Dear Members,
Firstly, I’d like to say thank you to the ACA Council for voting me back onto the ACA Board during the recent Board elections. I would like to congratulate Scott Gaebler, Wayne Burns on their reappointments to the Board, and our new director Nick Birbilis, I look forward to working with you all.
Secondly, I would like to thank Dean Ferguson who stepped down from the Board Chair after three years in the role, creating the vacancy for me to be elected. Dean has done an extraordinary job over the last three difficult years, and put in an immense amount of work over and above what could be expected as a volunteer, to guide the Board and rebuild and stabilise the association through several of CEO changes, staff changes and system changes, in collaboration with the Board and the Council. Under Dean’s leadership the Board had developed succession plans for his stepping down at the end of 2023, and he will continue to play an active role in the Board in 2024.
Thirdly, I thank Patricia Shaw who completed her three-year term as an ACA Director in November 2023. It was a pleasure working with Trish, who is a thoughtful, level-headed, and passionate member, who represented all members, but particularly our New Zealand cohort. Trish has been an integral part of the Board, heading up the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee over the past couple of years, and her presence will be missed.
I am excited to be voted in as the Board chair by my peers, and thank Scott Gaebler for accepting the Board’s nomination to support me, in the role of Vice Chair. My forward my focus will be on building on the work already done over the last three years, with particular focus on:
- assisting our CEO, Maree Tetlow, and staff team fully integrate our new systems;
- looking for new members and membership value;
- further improvements to association governance, including updating our bylaws and commencing a review of our Constitution; and
- encouraging members to actively – and positively – participate at all levels from: Staff, Members, Branches, Technical Groups, YCG, Council and Board.
The recent Corrosion and Prevention Conference 2023 in Perth was a pleasure; it was heartening to see everybody in the flesh and to feel the positive vibes in the room. This would not be possible without our Conference Manager Rachelle Rigby, our Conference Technical Co-chair’s Associate Prof. Scott Wade and Associate Prof. Kod Pojtanabuntoeng, as well as the rest of the technical committee members. Thank you all for your efforts in making a successful conference at a great location in Perth. Of course, the event would not have been a success without the contributions of our members and colleagues to the full program of technical papers and presentations, panels, discussion forums and social events. Without the support of our sponsors – in particular our Platinum Sponsor Anti Corrosion Technology, our Gold Sponsor Dulux and our Silver Sponsors GMA, Jotun and UCC Corrosion Protection – this event would not have been possible. I look forward to seeing everyone again in Cairns in November 2024!
During the conference, the ACA signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with AMPP, the culmination of nine months of work by Maree Tetlow and Dean Ferguson. This overarching agreement will enhance and strengthen our long-term relationship, building on the current licensee courses and leveraging each other strengths with the intention to improve at combined efforts in areas such as advocacy, standards and technical events. Thank you to the AMPP team, particularly Kristen Leonard (Chair Global Center Board Of Directors at AMPP) and Cynthia O’Malley (AMPP COO), for your open communication and shared future vision.
As the year comes to a close, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Many of our Branches have organised end of year events in the coming weeks, one final chance to get together with your fellow members this year. I look forward to working with the Board, our Council President Isaac Isakovich and Vice President Raed El Sarraf, the Council, branches, all members, and of course our staff team led by CEO Maree Tetlow, in the new year.
Kind regards,
Kingsley Brown
Board Chair
ACA.