Anthropological Society of Western Australia
Annual General Meeting
Thursday 22nd April, 2010
Minutes
Apologies: Peter Randolph , Bob and Myrna Tonkinson, Eddie McDonald, Nick Harney.
Present: Bob MacMath, Greg Acciaioli, Wil Christensen, Richard Riordan, Philip Moore,
Lois Hall, Daniel Leo, Bill Day, Jane Mulcock,
1. Introduction and Welcome (Will Christensen)
 Reflections on sustainability and capacity of ASWA. Further discussion is required on how to
mobilize enough people to keep ASWA active and viable.
 Acknowledgement of positive input and support from Eddie McDonald in the past.
2. Co-presidents' reports (Will Christensen and Philip Moore)
Acknowledgements of events that have happened:
 Appearing Places Workshop on Aboriginal Heritage and contemporary placemaking
processes, 25/09/09, NNTT: Thanks to Eddie McDonald & Daniel Leo.
 WAASSA /ASWA Quiz night, 26/10/09, UWA: Thanks to Aimee Lamatoa and Greg Acciaioli.
 Greg Acciaioli’s presentation on world anthropologies and launch of new ASWA website,
09/11/09, UWA: Thanks to Greg Acciaioli and Richard Riordan.
3. Secretary's report (Jane Mulcock )
 New ASWA website: Developed and managed by Richard Riordan. Launched on 09/11/09.
Richard also generously agreed to be co-opted to the committee as the website
administrator on an ongoing basis.
 Updating of membership list: An attempt has been made to update the membership email
list but there is a need to identify better ways of managing the membership list and the
processing of renewals and receipting. Several queries were received regarding requests for
receipts.
 Correspondence: A list of incoming emails (not including those originating from current
committee members) is attached. All received responses.
Report received and accepted with thanks.
4. Web Administrator’s report (Richard Riordan)
 People are accessing Web site for jobs. Number of hits is recorded.
 People also access meeting notes. This is good for organizations contacting ASWA.
 ASWA comes up now on Google search.
 The membership email list on the website is working well. Approximately 17 members
respond to messages on a regular basis.
 Potential additional developments: WAASSA page; Professionals page – the ASWA website is
potentially a useful marketing tool for professional members working as consultants.
 There is a lot of work for consultants coming up. It could be beneficial to contact employing
organizations to inform them of website which can be used as a focus for advertising jobs.
 Daniel Leo suggested that it would be good to have an ASWA link on the AAS website.
Richard reported that it is easy to request this from other web managers.
 The committee invited Richard to continue in the role of website administrator and he
accepted.
Report received and accepted with thanks and congratulations for achievement.
4. Treasurer's report (Bob MacMath)
Statement of financial situation presented.
Balance = $5122 .17
Outstanding
 Owed to Eddie McDonald $1000.00
 Workshop expenses $500.00
Report received and accepted with thanks.
5. 2011 AAS/ASAANZ/IUAES Joint congress (Greg Acciaioli)
 The joint congress is now likely to be first week of July 2011. The committee is anticipating
attendance of approx. 700 people. Details will be finalized at the IUAES Intercongress in
Turkey, 3rd-6th October 2010.
 An ASWA sub-committee was set up in 2009 to run a pre-conference workshop for
applied/practitioner anthropologists but there does not appear to have been any progress.
It was noted that Megan McCorry has resigned. The pre-conference will take place 2 days
prior to conference and the call for papers should go out in early September 2010. The preconference would need to have an international focus to appeal to people coming from
overseas. (e.g. Native title in international context). A commitment to running this event
must be made now if it is to go ahead.
 Discussion of the viability of an ASWA-hosted pre-conference: Richard and Daniel observed
that this is a golden opportunity to reinvigorate ASWA – but are there people who can
commit to making it happen? It might be a ‘make-or-break’ opportunity for the Society.
 Can ASWA also put forward a panel?
Daniel raised the possibility of a panel with a focus on Native Title to draw in Australian
practitioners and Greg emphasised the need for an international focus and a focus on ways
to theorise these issues. Wil suggested a focus on training and retraining for practitioners
working in this field, including discussions of the pressures for professionalisation and
associated professional development opportunities. Philip raised the idea of a comparative
anthropology of processes of professionalization within the discipline. Philip also suggested
teaching anthropology in the 21st Century as an alternative focus. Greg suggested that this
could include a focus on teaching practitioners in universities and but also referred to the
recent introduction of anthropology into secondary schools in the UK as a result of long term
pressure from the RAI (see editorial in Anthropology Today, 26(2):1-3). He pointed out that
World Council AA have already committed to contribute a panel ob this topic and also
referred to an AAS public lecture series. He suggested that it might be possible to include a
distinguished lecture at conference on teaching /public outreach and training, perhaps in
the UK context.
Philip asked if it would be possible to invite interest in such a panel via the ASWA website.
Philip, Daniel and Jane agreed to draft a 200 word invitation to put on website.
6. Ancestors and Contemporaries Symposium (Greg Acciaoli)
 Daniel and Eddie met with Michael. This event will be hosted by UWA and is now scheduled
for October 1st, 2010 (Greg will be in Turkey for the IUAES intercongress. He also noted that
this date is very close to the AAS conference). Interest has already been expressed by 4 or 5
presenters. A broad range of topics will be incorporated to widen appeal.
Richard requested information on the symposium for website. Greg and Danial reported that
Eddie is planning to draft something.
7. Election of Office Bearers
President: Daniel Leo
Vice President: Greg Acciaioli
Vice President: Wil Christensen
Secretary: Richard Riordan
Treasurer: Robert McMath
Web Manager/Newsletter: Richard Riordan
Professional Committee: Philip Moore, Eddie McDonald, Lois Hall
8. General Business
 Further discussion of the way ahead is required. Wil noted that some initial decisions have
been made through the election of a new committee and statements of commitment to the
2011 conference.
 Bob McMath proposed that a Welcome to Country should be incorporated at the beginning
of each ASWA meeting.
 Greg raised the importance of a new, strategic approach to recruiting new members – staff
as well as students. He noted that involvement in ASWA is not counted in performance
assessment and suggested that this accounts for the lack of involvement from UWA
colleagues. ASWA is existing in opposition to the movement in academic environments
towards an increasingly corporate/enterprise-based model in opposition to a community
engagement model. There is a need to carve a new niche, perhaps by getting involved in
different types of activities and possibly merging with other associations? (e.g. Archaeology)
The AAS postgrad student association is a virtual organization. It only meets face to face at
AAS conferences. But it has an exciting website. Perhaps ASWA can recruit more members
by increasing its online presence. ASWA might benefit from a having Facebook page, for
example.
Daniel noted that the committee has tried to revitalize ASWA but maybe different strategies
are required. He emphasized the need to co-opt additional new people to the committee and
listed 3 points to focus on:1) A strategy to expand the capacity of the committee by inviting
people with time and drive to join, 2) A strategy to encourage wider community enagement,
3) A strategy to identify what the members want. Daniel argued that linking with other
societies is essential. He cited the South Australian model, which has a strong focus on the
non-anthropological community, and the Victorian model, which involved successfully
linking with archaeology.
Richard raise the importance of furthering discussions about standards and professionalism
amongst anthropologists in WA, since these issues are clearly on the agenda in government
forums where the possibility of licensing anthropological professionals is being explored.
Jane suggested that there could be an opportunity to use the new ASWA website to host a
discussion as a way of stimulating discussion with potential participants, and international
colleagues and students in general, in preparation for the proposed 2011 IUAES panel on
teaching anthropology.
Wil re-emphasised the existence of a strong commitment to continue promoting ASWA. He then
thanked the committee for all contributions since the previous AGM and extended his best
wishes to the incoming executive.
The meeting was closed at 9pm.
Next meeting: Tuesday 8th June 2010, (restaurant venue TBA)