20161023 From the Desk of Andrew VK6AS

In last weeks National news broadcast there was a long piece on the benefits of WIA membership and the reasons for you to renew your subscription.  All good  and as I have said on many occasions, it is a pity that the WIA does not publicise the behind the scenes activity that it does so well.  I also want you to renew your membership if it’s due.

However to use the words of the president, what about the “elephant or elephants in the room”.  The need to broadcast such an item last week is evident from the last set of financial results that the Board has been given, for the first half of 2016  In that statement it was recorded that subscription revenue had fallen by over $54k, thats a drop of 570 renewals in the first half of the year, compared to 2015 first half.  If that trend was to continue a loss over over a thousand memberships a year then the future for the WIA  does not look good.  This is what Paul VK5PAS and I are trying to reverse.  

We have come to understand why the WIA does not appear to represent its membership through its  systematic failures and a lack of communication to the membership on issues of importance.  

Members are passionate about our hobby but when the Committee system is broken and there is little or no consultation with the wider membership before important decisions are made, it is no wonder that you feel, what’s the point of being a member as the WIA does little for me.  This is what we have heard time and time again as we have visited clubs around Australia and in personal conversations, emails and of course on social media.

It’s now time for the WIA to change and before it is too late.  Let’s hope that the audit and review can get underway in the next month, the WIA can receive the report and then act to save our Institute from an early demise.

This is WIA Director Andrew VK6AS