NA Northern Australia Service Board Meeting minutes from 26/09/2022

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:  26/09/2022
Time:  6:30 pm
Facilitator:  John C
Minutes: Sami
Attendees: Jason; Nate; Brad; John C; Sami;
Apologies: Michael B; Matt P; Meredith will be late

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. Anna from Victoria was voted in as Vice-chair of region; Sweet Pete was voted in as Vice-Policy Chair;
2.1.2. Discussion around Newcomer Banner; FSO have been very hard to deal with; Region has made it an action task that these banners be available through the FSO;
2.1.3. There are no funds available at this time to make our literature in audio form;

2.2. Treasurer
2.2.1. Reports are posted on the web
2.2.2. John advised that Michael has been having trouble closing the old Westpac bank accounts;

2.3. H & I Hub
2.3.1. Covering uber costs for an H&I member; part of H&I volunteering is to cover the costs of getting to the institution or jail; H&I does not support being reimbursed for fuel and transport costs;
2.3.2. Toowoomba – John Griffith from Sunshine Way rehab rang asking if a member or two can run a steps meeting either during the day or at night and he would be interested if it could be on a weekly basis; Nate has tried to contact John but has been unsuccessful; Nate’s understanding of what he wants is that it doesn’t align with our traditions; If NA is to be involved it would need to be done through a H&I meeting but Toowoomba does not have enough members with sufficient clean time to facilitate this; Sunshine Way are already attending a H&I online meeting on a Monday night so establishing another H&I meeting is overkill; At this stage, there will be no further action and consider this matter closed;
2.3.3. Email from Probation and Parole Officer in Toowoomba wanting details to pass onto a client; Meredith has provided her a number of links for Toowoomba meetings, Qld and global meetings; introduced Nathan to her as a direct contact of a member in Toowoomba;
2.3.4. The two meetings at Cabolture are running well; John needs someone to take over a roster but is struggling to find members
2.3.5. Prince Charles Hospital would like NA to come into the mental health ward and John is having discussions with their representative; John has suggested a set up similar program as is running at Cabolture
2.3.6. Really struggling to maintain the rosters; no meetings are being held at BWC due to lack of numbers; Correctional H&I is desperate for members to participate;

2.4. LSC Tasks and Planning
2.4.1. Reschedule feedback meeting for 3.30pm on Sunday 2nd October 2022; Sami to send out zoom link

2.5. PR
2.5.1. John and Peter attended a zoom meeting with the Townsville GSF which went well;
2.5.2. John handed out @10 starter packs at the speaker jam but has not had any feedback as yet;
2.5.3. Region is wanting to have a PR sub-committee; there is no PR chair for region and social media options are being explored in conjunction with our 12 traditions and 12 concepts;
2.5.4. John forwarded PR package to Muzz in Rockhampton

2.6. Website / Outreach
2.6.1. Nothing to report

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

2.7.2. Bonnie has handed over the email address for the RCM to Brad
2.7.3. Mail: no mail

2.8. New Items
2.8.1. Nate expressed interest in becoming a board member; Unanimously voted onto the board
2.8.2. Newcomer banners being offered on Facebook page “Recovery Noticeboard”
2.8.3. NA Related Announcements – Bushwalks have been presented as NA related announcements; clarification needs to be provided to GSFs of what is a NA related announcements; an official NA activity is sanctioned by a GSF and listed on the website; Brad will email the secretary of Region for guidance and advice; go back to GSFs and advise them that any activity outside of NA is not NA related and as such they are not to be announced; Sami to point out this paragraph in the email to ensure all members remember to take it back to their GSFs
2.8.4. Public Liability – NA Events covered by Public Liability Insurance (PLI); PLI will not cover dangerous activities (e.g. jet skiing, horse riding etc.) The link to the PLI is https://www.na.org.au/multi/arsc-related-information-and-documentation/insurance/;
2.8.5. Use of Social Media Groups with the NA name – discussion had around using the name NA in group names on social media; Region will be holding a zoom meeting and they are looking at establishing a social media section to deal with this issue; John will be attending that meeting and will raise the question there; Jason will rename his group so the NA name is not in it; it was suggested that the word recovery be used instead of NA

3. ACTION TABLE:

4. CLOSE
4.1. Next meeting 6.30pm Monday 31st October, 2022
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.