Dear Members,
My National Council update as President covers the first National Council meeting for 2021, a two-day meeting held in Melbourne on 18th and 19th March. We welcomed new Councillors: NSW President Laura Cockburn, Tasmanian President Craig Rosevear, and Nationally-Elected councillors Jane Williams, Brian Hooper and Jeremy McLeod.
For the first time since our November 2019 Brisbane meeting, members of National Council were able to gather in person. This reaffirmed for me that nothing can replace live meetings. I report the outcomes around four areas of particular focus.
NATIONAL CHAIRS
In my December report I outlined my aim that National Committees and Taskforces now present to National Council annually. This strengthens the sharing of knowledge and understanding between the Council and these bodies.
National Education Committee chair Lisa Moore, First Nations Advisory Working Group and Panel co-chair Sarah Lynn Rees, National Practice Committee chair Sander de Vries, and National Heritage Committee representative Elizabeth Vines presented to the Council in March along with our CAA (Commonwealth Association of Architects) Oceanic Regional Vice President Dik Jarman led discussions around international engagement.
Following on from the November 2020 meeting when the Council was addressed by National Gender Equity Committee Chair Kylie-JoAnn Hughes and CAST (Climate Action Sustainability Taskforce) representative Ross Donaldson. I am exceptionally grateful for the richness and depth with which ideas were presented, and the generous engagement of all at both meetings.
REINTRODUCING THE INSTITUTE FEE GUIDE
The long-awaited reintroduction of the Institute’s fee guide remains sitting with a taskforce established by the Board. At the March meeting, seasoned practitioner National Councillors reported various examples of fee guides in various jurisdictions across Australia. Consequently, National Council committed to forming a Council sub-group of practitioners to work with the Board’s taskforce in progressing this priority. Each member of the new sub-group has experience with fee guides already in circulation.
SIGNIFICANT 20TH CENTURY HERITAGE
The National Heritage Committee, formed after the August 2020 National Council meeting, has been working on a Heritage CPD programme of lectures and workshops, along with drafting the National Heritage Policy.
NATIONAL ARCHIVE POLICY
An informal survey of artefacts across the Chapters, and the recent sale and relocation of the Queensland Chapter premises, has highlighted the importance of physical and electronic information collected and donated to the AIA, and the long-term protection of the profession’s history. National Council unanimously resolved upon:
The formulation of an Archive Policy – a permanent National Policy for the preservation of records. With commencement starting in 2021 coinciding with our 90th anniversary. Targeting the transfer of records to commence in late 2022, so they may be available for research by 2024 for work on the 100th Anniversary publication of the next 50 years of the Making of the Profession.
My ten-month term of office will continue until the AGM in May and I should like to end by confirming the remarks in my last presidential foreword for Architecture Australia: I will always cherish the connections I have made with so many members through visitations, both personal and virtual, and the exceptional courtesy and kindness I received from professional colleagues.
In this regard, as in all others, your National Council led the way. The courtesy displayed by all Councillors, even during fiery debates, attests to the engagement of the Council as well as its professionalism. Each is an important and gratifying characteristic, and both fundamental to securing rewarding results.
Yours in architecture,
Alice Hampson FRAIA – National President
