17 August 2015 auDA Board Meeting Minutes

Meeting of the .au Domain Administration Board

17 August 2015 – 11.00am

auDA, 114 Cardigan Street, Carlton

Present:  Tony Staley (Chair), Chris Disspain, Erhan Karabardak, George Pongas, Graham McDonald, Joe Manariti, Josh Rowe, Julie Hammer, Kartic Srinivasan, Paul Levins, Simon Johnson, Stuart Benjamin

Observers:  Caroline Greenway (DoC), Annaliese Williams (DoC), Derek Whitehead (Items 1-3), John Higgins (Nexia Australia – Items 1-5), Jo Lim (auDA), Jacki O’Sullivan (auDA–Minutes)

Apologies:  Nil

1.    Continuous Disclosure

There were no matters to disclose.

2.    Confirmation of June 2015 Minutes

• The minutes of the 15 June 2015 Board meeting were noted.
• S Benjamin and S Johnson requested amendments to Item 9 of the 15 June 2015 Board Minutes.  The amendments will be circulated for approval by email.

3.    2015 Names Policy Panel

• Derek Whitehead attended and summarised the Panel's activities to date.
• He advised the Panel last met in August to consider the draft recommendations, which had now been revised and were ready for release later this week for a 6 week public consultation comment period.  The main focus has been on direct registrations with a high level of satisfaction noted for the current system.
• The Panel will next meet on the 8 October 2015 to consider the public consultation outcomes.

4.    Finance

• The Board noted and approved the final June 2015 accounts for forwarding to the auditors.
• The Board noted the July 2015 accounts.

5.    CEO Report

• The CEO report was noted.
• Caroline Greenway and Annaliese Williams attended from the Department of Communications and gave an update on the current restructure within the Department.
• The CEO gave the Board an update on the ICANN Cross Community Working Group on Accountability and will circulate a timeline to the Board list for information.
• The Board discussed the outcomes of the Brand Awareness Campaign.  It was noted staff are now working on 2015/16 campaign plans and further information will be circulated to the Board in due course.

6.    AusRegistry presentation

Adrian Kinderis attended from AusRegistry attended and gave a presentation on the 2015 .au Survey and Zone File analysis.

7.  Board Committee Updates

Finance & Audit Committee:

• The Chair advised the Committee had met on 12 August 2015 and minutes would be circulated in due course.
• The Chair advised the final June 2015 accounts would be audited within the next few weeks.
• The Chair confirmed all outstanding investments would be completed and in place by end August 2015 as previously agreed.

Governance, Board Succession & Remuneration Committee:

• The Chair advised the Committee had met on 13 August 2015 and minutes would be circulated in due course.
• The Chair advised the Committee’s recommendations on changes to auDA's AGM voting practices in response to advice received from Maddocks and feedback from auDA members. 

Motion (proposed J Hammer, seconded E Karabardak) that the Board approve the Committee recommendations as follows:

1. That auDA accept the submission of AGM proxy forms by email, fax or mail, commencing with the 2015 AGM; and
2. That the Committee maintain a watching brief on the possible future implementation of online voting.

       Carried

• The A&TF review conducted by Maddocks had been circulated to the Board with one recommendation to be implemented in relation to maintaining a register of questions at AGMs.
• There was no further update at this stage on the Board Performance Review, this will now be progressed and updates circulated in due course.

Strategic Risk Committee:

• The Chair advised the Committee had last met on 15 June 2015 and minutes had been circulated, approved and published.
• Since the last meeting, the Risk log had now been split into Operational and Strategic risks and evaluations had been completed on 'Impact of Actions'.  The log will be reviewed at the Risk Meeting on 17 August and further updates provided in due course.

8.    Membership

The following membership applications were approved in the classes indicated.

9.    Board Correspondence

There was no Board Correspondence.

10.  Other Business

There was no other business

11.  Next Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held on Thursday 8 October 2015 at 10.30am, following the auIGF in Melbourne.