MINUTES MEMBERS’ MEETING       APRIL 3^RD 2012 

CHAIR:     Judy Brookes                          SECRETARY:     Wendy Dalton 

APOLOGIES:     Libby Jones, Peter  Hooper, Marion Church, Sureyya Dogan, Liz Agius-Wiles, Jackie Corentin, Helen Ciampa, Fiona Waters 

PRESENT:                    Judy Brookes, Wendy Dalton, Mario Anders, Richard Bryant, David Scott, David Knight, Jeff Lowe, Suzanne Guest, Barry Baker, Leanne Beattie, Bess Kyriakidis, Lesley Birks, Lynne Rechnitzer, Sue Douglas, Marilyn Rudd, Lea Waszkinel 

After  dinner & a chat by some members, we had a brief meeting before the presentation by Elise Swallow. 

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING:  Moved:       W, Dalton

                                                                   Seconded:   M Anders 

BUSINESS ARISING:

1.     The secretary contacted newly registered celebrants with information about Ca Inc, this Members’ meeting & our OPD. As a result two of those celebrants are present to-night.

2.     The suggestion that meetings are made more social is in practice to-night with the invitation to members to meet early for a meal, drink, chat etc A number of members did just that.

3.     The unanimous support for charging a $10 fee for meetings when a professional speaker is engaged to help defray costs is also in practice to-night.

4.     The link to CoCA has been put on the web-site.

5.     The Minutes of the last Members’ meeting were posted on the web-site. No feedback as to how that has gone.....except people haven’t read them. Please do as it is the committee’s way of keeping you informed of what is going on at CA.

CORRESPONDENCE:                   Moved: W Dalton          Seconded:   R Bryant

 IN:              Judy Brookes passed on : information relevant to this year’s OPD

                                                Survey into Marriage Equality Bill from CoCA

                                                Info re BDM’s web-site

          Mario Anders:               update on CA’s web-site

          Beth O’Brien:                cost of OPD

 OUT:                    Wendy Dalton sent a congratulatory letter & info re CA, members’ meetings & OPD to newly registered celebrants 

TREASURER’S REPORT:   Moved: R Bryant Seconded: S Guest 

Richard reported that we have approx $4000 in the bank. Two members have not submitted their membership fees but fifty members have. 

Co CA REPORT:                            Moved: J Brookes             Seconded: M Anders 

As Judy will not be able to attend the next meeting in Canberra, Mario will be her surrogate & has been getting up to speed on relevant matters. He sees the key areas to be discussed as :           OPD

                                      Same sex marriage

                                      The number of registered celebrants

We look forward to Mario’s report on this meeting & wish him a positive trip to Canberra. 

MARKETING REPORT:     Moved; D Scott    Seconded: B Kyriakidis 

David Scott reported that the “expo” at the Sea Mens’ Mission required only one celebrant & that was to be him. The committee would like to hear of any fairs, shows, expos etc where CA Inc could present its credentials & help establish contacts for our members. 

WEB-SITE REPORT:           Moved: M Anders                    Seconded: J Barlow 

Unfinancial members have been removed from the list on the web-site.

The slide-show of celebrants has been improved

The ‘foundation’ year of CA needs to be changed to 2004 

MEMBERS’ REPORT: 

Covered by the treasurer. 

GENERAL BUSINESS: 

As AIET is now unavailable for CA’s meetings on Tuesday nights, we have to find another venue or change meeting nights to a Monday or Wednesday. A request for suggestions re preferred night will be sent to members & will be acted upon. Also, if any member can recommend a probable meeting space the committee would be appreciative. To-night’s experiment was not really viable for future meetings due to the extraneous noise. 

The meeting closed at 7.30.  

GUEST SPEAKER:     Elise Swallow gave a 90 minute presentation on our voices, how to use them to protect our fragile vocal chords & guarantee maximum volume. As a group we practised exercises to improve our vocal presentations & she gave tips on how to address problems members face when speaking professionally..  She was an informative, interesting & entertaining presenter.

MINUTES MEMBERS MEETING 7 FEB 2012

CHAIR:    Judy Brooks            SECRETARY:             Wendy Dalton 

PRESENT: J Brooks, W Dalton R Bryant L Agius-wiles D Scott C Haddrick M Anders J Corentin H Ciampa T Kingston J Lowe S Guest L Jones E Drozd F Waters 

APOLOGIES:     D Knight J Barlow L Martin A Drebing B Kyriakidis K Walsh L Rechnitzer W Maher L Birks

 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: As the Dec meeting was a purely social gathering, there are no formal minutes. It was agreed by those present that it was a very enjoyable meeting & the venue is recommended for the Christmas meeting in 2012.

BUSINESS ARISING FROM Oct MEETING:        The CA banneris available for members to use if desired David Scott has it.  

CORRESPONDENCE:         IN:   Judy Brooks re spam & Mario’s response.

Australian Celebrations Training re 2012 OPD courses

Judy with the link to the AG’s web-site & the ‘impediment to marriage’ decision re same sex marriage

A query from Marion Church re documentation for overseas couples & responses from members...notably Peter Hooper & Lyn Rechnitzer

Judy re ‘conflict of interest’ feedback to CoCA.

Questions re membership from Mario 

TREASURER’S REPORT:   Richard presented the current financial situation of CA Inc. There is currently $2827.28 in the bank thanks to members rejoining (20 have yet to renew their membership for 2012)

Richard also spoke to a proposed ‘balance sheet’ for 2012 which demonstrated that after our regular expenses are taken out, there is very little left over to upgrade our web position, pay for professional speakers & further promotion of CA Inc. (this budget relied on full membership being maintained plus some new members) Richard will send out reminders to lapsed members.

A vigorous& fruitful discussion ensued where members proposed ways of promoting CA. This included the notion of attending more fairs/events/bridal shows & Mario asked members to alert the committee to any that they may know about in time for the committee to take action.

As most of these events are very costly to attend Fiona spoke about celebrant members perhaps sharing the cost, attending & promoting themselves under the CA banner which would add credibility to their cause.

Christine spoke of her experience with “need-a-celebrant” at the “child & Parenting Show” & raised the notion of CA organising an expo. The issue of cost & the amount of organisation involved was mentioned.

Richard reminded members that their input & ideas are welcomed & valued, especially ways of helping members expand their businesses. 

CoCA REPORT: Judy reminded the meeting of her email to all members directing them to the CoCA web-site & said its submission to the AG’s department on the proposed fee & related matters was available on the web-site. There is also a “comment” section where members can give feedback/messages direct to CoCA itself. Judy praised the CoCa organisation for all the work it has carried out behind the scenes to help protect celebrants’ interests.

Elizabeth Drozd suggested CA organise a seminar for all celebrants & invite Nicola Roxon to speak on matters relevant to celebrants. The idea was referred to the committee.  

MARKETING REPORT:      Judy invited comment on strategies to promote CA Inc & increase membership. It was suggested that we contact newly registered celebrants spouting the benefits to be enjoyed by membership of our “boutique” organisation eg opportunity to meet other celebrants face-to-face, the support & advice that is readily given to celebrants via the yahoo site, reduced rates of insurance & OPD etc. Wendy & Liz will work on developing a letter/flyer for this purpose.

Christine suggested we meet more socially, eg have dinner at a local pub prior to meetings. Richard will investigate the pub!!!

PROGRAMS:        The cost of speakers for our meetings was raised. So far we have been fortunate in not having to pay for the venue & most speakers receive a token gift as thanks. Richard spoke of using professional speakers for a couple of our members’ meetings each year & the need for those present to help defray the cost by paying a small fee. Those members present unanimously supported a $10 fee for such meetings. There would be a door prize on the night & a small supper provided. A trial of this will be held.

As another way of sharing the “load” was to increase  our very meagre annual subscription. It would be necessary to change the constitution or have an increase approved at the AGM. A proposal to change the constitution to allow for a change in annual fee will be considered.

WEB-SITE:        A link to CoCA will be put on the web-site.

                   Minutes of Members’ Meetings will now be published on the web-site. 

NEWSLETTER:   Liz invited members to contribute to the bi-monthly newsletter The CAN. She would like members to write articles, give their opinions/interests/ information for the newsletter. The next edition is due out in March. 

GENERAL BUSINESS:                Judy informed the meeting that celebrants remain ”active” as long as OPD is completed. It’s usually up to family members to notify the AG’s  department that a celebrant has passed away.

Fiona said she’d heard that the AG contacted celebrants & invited them to de-register.

Mario was asked to again demonstrate using the  online BDM system. He will do so at the next meeting but suggested all members who had not yet done so, should register online prior to the meeting. 

The meeting closed at 8.35

Next meeting is April 3^rd. 

After the meeting Judy led a discussion about readings, readers and all matters related. The choice of these & the difference between readings for weddings & funerals was discussed... She offered tips & these were added to the members present.

A lively & very interesting session ensued with members sharing experiences, how to deal with difficult situations, lots of tips.

The finale was Judy reading a poem she had written for a neighbour’s funeral & an extremely entertaining rendition of some “pieces” Liz had written for her forthcoming book on “poems & flowers”. It should be a best seller...especially if Liz does readings at the point of sale!!!

It was generally agreed that we’d had a most enjoyable,  informative & productive night.

MINUTES MEMBERS MEETING 11TH OCTOBER 2011

PRESENT: J. Brooks, W. Dalton, L. Agius-Wiles, R. Bryant, D. Scott, B. Kyriakis, L. Birks, S.Hutchison, A.Drebing, L. Rechnitzer, J. Barlow, K.Walsh, L.Waszkinel, G. Ellis, S. Guest, M. Anders, J. Corentin, C. Haddrick, J. Lowe, B. Hoogendoorn, S. Shea, A. Schembri, M. Church

APOLOGIES: D. Knight, S. Newman, B. Dalton, J. Florent, D. Arnold, L. Martin, W. Maher, F. Waters, L. Shea.

SPEAKERS: Before the meeting proper, members were treated to a presentation by Donna Buckley-Foster and Ben Cox from Births, Deaths and Marriages. Apart from a history of BDM, members’ questions were answered and demonstration of the new on-line submission of documents was carried out.

CORRESPONDENCE: see attached list

TREASURER’S REPORT: $2775 currently in bank. Web-site hosting fee due & there will be costs associated with the Spring fairs.

CoCA REPORT: more detail of the meeting with AGD will be available later.
The fee to be imposed on celebrants is a “cost recovery” fee to cover IT upgrade
There will be an updating of the “explanatory notes” by the end of the year in a more logical format.
CoCA feels the fee is too high and that the application regimen should be stricter and maybe an application fee should be applied. Also that the fee should cover ALL celebrants; maybe $100. Re AGD, non-civil celebrants are not monitored by AG. The fee will be decided when all consultation. The question was raised whether it was meant to be a ‘disincentive’ to current celebrants or future applicants. There has been no discussion on HOW the fee would actually improve the standard of celebrants.
OPD has also been criticised by many celebrants.

MARKETING REPORT: the Spring fairs at Maroondah & Lilydale were discussed & the need for volunteers to man the Celebrants Australia stand was raised.

Meeting closed: 9.35
Next meeting: Dec 6th

CORRESPONDENCE MEMBERS’ MEETING OCTOBER 11TH 2011

1:  Dec 6th members’ meeting: enquiry to ‘Mad Duck’ restaurant Docklands re ‘package’ for function. Will contact us when details are available.
Responses from: JB, RB & DS with list of other restaurants in the area.

2 : re banner: DS with quote from Exroll banners
WD to DS re other quotes, eg Vista print

3:  Web-site: from JA re web-site
MA requesting feedback on web-site
RB re issues of his & CA’s address in Pascoe Vale
JB’s response Should we contact Sensis to change that address associated with defunct phone (no action taken)
C Haddrick re web-site sub-committee & replies from JB & LA-W

4:  OPD 2012 WD to The Gordon TAFE (2) & AssentTECS requesting costs, venues etc
Response from AssentTECS with proposal (forwarded to cttee 7/10/2011)
From Beth O’Brien re 2012 OPD requesting required date.
From The Gordon TAFE saying they are still in the process of organising their OPD for 2012. 10/10

5:  from Kim Walshe re Irene Wrochna’s husband’s passing away
J Corentin to Irene Wrochna

6:  Sureyya Dogans re ‘shortening of time’ & responses from K Walshe, M Anders & J Brooks

7:  L A-W welcome to new member Nathalie Brewer

8:  re ACN communiqués b/w WD, MA, RB & L A-W re location of official documents....finally located by Liz

9:  B Bathols re interview with disabled couple & responses from LA-W, RB, JB, DS, J Lowe.

10:  from Ritchie Hewett re OPD 2010 & certificate....WD replied

RB, JB & LA-W hadn’t heard of him!!!

11:  JB’s response to AFCC’s comments on CoCA

12:  AGD’s consultation LA-W’s thoughts on the meeting

Members Meeting June 7 2011

M       PRESENT: Liz Agius-Wiles, Wendy Dalton, Lea Waszinkel, Richard Bryant, Judy Brooks, Lesley Birks, Jeff Lowe, Jenny Barlow, Mario Anders, Suzanne Guest.

APOLOGIES:David Scott, Spencer Flint, Lyn Rechnitzer, Wendy Maher, Berni Hoogendoorn, Stan Newman, Sureya Dogans, Louise Martin, Anne Drebing, Fiona Waters, David Knight, Brian Dalton, Bess Kyriakis, Kim Walshe, Jackie Corentin, Peter Hooper,

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Moved: Liz Agius-Wiles
Seconded: Richard Bryant

BUSINESS ARISING: 1: Lea raised the issue of ‘copyright’. She suggested it wasn’t the concern of celebrants. Leave it to the clients, including ‘orders-of-service’. Liz added that celebrants need to be aware of acknowledging sources of material used.
2: Judy said that OAMPS will offer an insurance option for members when they work it out.

CORRESPONDENCE: IN: Judy re Ian Arrell
Mary Evans’ resignation
Berni h re ‘music in ceremonies’
OUT: Letters from Liz to members resigning from CA
Associated material on i) insurance
ii) AG’s registration fee

TREASURER’S REPORT: OPD finances have been finalised.

$4435 in bank at the moment
Bills will arise re web-site, e.g. hosting, & ongoing costs of upgrading CA’s site.
The name badges were not as successful as hoped in encouraging members to renew membership punctually.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT: 56 financial members currently; 2-3 have not responded.
The idea of membership privileges to “distant” celebrants was raised & will be addressed at the next committee meeting.

AGM: August 2nd. Members are encouraged to seriously consider joining the committee to continue the work of CA Inc. Some current committee members will NOT be seeking re-election & there WILL be vacancies on the committee. Feel free to talk to a current committee member to discuss the matter.

CoCA: Refer to the very detailed report printed in The CAN.
AFCC is likely to rejoin CoCA as it is the body recognised by the AG’s department as representative of celebrants.
Liz expressed her appreciation of Judy’s involvement in CoCA & the benefits it brings to CA Inc.
Judy reported that she had 12 responses to the OPD evaluation & this material will be passed on to CoCA.
In 2012, the AG will consider which organisations will take over the OPD training.
It was suggested that Cert IV should be accredited for OPD to encourage celebrants to upgrade their qualifications.

WEB-SITE REPORT: Joe has completed a lot of the work requested by the web-site sub-committee. He has placed the site on a server in the US to enable the committee to have a look at the product as it now stands.
The work done by the sub-committee....Judy, Christine & Carol...was recognised.

Hopefully, the new web-site will be up-and-running before the AGM.
Members are encouraged to send up-to-date photos, poems etc to Joe to be included on the web-site.
FESTIVALS: CA Inc will be represented at the Whitehorse & other festivals. Members interested these events are encouraged to inform the committee of their intention.

Meeting closed at 7.33.

PRESENTATION:

Following the meeting was an interesting, informative and fascinating presentation on the history, function & finer points of bagpipes (& whisky) by Ian Arrell, a piper for 50 years. The few members who braved the cold weather to attend the meeting were treated to wonderful renditions of many favourite & unfamiliar musical pieces as well as Ian’s insights into many aspects of ceremonial tradition. A special treat for Liz & Jeff was “Happy Birthday” played on the pipes.

Regrettably, we had to thank Ian & say farewell at 9.00 pm with our guest lamenting he had not covered even half of what he wanted to tell us. Maybe another time. It would be very worthwhile.

Members Meeting April 2011

CoCA is meeting with the AG department on 18^th & 19^th May in Canberra. The topics that have been discussed and are proposed for discussion will be: 

1. CoCA becoming an incorporated body (has been done, we are now incorporated in NSW)
2. Work continuing on the draft constitution
3. Work continuing on discussing opportunities for new celebrants to become members of CoCA-affiliated associations.
4. The CoCA website and continuing updates/improvements that aim to provide a balanced view of celebrancy and the role of CoCA.
5. The finalising of the CoCA/AGD protocol. (this has been signed by both CoCA and AGD) This is an important document signed between the peak body and the AGD, it describes the relationship between us and how we will operate in a formal sense. The agreement of the protocol is an important step forward in the relationship between CoCA as the peak body and the AGD.
6. Working on possibilities for revision on the marriage section of the AGD website. Discussion on proposals for ease of access, finding what celebrants need, ongoing improvements.
7. AGD commitment to CoCA as the peak body. AGD re-iterated their commitment to CoCA as the peak body, and their commitment to advise associations of the benefits of belonging to CoCA.
8. Same Sex marriage. The AGD position is clear, unless the law changes, it is status quo. However in the event of change, CoCA recommended that the application of paragraph 47(a) of the Act be extended to civil celebrants. It is now there for religious celebrants only. The extension of that provision would make it clear that there is no obligation on a celebrant to solemnise any marriage, making it fairer for civil celebrants who would have a problem conducting a gay marriage, should the law be changed in the future.  I have asked for comments from members, so far only 1 comment has been received, please email me on jbrookscmc@bigpond.com before end of April
9. Improvements to the marriage celebrant program.
    
10. Quality of training and the possibility of pre-appointment assessments. Also, now that CoCA is the recognised peak body, it will be possible for us to communicate with state bodies that regulate RTO’s providing the celebrancy course with concerns about training and qualifications.
11. Criteria for registration. We will discuss further thoughts about how to improve the process to ensure that the person who is doing the applying is the person who is completing the legal questions that are posted on application.
12. Oversupply of celebrants and standards of service, further discussion on ways to alleviate this situation are to be put forward.
13. Amendments to the code of practice, and clarification on conflict of interest. Clear guidelines and/or principles of business operation need to be created and agreed. A lot more work on this area is needed.
14. OPD for the future. Discussion continues on the Austender process, topics, class sizes, to be taken into account when the tender is next raised, which should be 2012 to give plenty of time for possible suppliers to be prepared for the 2013 year. Also includes the possibilities around completion of the Certificate IV in Celebrancy and how that should be managed through OPD.
15. Media reports on the de-registration of celebrants due to not complying with OPD, disciplinary actions and resignations.  CoCA have asked for details of this information from MCS
16. Marketing material sent out by Academy of Celebrancy, re Celebrants Mastery Program, does this convene privacy? We have received a complaint from one celebrant with the Academy using her name (without written authority) for testimonial.

 Judy Brooks
CoCA delegate – Celebrants Aust Inc

MEMBERS’ MEETING FEB 1 2011

 CHAIR:          Liz Agius-Wiles          SECRETARY:           Wendy Dalton

 APOLOGIES:            Peter Hooper, Anne drebing, Alex McKenzie, Stan Newman, Brian Dalton, Maria Church, Jenny Barlow, Lyndon Shea, Berni Hoogendoorn, Chris Tracy, Barry Tyrrell, Renae Foottit

 PRESENT:      Liz Agius-Wiles. Wendy Dalton, Lea Waszkinel, Judy Brooks, Richard Bryant,  Jillian Poole, Christine Haddrick, Lesley Birks, Wendy Maher, Louise Alantin, David Scott, David Knight, Jeffry Lowe, Suzanne Guest, Sherinda Shea, Bess Kyriakis, Mario Anders

SPEAKERS:   Peter Robertson & Bryan Crow on behalf of AFDA.

 TREASURER’S REPORT:   $3798 in the bank; 26  paid-up members.

Some money will be spent on advertising the Association when the best way of doing that is decided. Members are asked to notify Richard Bryant or David Scott of changes to their details; e.g. e-mail/ postal address; phone number  

CoCA  REPORT:       A written report was distributed.  

MEMBERSHIP REPORT:    Name tags for paid-up members are ready for collection.

Liz to e-mail AFDA on members attending the Women in the Funeral Service meeting 

WEB-SITE REPORT:            The committee has met & will reconvene & take its recommendations to the committee. A test web-site is being developed with a slide-show on the front page; all members’ names will be on the web-site & the picture gallery of celebrants with a page on the web-site will be retained.  Committee members’ names need to be updated. 

ADVERTISING CMTEE REPORT:  

No sub-committee meeting has been held yet.

The nature of advertising will be dependent on the web-site structure & will be linked to it.  The costs of media advertising will be looked at. Christine Haddrick reported an advertisement on a bus costs $550   

Bess  Kyriakis will cancel the mobile phone as it is serving no good purpose at the moment.

Secretary’s number will be listed on the web-site  

PROGRAM REPORT: OPD  April 30^th at The Manningham Club due to its accessibility, parking,  catering & a suitable room.

A senior’s meal will be available for $15  or sandwiches can be purchased in the gaming room closeby.

April Members’ meeting: a fellow member will address the issue of social networking & its relevance to us as celebrants.

Other suggestions for members’ meeting activities were:

Role play of interviewing clients for example.

Rituals in ceremonies

Invoicing

Christine Haddrick suggested CA Inc could purchase from Canprint infrequently used documents  to sell on to celebrants as needed.. Wendy Maher suggested that any member who had  already purchased such documents in bulk could inform the rest of the membership to avoid a number of us acquiring documents we only needed one of . These could then be sold on as needed.  

The issue of insurance was raised. Richard Bryant has been looking into it for us. About 50% of members present had insurance. He decided it was not appropriate to undertake our own group insurance, nor to join with another group for this purpose. He may come up with some advice for members on where they should look for insurance cover. Some members passed on their broker’s details which will form part of this advice. 

Meeting closed at 9.05 pm. 

Next meeting:  April  5th

MINUTES AGM AUGUST 3RD 2010

TREASURER’S REPORT: The report had been distributed previously.
Peter Hooper explained that the total amount included $3000+ to be paid out for OPD the following Saturday leaving a balance of over $3000, an increase of $500 since the last AGM
Presented & moved: Peter Hooper
Seconded: Lea Waszkinel

APOLOGIES: Richard Bryant, Lesley Birks, Cheryl Richards, Renae Foottit, Mary McCarthy, Bruce Bathols

PRESENT: Allan Barnes, Peter Hooper, Lea Waszkinel, Wendy Dalton, Judy Brooks, Liz Agius-Wiles, Wendy Maher, Gareth Wilding-Forbes, Bess Kyriakidis, Spencer Flint, Jeff Lowe, Jenny Barlow, Christine Haddrick, Suzanne Guest, Anne Drebing, Brian Dalton, Jillian Poole, Berni Hoogendoorn, Elizabeth Drozd, Kim Walsh, David Scott, David Knight, Lyn Rechnitzer, Fiona Waters, Chris Tracy, Barry Tyrell, Sherinda Shea

MINUTES OF 2009 AGM: Main points reiterated by Peter Hooper.
Moved: Judy Brooks
Seconded: Liz Agius-Wiles
Passed.

BUSINESS ARISING: Nil

PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Presented by Peter Hooper.

Main Points: reiterated the year’s speakers at Members’ meetings
• talked about the increase in numbers of CA Inc & its impact on AIET as the venue for meetings
• commented on the success of the Christmas function at the Manningham & thanked Lea for organising it
• addressed the issue of discourtesy during guest speakers’ presentations
• addressed the issue of Sally Cant’s complaint
• thanked Liz for her tireless work for CA
• thanked the committee for its help over the previous two years
Moved: Peter Hooper
Seconded: David Scott

MEMBERSHIP REPORT: 53 financial members with a couple more likely after the OPD.
31 have pages on the web-site
new members who were at the meeting were presented with their certificates by Peter.
Presented & moved: Liz Agius-Wiles
Seconded: Gareth Wilding_Forbes

CoCA REPORT: Judy reported that CoCA are to meet with AG’s department on 10th August
CoCa has addressed the issue of OPD exemption with the AG’s dept.
Has an ongoing dialogue with senior MCS officers
CoCA is to report back to AG’s dept on the OPD 2010

DECLARATION OF ALL COMMITTEE POSITIONS VACANT: Peter made this declaration & called upon Allan Barnes to conduct the election for office-bearers.

President: Liz Agius-Wiles
Vice President: Lea Waszkinel
Secretary: Wendy Dalton
Treasurer: Richard Bryant

All were appointed as there were no other nominations for the positions.

Nominations for Committee:

Judy Brooks both were appointed
Peter Hooper

With a shortfall of 2 members, nominations were called from the floor.
Bess Kyriakidis & David Scott volunteered & were elected to the committee.

GENERAL BUSINESS:

a) Allan was invited to talk about the progress of the Cert IV course. He raised his concerns about the relevance of some of the units to marriage celebrants, e.g. sexual harassment. He hoped CoCA will have some input into the changing of units in future courses
b) Judy reiterated his comments
c) Peter asked if anyone was interested in doing a wedding at Bunyip on Oct 16th

FORUM:

The meeting was followed by a forum of member celebrants who gave advice to members about finding work as funeral celebrants; the value of wedding expos and how to gauge our fee for weddings.
Liz thanked Spencer Flint, Judy Brooks, Kim Walshe & Gareth Wilding-Forbes for their contributions to the meeting.

Meeting closed at 9.00p.m.

Next AGM: 2nd August 2011

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE EIGHTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF CELEBRANTS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED WILL TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY 2ND AUGUST 2011.
ALL PLACES ON THE COMMITTEE WILL BE DECLARED VACANT AND NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICE-BEARERS ARE CALLED FOR. ANY FINANCIAL MEMBER MAY HOLD OFFICE OR NOMINATE ANOTHER MEMBER FOR A COMMITTEE POSITION