NA Northern Australia Service Board Meeting minutes held on 27th November 2023

Location:  Virtual Zoom
Meeting ID: 487 569 8440
Pass code 865364
Meeting Link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86913016074?pwd=QjVpNFhXektBZUpiTXR3ajU5MFgwUT09
Date:  27/11/2023
Time:  7:00 pm
Facilitator:  John C.
Minutes: Sami
Attendees: Brad; John C; Nathan; Sami; Jason; Nina; Meredith; Michael B;
Apologies: Alan;

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 bond of selflessness that this may truly be your work, not ours, so 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. Alan P;

2. ITEMS
2.1. RCM
2.1.1. Region is on this weekend;
2.1.2. A lot of the positions that have been vacant have nominations so hopefully will be filled; Malcolm is stepping down as chairman and Nathanial has been nominated to take his place; Malcolm has been nominated to be the Alt. Delegate to world conference;
2.1.3. Brad will bring a report back to the next board meeting;

2.2. Treasurer
2.2.1. Reports are posted on the web
2.2.2. Not a lot to report this month; $522 was fund flowed to 7th tradition; still fluctuating but seems to be consistent;
2.2.3. Michael explained how to add someone as a signatory to one of the sub-accounts;

2.3. H & I Hub
2.3.1. Chermside Mental Health Secure Facility: a second meeting has been established in a different part of the facility on the alternate Tuesday starting on January 2nd it has come about from the patients requesting contact with NA; as it’s a secure facility members will need 2 years clean time;
2.3.2. RBWH Hospital Alcohol and Drug Service (HADS): roster is up and running and visits are going in consistently;
2.3.3. Moonyah (Rehab): Michael is the roster coordinator and going well however need more women on the roster to enable a male and female go into each visit;
2.3.4. Logan House (Lives Lived Well): business as usual
2.3.5. Lives Lived Well (Caboolture): Alan is the roster coordinator and it is ticking over well
2.3.6. Southern Queensland Correctional Centre (Gatton): Meredith was approached by the Ombudsman who are doing an audit and they were appreciative of her feedback about the difficulties; Meredith is the only member on this roster
2.3.7. Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre: much stronger roster with 6 or 7 women; looking at recommencing fortnightly meetings;
2.3.8. Helana Jones Correctional Centre: Meredith is the only member on this roster and is a good meeting
2.3.9. Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre: Brad is on the roster and found it went well; there was 11 people at the last meeting however the officers shut the meeting down early due to men leaving the meeting; 5 or 6 attendees had attended previous meetings
2.3.10. Online H&I (Monday night Qld and NT rehabs): Sarah is the coordinator and has a strong roster

2.4. PR
2.4.1. John sent posters and stickers and business cards to Toowoomba and Inner City Brisbane; John will be in contact with the Inner City Brisbane PR representative to see how they are going;
2.4.2. PR is going well in Brisbane North
2.4.3. As always if anyone needs and posters etc they can contact John; John has advised that he is happy for his phone number to be given out;
2.4.4. John and Meredith are coordinators of the PR Convention Committee and are meeting regularly

2.5. Website / Outreach
2.5.1. Nothing to report

2.6. Board enquiries and contacts – email/ mail / etc.
2.6.1. Emails:

Mail: All the Australia Post reminders were for junk mail

2.7. New Items
2.7.1. Next meeting falls on Christmas day. It was agreed to skip December and the next meeting will be on 29th January 2024;
2.7.2. Alt RCM position needs to be updated on our webpage; it is a three-year commitment which will take it through to the end of 2026; if the person is not a board member, they must be prepared to become a member of the board and regularly attend board meetings;
2.7.3  Jason is the chair of the NANASA Convention committee to be held in June/July/August 2024; they have 3 requests to put to the board: Nina and Brea are vice-chairs; Nick L is the treasurer; Corinda is the secretary; Jason will send through a full list to the board; they are requesting $15,000.00, a third of which would be towards the venue; a discussion was had about the importance of a good venue; Michael advised that we have $5,368.66 in the convention account; some fundraising will be required; Nina advised that they arrived at the figure of $15,000.00 from researching other areas conventions; board members are to approach their GSFs and suggest that they fund flow to area to help with the funding of the convention; John is to get in touch with Matt P to see if there is anyone who would be interested in taking part in the convention committee; next convention meeting is to be held on 17th December and they would like to have input from the northern part of the area; Jason requested that board members pass onto the GSFs the suggested themes so a decision could be made at the next convention meeting; the suggested themes are Welcome Home or Diversity is our Strength or Our Message is Hope, Our Promise is Freedom or How of the Program; Jason requested a bank account to use as an operational account for the convention; Jason and Nick are to be signatories and Jason will forward details to Michael; Discussion around having a specific email address for the convention; the board agreed that the email be shortened to NAC2024; board agreed that a financial budget will be sufficient;
The board agreed to fund flow to the convention account for the next 8 months instead of region;

3. ACTION TABLE

4. CLOSE
4.1. Next meeting Monday 29th January, 2024 at 7pm
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.