1. Meeting overview and key information
Present
- Joel Addison (President)
- Jennifer Cox (Vice-President)
- Russell Stuart (Treasurer)
- Neill Cox (Secretary)
- Elena Williams (Council)
- Jonathan Woithe (Council)
Apologies
Not Present
- Lilly Hoi Sze Ho (Council)
Meeting opened at 20:08 AEDT by Joel and quorum was achieved.
Minutes taken by Neill.
2. Log of correspondence
- Council meeting minutes for 2024-Oct..2025-Sep – we need to provide copies of the minutes to the auditor
- Re: Bills to Pay – DrupalCon Japan 2025 – Russell has responded
- Clarifying and confirming contact details – Jack Skinner has shared contact details with the council
- Spreadsheet shared with you: ‘DrupalSouth operating budget – Wellington 2026’ – Julia Topliss has shared the Drupal Down Under budget with the council
- Linux Australia Inactive Member – we have received a request to deactivate a membership. Neill has responded (and cancelled the membership)
- LA meeting notes – email to the EO subcommittee reporting on discussions at the LA subcommittee meeting.
- Loose ends – discussion between Russell and Jack covering Wise, Stripe, Paypal, password managers and international tax on ticket sales.
- [LACTTE] Request for insurance cover for a Perth Linux User Group event – request for insurance cover. Council passed a motion on email and provided insurance for the event.
- Fwd: DDD Melbourne 2026 Community Space Applications – Joel has told Sae Ra that LA would like to participate.
- Stuff we need from Linux Australia – email from EO. Joel and Sae Ra have responded
- Must-See Recordings Now Available – newsletter from OSI
- Get your T-shirt size in! – EO internal email
- We need your T-shirt size for the EO conference. – EO internal email
- Transport and accommodation options draft. – EO internal email
- Lodge Linux Australia Activity Statement July..September 2025 – Russell has requested LA’s accountant lodge the latest BAS. The accountant has confirmed lodgment
- Re: DrupalSouth Community Day 2025 – wrapping up accounts stuff – discussion between Julia and Russell about paying the remaining invoices for the Drupal South Community Day
- Fwd: Flounder post from admin@lists.linux.org.au requires approval – enquiry from Russell Coker about progress in blocking spam from lists.linux.org.au – We need to respond saying that changes have been made and we are monitoring the situation
- Fwd: Public Liability Insurance – request from KiwiPyCon for the current insurance certificate. Joel has supplied it.
- LA Council Vote: Accept PLUG Installfest as event – on list motion to accept event. Motion was passed.
- Keynote #1 and early bird “hurry up” notice for Monday – internal EO email
- Authorisation for Kiwi PyCon Transaction Exceeding $5000 2025-11-15 – payment was authorised.
- 2019-2021 PO BOX paperwork – Julien Goodwin asks if he can dispose of paperwork from 2019-2021
- Tuesday night’s meeting – internal EO email
- On-campus accommodation for core team – internal EO email
- Subsidised parking – internal EO email
- Please register on the EO2026 conference website
- Link to join meeting – request from Sophie for Linux Victoria for a link to tonight’s meeting. Joel has responded.
- DrupalCon Nara Update – Report from Michael Richardson
3. Items for discussion
- PO Box items with Julien
Everything that was there has been scanned, so we should have copies of everything. We should not need physical copies, so it should be fine for Julien to dispose of them.
We will ask for Julien to shred them. Joel will contact Julien. - Stripe
After a discussion between Jack and Russell about Stripe’s tax notifications, it seems reasonable to argue that we shouldn’t have to pay VAT/GST in other countries for services being consumed in Australia.
Russell: Our Accountant didn’t give us firm advice one way or the other when I asked him.
Russell: If someone was paying us to watch the live stream while they are in another country it might be different. Therefore we can’t sell digital tickets to overseas attendees.
Russell feels that some of this may be an attempt by Stripe to sell us a service.
Elena suggests that we should just say that digital tickets are sold under Australian conditions.
We will develop a written policy on this and publish and make subcommittees aware of it. Elena will write the first version.
4. Items for noting
- On list motion
MOTION: That Linux Australia will provide assistance, in the form of insurance cover, to PLUG for their Installfest November 2025.
Moved by Joel, Seconded by Jonathan
Motion passed. - DrupalCon Japan
DrupalCon Nara was a big success. 211 ticket sales in the end, and financials look to be about where we expected which is good. Feedback has been extremely positive.
Michael has informed the Steering Committee that he is going to leave the Committee, and they are evaluating their options for the next DrupalCon, probably in India, probably in 2027.
5. Other business
- Annual Report
Elena has started work on the annual report. There is a document in the shared drive. Elena will produce a plan for chasing down the required information this week.
- Membership applications – Still behind on processing these – have drafted an email to send to applicants to ask about their connection to the community.
I am writing to you about your recent application to join Linux Australia._
We would like to confirm that you would still like to join and if so ask if you could outline how you currently participate in our community.
We aim to represent and assist the groups and individuals who make up the Free Software, Open Source and Open Technology communities in Australia.
We support a number of conferences in Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa and the Asia Pacific region, including Everything Open, Drupal Down Under, Pycon Au and Kiwi Pycon
Can you tell us how you heard of us, and briefly describe your participation in the communities we represent? There are no specific requirements for membership, but to reduce the number of spam applications, we are confirming applications are genuine before we approve them.
6. In camera
- No items were discussed in camera
7. Action items
- Neill – publish minutes by 22/11
- Neill – respond to Russell Coker
- Elena – write a policy for sale of tickets to international attendees
7.1 Completed Items
7.2 Carried Forward
Meeting closed at 20:48 AEDT
Next meeting is scheduled for 2025-12-03 and is a subcommittee meeting
