Vision Australia’s 2013 Annual General Meeting was held in Coorparoo on Friday 8 November and was attended by around 40 financial members of the organisation. In addition, members from elsewhere in Australia were able to access the meeting live webcast.
Ten Board members were present with apologies from Ross McColl and Lyn Allison. Chief Executive Officer Ron Hooton, Company Secretary David Speyer and external auditor Rob Collie were also there.
Vision Australia’s Maryanne Diamond was the special guest speaker and she spoke on ‘The Miracle of Marrakech’, the significant international treaty signed in June this year to improve access to information for persons who are blind, vision impaired or otherwise print disabled. Blind Citizens Australia recently awarded Maryanne the David Blyth award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to improve the quality of life of people who are blind and vision impaired in Australia and throughout the world.
Four Board members were appointed at the AGM. The Board election this year was contested (i.e. five candidates stood for four positions) and the ballot was conducted under the scrutiny of Ernst and Young.
A more consultative approach was undertaken for the election, with members invited to meet and ask questions of the candidates at three of locations, and an online forum thread set up on the website to give more opportunities for questions and discussion.
The results of the ballot were:
- Theresa Smith-Ruig - 174 votes (yes), 10 votes (no), Elected
- Caroline Waldron - 164 votes (yes), 13 votes (no), Elected
- Sara Watts - 159 votes (yes), 14 votes (no), Elected
- Heith W Mackay-Cruise - 153 votes (yes), 13 votes (no), Elected
- Dale Reardon - 110 votes (yes), 12 votes (no), Not elected
Vision Australia welcomes these Board members and thanks retiring members Owen van der Wall (Deputy Chair), Paul Gleeson and Keith Barton for their significant voluntary contribution to Vision Australia’s work, which was honoured with a Vision Australia Award.
The Vision Australia Client Service Award, selected by the Client Representative Council, was presented to volunteer Chris Boyle and the recipient of the Vision Australia Youth Award was announced as ABC journalist, and Vision Australia client Nas Campanella.
Listen to or download the audio of the AGM's proceedings here.