2015 agm documentation

3 November 2015

Dear Member,

RE: Royal Institution of Australia Inc

Enclosed for your information is notification and agenda of the 2015 RiAus Annual General Meeting scheduled for Thursday 26 November 2015 at 10.30am, The Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place, Adelaide.

In addition to the notification and agenda please find herewith:   

Draft Minutes from the 2014 AGM meeting held 20 November 2014 2015 Annual Report Copy of the 2014/15 Financial Statements

To assist in numbers for catering, could you advise of your attendance to the Membership Executive at jlemessurier@riaus.org.au by Wednesday 18 November 2015.

Any queries in relation to the meeting can be made to the Secretary (08) 7120 8600.

Kind regards,

Bradley Abraham Secretary

55 Exchange Place, Adelaide SA 5000 PO Box 3652, Rundle Mall, SA 5000 08 7120 8600 info@riaus.org.au riaus.org.au

NOTICE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA INC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is hereby given to the Members of RiAus that the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Institution of Australia Inc will be held at The Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place, Adelaide, on Thursday 26 November 2015 commencing at 10.30am.

Agenda: 1.

Welcome and Apologies

2.

Confirmation of Minutes

3.

Appointment of the Auditor

4.

Financial accounts and statements 4.1 Reports of the Council – Chairperson and Director 4.2 Auditor’s Report – Financial Reports 2014/15

5.

Election of Members to Council (If required)

6.

Any other business

7.

Next AGM

By order of the RiAus Council

Immediately following the AGM, morning tea will be served to those Members present.

To assist in numbers for catering, could you advise of your attendance to the Membership Executive at jlemessurier@riaus.org.au by Wednesday 18 November 2015.

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL of the Royal Institution of Australia Inc (RiAus) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Thursday 20 November 2014 at 10.30am The Science Exchange, 55 Exchange Place, Adelaide

MINUTES Attendees Chairperson

Mr Peter Yates AM

Council Members

Mr David Knox Baroness Susan Greenfield Prof Peter Andrews AO Dr Greg Clarke

In Attendance

Dr Paul Willis - Director Mr Bradley Abraham – Secretary / General Manager

RiAus Staff Members

Ms Bianca Attard Ms Julie LeMessurier Mr Peter Sansom Dr Tania Meyer Ms Carol Perkins

Ms Jamie-lee Caruso Ms Diana De Hulsters Ms Alison Kershaw Ms Kim Adams Dr Steve Kern

Members

Ms Di Pepper Ms Heather Wright Prof Max Brennan AO Ms Christine Linton Mr David Smith Mr Peter Bolton

Ms Roya Szafir Ms Pat Venning Mr Robert Dickinson

Guests

Ms Sheena Edwards

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES The Chairperson welcomed those in attendance and introduced Council Members who were present.

The Chairperson summarised the activities of the past year. Further details of the Chairperson’s address are printed in the 2013/14 Annual Report.

Apologies were received from the following Council Members; Sir Rod Eddington AO, Mr Javier Moll, Hon. Mike Rann CNZM, Mr Martyn Myer AO, Prof J Yovich Apologies were also received from Bragg Members :, Prof Suzanne Cory AC and Prof Brian Schmidt AC. Other apologies were received from : Ms Sally Hopton, Ms Michelle Denny, Mr Raimund Pohl, Mr Nick Wickham, Mr Michael Llewellyn-Smith, Ms Rachael Hammond, Dr Jim Peacock AC, Prof Richard Head, Prof Peter Hoj, Dr Rex Lipman, Mr Chris Roberts, Ms Alyssa Stockwell, Dr Andrea Averis, Mr James Byrne, Mr Ben Lewis.

2. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES The Minutes from the previous Annual General Meeting held on 29 November 2013 were confirmed.

3. APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR The General Manager spoke to the meeting about the process to appoint Grant Thornton as auditors for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 years, and that it was the recommendation of Management that they be appointed for the 2014-15 year.

RESOLUTION The Members appoint firm, Grant Thornton, to act as auditor for the Royal Institution of Australia Inc., in accordance with Section 16.3.2 and Section 22 of the Constitution for the Financial Year 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015.

The Chairperson welcomed Ms Sheenah Edwards representing Grant Thornton to the meeting.

4. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS AND STATEMENTS 4.1. REPORTS OF THE COUNCIL The Chairperson invited the Director to provide a verbal report, details of which are printed in the 2013/14 Annual Report.

4.2. AUDITOR’S REPORT The Auditor’s Report was presented as attached to the 2013/14 Annual Accounts.

5. ELECTION OF MEMBERS TO COUNCIL There was no election required.

6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Members raised the following issues from the floor : Ms Pat Venning queried the position of RiAus in relation to live events, specifically that the number of live events in the Science Exchange in Adelaide had dramatically reduced over the past two years. Mr Yates replied that live events in this space were difficult to suitably fund, and that their effect was limited largely to the geographic location. There were many competing events – and RiAus would be focussing more on larger scale events such as those done in partnership with the BBC this year.

Mr Peter Bolton queried whether education events – like the one with Brian Cox – would be a higher priority for RiAus. Dr Willis said that RiAus was committed to the education space, with emphasis on career development.

Prof Brennan asked whether RiAus was cooperating with other scientific institutions. Mr Abraham responded that RiAus was one of eight organisations as part of the federal government’s science sector group, and that all parties regularly met to discuss ways of working together.

There was no other business.

7. NEXT AGM The Chairperson thanked everyone for their attendance, and advised that the next AGM would be held in Adelaide during November 2015 at a date to be announced.

Meeting Closed (11.20am)

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