I am writing this message several days after the completion of another highly successful AMMA conference. Held in Hobart over the weekend 17-19 October, some 300 delegates attended, supported by over 30 trade exhibitors. As always, the quality of the papers that were read was exceptionally high, and this is a tribute to the expertise and dedication of those people who are involved in military and veterans’ health.
A full conference report will be provided in the next edition of JMVH, but two of the highlights were the attendance of VCDF, Lieutenant-General David Hurley, and the address provided by the SGADF, Major-General Paul Alexander. With the health services now within the VCDF group, General Alexander’s outline of the new structure and the planned development and implementation of changes was nicely complemented by the short address provided by General Hurley at the conference dinner.
The Association’s Annual General Meeting was also held during the conference period. Two constitutional amendments were passed by the meeting, these having been previously posted on our website.
At the AGM, Council noted that the Association is facing increased financial pressure in the near term. This has arisen as a result of its commitment to develop and publish JMVH as an internationally recognized high-quality peer review journal. The costs of both establishing the journal and continuing its publication are significantly higher than under the previous format, and to date AMMA has not yet secured any additional external funding to support its publication. Advertising within the Journal has also not been at a high enough level to significantly offset costs.
Both the Editorial Board and the AMMA Council will be redoubling their efforts to attract and retain both commercial and non-commercial sponsorship. Successful achievement of this is vital to ensure the continued publication of JMVH in its current form.
Council is also in the process of developing a three-year financial plan, which will take into account these additional costs and will define better the measures that the Association will need to pursue to ensure its viability.
AMMA has always prided itself on being an affordable organisation to which to belong, and also one whose annual conferences are great value for money. Most medical and health conferences that last three days usually have registration fees of the order of $1000-$1500, whereas for members our conferences charge much less than this.
While increases to these costs in the future are inevitable (and the AGM approved an increase to the full membership fee to $140), Council is determined to ensure that the Association remains affordable to its broad church of membership.
To that end, Council will take on board the feedback that was provided at the AGM, specifically in relation to a tiered structure of membership that endeavours to recognize individual affordability. In the process of developing this proposal the membership will be approached for its views.
In relation to its conferences, Council will continue to work to ensure that value for money is provided. Direct sponsorship of these events contribute significantly to reducing fees and Council will continue to work on its relationship with those companies that support us. We will also look to other opportunities to join with organisations that have similar interests as our experiences in the past show that these events provide significant opportunities for the Association to increase its membership, as well as assisting in reducing costs.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Scott Kitchener for his hard work during his four years’ membership of Council. Scott decided not to renominate for Council this year, and is instead taking on the rôle of Managing Editor of JMVH.
I would like to welcome Neil Westphalen to Council; Neil has agreed to be our Treasurer, a position that will be critical over the next 6-12 months. Greg Mahoney has agreed to formally take on the rôle of Professional Development Officer and he will be working on the development of concepts for the Association to improve the way it supports research, study and knowledge development for its members.
Nader Abou-Seif and Janet Scott will continue in their previous rôles of Vice President and Secretary respectively, and with the other members of Council we will all continue our efforts to grow and strengthen the Association.
Next year’s annual conference will be held at the Gold Coast Conference and Exhibition Centre from 30 October to 1 November. I have no doubt that it will again be an exciting and stimulating event. Details will be posted on the Association’s website, and I look forward to seeing you all there.
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