About the AGM

We were due to hold our Annual General Meeting in November 2020 but between government restrictions and a sense of exhaustion we decided it was easier to delay it until the new year. To avoid the difficulties associated with running large events in the COVIDSafe era, including the risk of cancellation in the event of an outbreak, we have decided to hold the AGM virtually. This should also make it easier for our more distant members to attend. Please register as soon as you can, we will send you a link to the meeting closer to the date.

Our AGM will follow a similar format to previous years, just online. We'll start by hearing from our guest speaker, Angela Ganley. This will be followed by reports from the President and the Treasurer on our activities this year and the state of IFFA's finances. Finally, we will conclude with elections for the 2021 IFFA Committee.

GUEST SPEAKER: ANGELA GANLEY - FROG COURT WETLAND: FROG-FRIENDLY STORMWATER TREATMENT

Angela Ganley will talk about the restoration of Frog Court Wetland in Craigieburn, and how clever design allowed better frog habitat, better stormwater pollution reduction, better public safety and better water flow.

About the talk

Before 2018, Frog Court Wetland, located in Cragieburn, 25kms from Melbourne, was in a parlous state. Intended to treat stormwater from an industrial catchment before it flowed into Merri Creek,  the wetland was known to support the EPBC listed Growling Grass Frog. However, research had shown that the frog population was in decline. In addition, design issues meant that when it rained stormwater backed up, causing localised flooding. Worse, it failed to meet safety standards making it hard to maintain and prohibiting public access. Angela will talk about how these problems were solved in an innovative restoration project.

About Angela

Angela Ganley is currently the Senior Sustainable Environment Officer at Hume City Council. She has been working in Integrated Water Management for over ten years. Most of that time was spent in the water industry before moving to the local government sector in 2017. She has been involved in the design and delivery of a number of integrated water management projects, including recycled water supply, water efficiency for industry, stormwater harvesting and wetland remediation.

Eligibility to VOTE and Nominate

All current financial members are eligible to attend and vote at IFFA's AGM. To be a current financial member you must have formally joined IFFA and have paid all of your membership dues. You can join IFFA or pay your membership dues up to and including the day of the AGM. It's easy to join and pay your membership dues online here. Your current membership status is also viewable online and included at the bottom of all email from IFFA.

If you have any questions about your eligibility or are having trouble joining or paying please email membership@iffa.org.au. 

Running order:

1pm - AGM opens, attendance registered
1:05pm - Speaker commences
1:50pm - Speaker concludes
10 minute break
2pm - President's report
2.10pm - Treasure's report
2.20pm - Committee elections
2.40pm - General business, including discussion about IFFA activities in 2021
3pm - AGM closes

Committee elections

Consistent with our rules, all positions on the IFFA Committee will be declared vacant and we encourage all members to nominate for election. The Committee is vital to the day to day operation of IFFA, great leadership experience, and a lot of fun!

There are thirteen named positions available and no one can remember the last time they were all filled. In addition, any number of "ordinary members" may be elected to the Committee. These ordinary members have no defined duties and are a great way to start out or get involved without taking on too much responsibility.

If you have even a passing interest in participating, please nominate yourself by sending an email with your name and the position you would like to nominate for to secretary@iffa.org.au. Do not fear you'll be displacing someone more enthusiastic, there are plenty of positions to go around! Nominations by email will be open up until the day of the AGM. We will also call for nominations during the AGM.

If you'd like to discuss what any of the positions involve or chat about which might suit you best, please email committee@iffa.org.au.

Positions (current holder in brackets):

• President (Sarah Branton)
• Vice-President (vacant)
• Secretary (Martha Ragg)
• Membership Secretary (Ben North)
• Treasurer (Michaelean O'Donnell)
• Editor - newsletter (Mick Connolly)
• Webmaster (Craig Allen)
• Event Coordinator (vacant)
• Indigenous Nurseries Liaison Officer (vacant)
• Student Representative (vacant)
• Fundraising Coordinator (vacant)
• Ecological Restoration Professional (vacant)
• Advocacy Coordinator (vacant)
• Ordinary members (Bernadette Power, Amanda Dodd)

Other details

Before the AGM, in addition to sending a link to the meeting, we will also provide a formal AGM agenda.

At the AGM we will circulate a summary of IFFA's financial position along with the Treasurer's report. If you would like more detail about IFFA's financial position, or to inspect our financial records, please email treasurer@iffa.org.au.

We hope to see you all very soon,
The 2020 IFFA Committee