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<p>Hi everyone, <br>
</p>
<p>It's been another jam-packed few weeks on the Linux Australia
front, and we're delighted to provide you with an update on all
our activities. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<h3>Upcoming events</h3>
<h4>WordCamp Brisbane, October 27th-28th, QUT Gardens Point</h4>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://2018.brisbane.wordcamp.org/">https://2018.brisbane.wordcamp.org/</a></p>
<p>Preparations are in full swing for WordCamp Brisbane later this
month - follow along at #wcbne. Massive congrats to Dion Hulse and
the team for what's shaping up to be another excellent event. <br>
</p>
<h4>DrupalSouth, December 3rd-5th, Hotel Realm, Canberra<br>
</h4>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://drupalsouth.org/">https://drupalsouth.org/</a></p>
<p>The DrupalSouth website is now live, and looking splendid! Follow
along @DrupalSouth. Big ups to Chris Skene, Owen Lansbury and the
team for all their efforts. <br>
</p>
<h4>linux.conf.au 2019, January 21-25th 2019, University of
Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand</h4>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://linux.conf.au">https://linux.conf.au</a></p>
<p>Registrations are now open, and Miniconfs are live! Follow along
@linuxconfau and #lca2019. Hugops to Steven Sykes and Lisa Sands
and the team as it hits the final stretch. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<h3>Recently held events</h3>
<h4>PyCon AU 2018 Sydney<br>
</h4>
<p>PyCon AU 2018 Sydney was a huge success, and our biggest PyCon AU
to date. All credit to Katie McLaughlin, Katie Bell, Lilly Ryan,
Russell Keith-Magee and Jack Skinner for a well-executed event.
Dates and venue are already locked in for PyCon AU 2019, in Sydney
and you can stay up to date at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://2019.pycon-au.org/">https://2019.pycon-au.org/</a></p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/geoscience-australia-hunts-for-water-thieves-from-space-511546">https://www.itnews.com.au/news/geoscience-australia-hunts-for-water-thieves-from-space-511546</a></p>
<p>^^ bit of a write up on one of the outstanding presentations<br>
</p>
<h4>HealthHack 2018 Brisbane<br>
</h4>
<p>HealthHack Brisbane in September saw researches, students and
healthcare professionals come together to create
opensource-licensed solutions for public health benefits.
Congratulations to team 'Auslan party' who created a visual
recognition machine learning application for recognising sign
language. Amazing work Gareth Moores and team!</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://rcc.uq.edu.au/article/2018/09/health-hack-winners-create-australia%E2%80%99s-first-data-set-recognising-auslan">https://rcc.uq.edu.au/article/2018/09/health-hack-winners-create-australia%E2%80%99s-first-data-set-recognising-auslan</a><br>
</p>
<h3>Call for bids, linux.conf.au 2021</h3>
<p>The call for bids for linux.conf.au 2021 is in full swing and you
can get more info at: <br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.linux.org.au/pipermail/announce/2018-August/000286.html">http://lists.linux.org.au/pipermail/announce/2018-August/000286.html</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, preparations for linux.conf.au 2020 Antarctica are in
full swing, although some plans are currently on ice while we wait
for the NBN to be connected (too harsh??). Joking, the s3kr17 2020
team are doing an outstanding job in their early planning. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<h3>Linux Australia website and membership database renewal</h3>
<p>The Council - and Admin Team - have been attending training on
CiviCRM recently as our website and membership database renewal
project starts to take shape. Big thanks to Justin Freeman at
Agileware for delivering training on a Saturday so more of us
could attend. Those who run events or have other content on the
existing website can expect an email to proofread the draft
content before it goes live. <br>
</p>
<p>The Voting module that has been developed as part of this work
for CiviCRM will be open sourced, and is likely to be of benefit
to several nonprofit groups.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<h3>Other Council updates</h3>
We've recently clarified our obligations to PyCon Software
Foundation with the PSF Board, and now have clarity on what these
area. We'll be working through these with the PyCon AU 2019 in due
course. <br>
<br>
We were part of a coalition of digital rights groups that
collectively criticized the proposed Exposure Draft of the
Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and
Access) Bill 2018 (the Assistance and Access Bill). In summary the
draft legislation comes without appropriate safeguards, and taken as
a whole, is a retrograde step for technology policy in Australia,
while eroding long-established civil liberties while providing no
evidence of additional security benefit. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/consultations/Documents/new-america%27s-open-technology-institute.pdf">https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/consultations/Documents/new-america%27s-open-technology-institute.pdf</a><br>
<br>
Work has been initiated to review whether the existing $AUD 11 per
attendee "LA tax" imposed on events auspiced by Linux Australia to
yield recurring revenue is sufficient to cover costs associated with
merchant fees, banking fees, accounting fees and insurances. This
work is also assessing whether there are more equitable models
available, such as a percentage of revenue, which factor in the
different scale of events run under a Linux Australia auspice. <br>
<br>
At the auDA AGM on 27th September, Linux Australia voted by proxy
via Mr Peter Tonoli (many thanks Peter) to adopt the constitutional
changes proposed. While we still hold some concerns about the equity
of the reforms - which essentially mean the abolition of the
previous Member and Demand Classes, and a single Membership tier,
with a "Nomination Committee" determining Board appointments, we
feel that it is a step in the right direction for stronger
governance of auDA, and the restoration of its reputation as our
national domain name administrator. If anyone in the Linux Australia
committee would like more information on on the call for nominations
for the Nomination Committee, please let me know. The next tranche
of discussions pertaining to auDA will be around the proposed
implementation of direct registration in the .au namespace. <br>
<br>
Our Treasurer, Russell Stuart, has been very busy with end of
financial year work - our financial year ended September 30th. My
personal thanks to Russell for his tireless efforts to ensure our
books are balanced, and that Subcommittees follow processes which
reduce risk, make clear expectations and allow us to discharge our
financial responsibilities as an incorporated association. Russell
and I will be meeting face to face later in the month to draft a
2018-2019 budget, which will then be reviewed by Council and put to
the membership for feedback and commentary. <br>
<br>
<h3>Council Elections 2019</h3>
Nominations and voting on Council elections will open in late
November. If you've ever considered nominating to be on Linux
Australia Council, or would like to again, now is the time to start
considering your nomination. We have position descriptions available
with more information on the expectations and commitment of each
role at; <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://github.com/linuxaustralia/position-descriptions">https://github.com/linuxaustralia/position-descriptions</a><br>
<br>
Being a Linux Australia Council Member provides you with additional
professional development, the ability to influence decisions and
Australia's open source community, and provides exposure to
governance, accounting and decision making practices. It's a
challenging yet professionally rewarding experience - and we're
always open to chatting with people who may be considering
nomination. <br>
<br>
<h3>Next actions</h3>
<br>
Our next actions will be focused on getting the new website and
voting system live, so that we can hold Council elections in late
November / early December. <br>
<br>
We also have a lot of accounting work to do to produce our end of
year financial reports, and production of our Annual Report which
will be tabled at our AGM in Christchurch in January. <br>
<br>
So, plenty to keep us all out of mischief!!<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
As always, your comments and questions are warmly welcomed. <br>
<br>
Kind regards, <br>
Kathy, Cam, Sae Ra, Russell, Cherie, James and Hugh<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Kathy Reid
President
Linux Australia
0418 130 636
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:president@linux.org.au">president@linux.org.au</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linux.org.au">http://linux.org.au</a>
Linux Australia Inc
GPO Box 4788
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia
ABN 56 987 117 479 </pre>
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