NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR GAMBLING STUDIES
MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
JUPITERS HOTEL AND CASINO, GOLD COAST
6.00 PM THURSDAY 2 DECEMBER 2010
1. PRESENT AND APOLOGIES
PRESENT:
Clive Allcock
Matt Stevens
John Haw
Bernie Dwyer
Greg Coman
Linda Woo
Matthew Rockloff
Mary Marquass
Jenny Ooi
Michael Keenan
Paul Marden
Alex Blaszczynski
Janet Patford
Anna Thomas
Leigh Barrett
Andrew Clarke
Jabez Allies
Dave Robinson
Robert Baker
Mary McLean
Simone Rodda
Tim McLauchlan
Nerilee Hing
Helen Breen
Latha Raman
Kath Heading
Patrice Baxter
Angela Lutz
Pieter Remmers
Paul Delfabbro
Jan McMillen
Keis Ohtsuka
APOLOGIES:
Gavin Miller
Andrew Lamb
Nadine Grinblat
Andrew Gaukrodger
Sonja Bauer
Tony Morgan
Elaine Nuske
Louise Holdsworth
Shaaron Kapcelovich
Pauliina Raento
Sally Gainsbury
Stephen Toneguzzo
Kate Roberts
Steven Bradie- Miles
Virginia Baker
PROXIES:
Nil
The meeting commenced at 6.00 pm. NAGS President Leigh Barrett welcomed all attendees.
2.
ADOPTION OF 2008 AGM MINUTES
Motion:
Moved:
Seconded:
CARRIED
That the minutes of the 2009 AGM are accepted.
Matthew Stevens
Mary Marquass
3. BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS AGM MINUTES
There was no business arising from the previous minutes.
4. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The past year has seen the plethora of issues pertaining to gaming raised at a national level in
Australia with the second Productivity Commission Inquiry into Australia’s Gambling Industries.
Although the Association’s National Committee decided that it was inappropriate for us to make a
submission to the inquiry, understandably, many (if not most) of our members participated in
representations to the Commission.
The survey of NAGS members and former members conducted in conjunction with the 2009
Annual Conference provided valuable insights into the ways that the organisation can provide
even greater benefits for members. Thank you, Dr John Haw, for your great efforts with the
survey. Some of the suggestions have been actioned already, as outlined below. If you have not
seen the results of the survey, they can be found on the NAGS website.
Once again, your National Committee met in Melbourne in June. This time, the focus was on the
learnings from the survey and the development of action plans to address the issues raised.
Survey respondents indicated that they wanted the Journal to continue in its current format, and
Prof. Paul Delfabbro and Dr John Haw, with supplementary support from others, have continued
their wonderful work to ensure that the Journal not only retains its high quality, but also is
published in a timely manner.
The NAGS website was another area where survey respondents felt there was room for
improvement and an opportunity to increase awareness of the organisation. Delegates at this
year’s Conference will participate in a “re-launch” of the website with its 21st Century look and
feel. I would like to thank Jaffa Design and Bernie Dwyer for their efforts.
Some survey respondents indicated that they were unaware of the functions and activities of
NAGS between annual conferences. So, from now on, the monthly National Committee
teleconference Minutes will be available on the website for perusal by members of the
organisation. Thanks go particularly to Dr Keis Ohtsuka and Dr Greg Coman for ensuring that the
Minutes are in a format that is easily understood.
In this, my last year as President of the Association, I would like to, once again, especially thank
the members of the National Committee. It is one of very few committees on which I have
participated where everyone puts in 100% and is totally committed to the continued success of
the organisation. It has been an honour working with you, sharing both the hard work and the
vision.
Finally, I must thank all of the members of NAGS for continuing your support for and confidence
in the organisation. Without the support of members representing the diverse viewpoints that
make up the gambling research and gambling issues landscape, NAGS would cease to exist. It is
critical that the organisation continues to enjoy the support from all of these interests to ensure
that discourse pertaining to gambling is robust and informed.
Leigh Barrett
President
Motion:
Moved:
Seconded:
CARRIED
That the President’s report is accepted.
Leigh Barrett
Bernie Dwyer
5. SECRETARY'S REPORT
With great pleasure, I would like to present my second Secretary’s Report at the 2010 NAGS
Annual General Meeting. Firstly, I would like to start my report by thanking Mr Leigh Barrett, the
outgoing NAGS President, who has concluded his second term as NAGS President (2007-2009,
2009-2010). It has been privilege and pleasure to work with Leigh as NAGS secretary. I am
grateful for his guidance, camaraderie and friendship. Leigh has been generous to acknowledge
executive committee members’ contributions while he worked tirelessly for the organisation. I am
sure that we will all miss not only his vision and passion for NAGS but also his great sense of
humour!
Year 2010 has been the year of consolidation for major initiatives that Leigh proposed during his
presidency. One of his major initiatives was to establish and strengthen links with like-minded
organisations that promote gambling research. In carrying out these initiatives, Greg Coman
represented NAGS at the 14th International Conference of Gambling and Risk-Taking, Lake
Tahoe (see 2009 Secretary’s Report in 2009 AGM).
This year, Paul Delfabbro (South Australia State Representative) volunteered to represent NAGS
at the 8th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues, 14-17 September 2010,
Vienna, Austria. Paul paid his way to do this using his research fund. Sample copies of the
NAGS journal: Gambling Research attracted great deal of interest. They were gone within 30
minutes according to Paul. He was also seen working hard networking with European
colleagues, speaking German and Spanish quite fluently. Further, quite a few NAGS members
presented their papers in Vienna. Daily late evening review sessions at “Roo Bar”, the Australian
theme bar in Vienna, Austria, were well attended.
The Conference was very well organised and smoothly run. I would like to thank Mr Pieter
Remmer, the Conference Organizer, who is here attending AGM, for excellent hospitality. You
have certainly set the benchmark to which we all need to aspire to.
In November, I had a chance to outdo Paul (not really). I went to the 7th International Conference
on Public Welfare and Gaming Industry, Beijing, to deliver a keynote address, and also invited as
a NAGS representative to a business meeting with the conference organisers. Chinese
delegates asked questions regarding ways to promote gambling research, merits of independent
gaming industry regulators, and the possibility of organising joint national conferences in the
future.
On behalf of NAGS, I was able to convey our views on the issue of an umbrella organisation.
Regarding a proposed World Gaming Study Association/World Lottery Study Association
(discussed at AGM last year), NAGS wishes to remain as a consulting member (observer) of
WGSA/WLA. Membership at 2009 AGM felt that more detailed information regarding governance
of dual-structure organisation (e.g., by-law) and tangible member benefits would be helpful for us
to make informed decision. In principle, NAGS welcome international collaboration to encourage
gambling research especially in the Asia Pacific Region.
The second initiative is to promote NAGS more actively. As the Internet has become the major
tool for marketing, the major upgrade of the NAGS website (http://www.nags.org.au) was
proposed. A new NAGS website, as I understand, has been launched at this conference. Thanks
are due to Mr Bernie Dwyer, NAGS Vice-President, who maintained the previous NAGS website
for many years. Other auxiliary web based resources developed for NAGS include Facebook
NAGS fun page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331192426363) and Twitter for NAGS
(http://twitter/NAGS_AUS) which allows us to disseminate short announcements. Although these
two auxiliary services are not the official NAGS website and can only reach facebook or twitter
users, it is free and the update/maintenance requires minimal workload (currently facebook
NAGS fan page is maintained by myself and overseen by several NAGS executive committee
members on facebook too) which increase visibility of the organisation on the Internet and direct
more web traffic to the organisation website. Just to clarify, I would like to emphasise that these
social network websites are used to promote NAGS – NAGS members are not obligated in any
way to subscribe to these auxiliary sites. All official information regarding NAGS is readily
available on the NAGS website (http://www.nags.org.au).
Thank you all for your support, guidance and encouragements in the past two years. It has been
pleasure and privilege to work for the association.
Keis Ohtsuka
Secretary
Motion:
Moved:
Seconded:
CARRIED
That the Secretary’s report is accepted.
Keis Ohtsuka
Jan McMillen
6. TREASURER'S REPORT
Introduction
I am pleased to report that the financial position of the Association continues to remain healthy
and that the audit of the Association’s accounts produced a clean bill of health.
Current financial status
As at 29 November 2010, the Association’s main account held $23,998 (compared to $29,502 at
the same time last year). The Association also has a Business Online Saver account with the
Commonwealth Bank, balance at 29 November 2010 of $164,912 (compared to $158,407 at the
same time last year).
Financial Statement
An audit of the accounts for the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 has been carried out by
Danber Accounting Professionals. The statement, circulated in advance of the meeting, with
copies available at the meeting, shows that the Association achieved a small deficit of $271.41 for
the year. This was due to reduced conference sponsorship compared to previous years.
The major income and expense items for the year were the same as for previous years: conduct
of the annual conference, production of the Gambling Research journal and conduct of the face to
face committee strategic planning meeting. Other expenses of a moderate size include
secretariat fees, student presentation award, audit fee and postage (journal, membership
subscription renewals etc).
Future Finance Management
As discussed at last year’s AGM, we doubled the membership subscription rates for both
individual and organizational memberships as a means to increase revenue in light of increasing
costs. These had not been increased for the previous 10 years.
Unfortunately the increase did not have the desired effect. Total membership numbers are
slightly down (210 this year compared to 230 for the same time last year), More significant, many
organisations who took out organisational memberships for their staff in previous years are
instead, in my mind, exploiting a loophole by paying the lower individual membership rates for key
staff instead of taking out the more appropriate organisation membership.
Given the very minor deficit, the still substantial deposits available to the organisation and
opportunities to reduce costs, it is anticipated that membership rates will not need to be changed
for a couple of years.
Account Management
The signatories to the cheque account are Greg Coman, Leigh Barrett and Keis Ohtsuka. The
signatories to the online business saver account are Leigh Barrett and Greg Coman. They are
jointly able to transfer funds electronically between the online saver account and the operating
cheque account.
Conclusion
I express my thanks to the Committee and to the Association’s auditors for the smooth
management and audit of the finances.
Motion:
That the financial statement be received and submitted to the ACT Office of Regulatory Services
as the Association’s financial report.
Moved:
Seconded:
Greg Coman
Clive Allcock
Greg Coman
Treasurer
Motion:
Moved:
Seconded:
That the Treasurer’s report is accepted.
Greg Coman
Clive Allcock
CARRIED
7. ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS
As per the table below, nominations were received in advance of the AGM for four positions. Two
nominations were received for each of the positions of President and NSW State Representative.
Subsequent to the nominations being submitted, and prior to the conduct of the AGM, Professor
Alun Jackson withdrew his nomination as President, and John Haw withdrew his nomination as
NSW Representative. These withdrawals left only one nominee to each position.
Position
President
President
Secretary
TAS State Rep
NSW State Rep
NSW State Rep
ACT State Rep
SA State Rep
Nominee
Alun Jackson
Mary Marquass
Keis Ohtsuka
Patrice Baxter
Jabez Allies
John Haw
Tim McLaughlan
Paul Delfabbro
Proposed
Nikki Dowling
Jenny Ooi
Paul Delfabbro
Kath Heading
Sally Gainsbury
Helen Breen
Paul Guinane
Andrew Lamb
Seconded
Keis Ohtsuka
Amanda Lean
Daniel King
Gavin Miller
Gavin Faunce
Louise Holdsworth
Rachel Goodwin
Michael Keegan
Nominations for the vacancies of TAS State Representative and SA State
Representative were called from the AGM participants.
There was applause for all nominations.
All remaining positions are carried over for the next year and become due for election in
2011.
8. OTHER BUSINESS
Motion: That the conference keynote address be named the Michael Walker Memorial
Keynote Address.
Moved:
Seconded:
Alex Blaszczynski
Jan McMillen
Carried
Dr Clive Allcock initiated discussion of when to program the conference dinner, whether
on the Thursday evening, enabling more people to attend, compared to the Friday
evening, the last evening of the conference. For consideration by the 2011 Conference
organising committee.
The meeting affirmed the desire for conference proceedings to be distributed. Some
concern was expressed (copyright issues) re putting powerpoint presentations on the
website, which is not so much an issue if distributed on disk or on the member only
section of the website.
The meeting discussed the NAGS information profiled on Facebook – the trade off
between lack of privacy of information versus opportunity for marketing and promotion
that such social websites provide.
No actions were considered necessary at the time.
9. NEXT MEETING
The next AGM will be conducted during the 21th Annual NAGS conference, to be
conducted at Melbourne in November 2011.
Meeting closed at 6.35 pm.