NA Northern Australia Service Board Meeting minutes 27th June 2022

NA Northern Australia Service Board Meeting minutes

Location:   Virtual Zoom
Meeting ID: 487 569 8440
Pass code 865364
Meeting Link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86913016074?pwd=QjVpNFhXektBZUpiTXR3ajU5MFgwUT09

Date:  27th June, 2022
Time:  6:30 pm
Facilitator:  John
Minutes: Sami
Attendees: Jason; Sami; Brad; John C; Nate; Meredith; Michael B;
Apologies:

1. OPEN
1.1. Chair’s welcome.
1.2. Service prayer:
God, grant us the knowledge that we may act according to your divine precepts. Instill in us a sense of your purpose. Make us servants of your will and grant us a bondage of selflessness, that this may truly be your work, not ours – in order that no addict, anywhere, need die from the horrors of addiction.
1.3. Acknowledgement of Country
Today we stand in footsteps millennia old. May we acknowledge the traditional owners whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land, since men and women awoke from the great dream. We honour the presence of these ancestors who reside in the imagination of this land and whose irrepressible spirituality flows through all creation.
1.4. ID of those present
1.5. Apologies.

2. ITEMS
2.1. RCM
2.1.1. Once Brad receives the minutes from the RCM, he will forward them to Sami to be sent out to all board members;
2.1.2. Malcolm is the new chair of the region board
2.1.3. There was no discussion about the newcomer banner; Meredith will get in touch with Bonnie to follow up;
2.1.4. Brad requesting the board cover his accommodation for region in September; Brad to fly down to Sydney on Friday and return on Monday; Michael will transfer money into Brad’s account to cover the cost; region covers the cost of the airfares;

2.2. Treasurer
2.2.1. Reports are posted on the web
2.2.2. Sami has sent Michael an email with the details for the Townsville sub-accounts
2.2.3. Michael will reimburse Sarah for petrol; Sami will forward the receipts and Sarah’s bank details to Michael

2.3. H & I Hub
2.3.1. Meetings are ticking over at Brisbane Women’s; Southern Queensland Correctional Centre has only Meredith to run it; Meredith goes fortnightly to SQCC and Helena Jones;
2.3.2. Brad will need to renew his security clearance for Arthur Gorrie, Meredith will send him the current S27a form for him to complete; still waiting to get three other men on the Arthur Gorrie roster which is not enough to sustain the roster, need another three;
2.3.3. Michael is looking after Moonyah
2.3.4. Asher has done the roster for Lives Lived Well; John is working on the Cabolture Mental Health roster; a member from Cabolture has been attending meetings in the community;
2.3.5. Meredith will announce at Rainbow meeting that more women are needed for the rosters for Moonyah and Cabolture
2.3.6. Meredith is receiving letters from prisons, mainly men, looking for support when they are released which she responds to; there are also several women that Meredith corresponds with through the email a prisoner program;
2.3.7. Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre has requested more business cards; John will post them to Meredith;

2.4. LSC Tasks and Planning
2.4.1. Discussion around the next speaker jam; going through Jason’s excel sheet and allocating the various topics from the last Unity Day to traditions, steps etc.; Jason suggested having 7 different speakers with 7 topics between 1 and 3.30pm with a 15 minute break in the middle; Meredith suggested having it focused on tea and cakes rather than a BBQ; Sami requested that it be a hybrid workshop so those who are regional can be involved; if possible we could include a speaker from regional area; a loose plan for the day has been discussed;

2.5. PR
2.5.1. John has had sticky business cards that will stick to the wall for above sharp containers etc; waiting for permission to place them at various locations;
2.5.2. John doesn’t have the full reports back about PR week;

2.6. Website / Outreach
2.6.1. Had an issue with postbots posting crap from Russia; the policy for registering with the Northern Australian site will be subscribers instead of contributors; people wishing to be a contributor will need to email and Jason or Sami will attend to it;
2.6.2. The working group has been on hold but Jason has received feedback about the wall of text on the front page; Jason will endeavor to progress the updates to the Northern Australian website with the working group;

2.7. Board enquiries and contacts – email/ mail / etc.
2.7.1. Emails:

2.7.2. Mail: One letter from an inmate at a correctional center that has been passed onto Meredith;

2.8. New Items
2.8.1. Disunity at Caboolture – John has had 2 women who have been in contact via email talking about disrespect in the meeting and is centred around the definition of clean means and what abstinence means; John sent a PowerPoint presentation that PT forwarded to him about this topic to one of the members; John has suggested that the group hold a group conscious to discuss this matter or alternatively to leave the meeting;
2.8.2. Request for NA email address for PR; IT Chair needs to create the email address; Jason will arrange it;
2.8.3. NA Today – Bonnie will be posting them out; Sami needs confirmation from Board members as to who they are to be posted to for each GSF (refer to list that Sami emailed to everyone today)
2.8.4. Unity Day in Cairns was a great success; Both Townsville and Cairns have agreed for it to be an annual event, alternating locations (next June in Townsville); the books that were donated have all been handed to secretaries of various groups to be used as a group resource; Books have gone to Cape York, Darwin, Cairns and Townsville; Sami still has two books which will be sent to Bernard in Alice Springs for their meetings; the service workshop was facilitated by Sarah and Sami and a report is being compiled for the board but won’t be ready till the next board meeting; Sami to send out the PowerPoint to board members;

3. ACTION TABLE:

4. CLOSE
4.1. Next meeting Monday 25th July, 2022 at 6.30pm
4.2. Serenity prayer in the plural:
God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. The courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.