGM, you are able to appoint a proxy.
Proxies
You are able to nominate a proxy for votes at the AGM.
The Rules of Incorporation state:
Rule 22
PROXIES
- A member shall be entitled to appoint in writing the chair of the meeting, or a natural person who is also a member of the Association, to be his / her proxy, and to attend and vote at any meeting of the Association.
- A member, other than the chair of the meeting, shall not be entitled to exercise more than ten (10) proxy votes upon any motion.
If a member has more than ten (10) proxies assigned to them, only the first ten received will be counted. Members may nominate the Chair to vote any excess proxies received.
To nominate a proxy for voting, please send an email in the below format to the Secretary ([email protected]) by 5pm AEDT on Friday, 27 October 2023.
Proxy Form
2023 EFA AGM Proxy Nomination
I, _________________, a current member of the EFA, nominate _________________, to vote as my proxy in the 2023 AGM of the EFA.
(optional, delete if not required)
I authorise the Chair to vote as my proxy in the event that my above nominated proxy has already received the maximum ten (10) proxies permitted under Rule 22.2.
Board Election
Rule 10 requires that there be at least five board positions available for election.
The following board members are not up for election and will be continuing to serve on the board:
- Paul Ruberry
- Amy Patterson
- Kiki Fong Lim
- John Pane
- Fahad Ali
The candidates for election to the board are:
- Jean Dinco
- Ross Floate
- Craig Lawton
- Erica Mealy
As fewer nominations have been received than there are open positions, no election will be held, as per Rule 10.7. Provided the prerequisites are met, the following candidates are eligible to be declared elected to the board at the AGM.
Board Nominee Candidate Statements
The following candidate statements were provided by board nominees:
Candidate Statement: Jean Dinco
My name is Jean Dinco. First and foremost, I am a human rights activist before I started working in the field of technology.I recently submitted my PhD at UNSW Canberra, focusing on the machine-learning based analysis of government propaganda and online disinformation in the context of the Rohingya conflict in Myanmar. As a human rights activist and a queer woman in STEM, I believe that I have a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and human rights, and I am committed to using my skills and knowledge to make a positive impact in the world. As an expert in technology policy and digital rights, I have dedicated much of my work to understanding and combating disinformation, particularly in the context of elections and democratic processes. I have worked with civil society organisations such as ILGA Asia, Manushya Foundation and the UN to develop strategies for identifying and countering disinformation campaigns, and have spoken at numerous conferences and events on the subject. The cornerstone of my mission is to ensure that the benefits of technological advancement are equitably distributed, fostering a work environment that celebrates collaboration over competition, solidarity over individualism, and people over capitalism. I stand ready to champion a future where the working class receive the respect, recognition, and rewards they rightfully deserve.
Candidate Statement: Ross Floate
The events of years supercharged the rush to digital delivery of core functions of both the public and privates spheres. This was mostly with good intentions, but good intentions alone aren’t sufficient to ensure and secure digital rights commensurate with the importance of those rights to our lives. The EFA is essential in the ongoing effort to protect and promote these rights; it is for this reason that I self-nominate to serve on its board.
My interest in this area is not new; my (as I recall, overly optimistic) 1995 undergraduate thesis in journalism focused on the media’s potential relationship with the online world. Over the course of my life and varied career I’ve come to understand that digital rights are inseparable from human rights. This is never more the case than in times of rapid technological advancement, as with the headlong stampede we currently see with all things lumped under the inadequate banner of ‘AI’. Our rights must be protected as business and government seek to sidestep them.
My career has predominantly been developing and delivering digital products and experiences for organisations as disparate as Cricket Australia and the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust. I’ve spoken to students institutions such as Glasgow School of Art and California College of The Arts, and previously served for about a decade as a member of the Human Research Ethics Committee (Drugs and Devices) at one of Victoria’s key teaching and research hospitals.
Thank-you for considering my nomination.
Candidate Statement: Craig Lawton
I have over 25 years of technology experience in Australia and the UK. My career has spanned permanent and contract positions at National Australia Bank, Victorian Government, Coles, Sensis (where I worked with Justin Warren), Reuters Thompson, Fujitsu, and IBM. For the last 8 years, I have worked as a Technologist at Amazon Web Services, supporting public sector customers. I have been promoted to Principal Architect and now to Head of Modernisation for Australia and New Zealand, where my team and I focus on data, application, and research modernisation. I have been asked to deliver keynotes and have completed press spokesperson certification at Amazon. I place a high value on communication. I have a special interest in smart cities and have taken a strong interest in net decentralization, freedom of speech, and privacy over the last 3+ years. I would bring depth and breadth of experience to the board role. I am keen to provide oversight of the work EFA does to protect Australians’ privacy. My career profile can be found at linkedin.com/in/craiglawton
Candidate Statement: Erica Mealy
Identifying as a “technology Evangelist”, I am driven to realise tangible community benefit through my passion for effective and affective technology design and development. My research interests include user-centered design, qualitative methods, and most recently cybersecurity and data privacy. I am an experienced technology project manager, software developer and technology communicator.
I am the program coordinator of University of the Sunshine Coast’s computer science and cybersecurity programs and lead the development of our signature technology ethics courses. have also been heavily involved in the (in progress) accreditation of our technology programs with the Australian Computer Society.
I have a significant media footprint, having a fortnightly spot on ABC Weekend Evenings with Sirine Demachkie which is syndicate nationally across on the ABC regional and metro stations, regular guest appearances on ABC Radio National Download This Show with Marc Fennell, and a number of articles in the Conversation (and associated syndicated publications) with a number of these in data privacy and it’s implications. I value the role of organisation such as EFA in leading public education and governmental advisory. I believe in goals of EFA and would love the opportunity to be part of helping to lead and shape it into 2024.
