LSC Minutes NANASA February 2025

 

 

Narcotics Anonymous

Northern Australia

Service Area (NANASA)

Local Service Conference (LSC) – February 2025

Date: Sunday the 2nd of February, 2025 Time: 10am – 2pm AEST

Venue: Virtual Conference via Zoom

Attendees: Bruce G (Member), Joymaree (PR Coordinator), Sonya (H&I Coordinator),

Cameron (Member), Michael (Treasurer), Meredith (Member), Brad (RCM), Nina (Alt RCM), Tia (GSF Bundaberg), Jason (Member), Dillion (GSF Inner City), Kelly (GSF Western), Conan (GSR Kingaroy).

Apologies: Kaye (GSF Cairns), Sami (GSF Townsville), Bob (GSR Harvey Bay), Allan P (GSF Brisbane North).

Acceptance of last LSC minutes on the 24th November 2024 – Michael and 2nd by Sonya

AGENDA:

1. 10:00am to 11:00am. WELCOME + INTRODUCTIONS/OBJECTIVES –

Facilitator: Joymaree (Public Relations)

2. 10:25am to 11:05am. LSB DISCUSSION RE: APPLICATION OF CONSENSUS

BASED DECISION MAKING (CBDM) – Facilitator: Brad (Regional Committee Member)

3. PRESENTATION OF REVIEW/GAP ANALYSIS RE: NANASA OLD + NEW

GUIDELINES – Facilitator: Sonya (H&I)

4. GSF + GSR ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES: LSB DISCUSSION **postponed due to time limitations**

5. ELECTIONS – Facilitator: Brad (Regional Committee Member)

6. NEW BUSINESS – Facilitator: Michael (Treasurer)

10AM – FACILITATING: JOYMAREE (PUBLIC RELATIONS)

Chairperson’s welcome

Hello and welcome everyone. My name is Joymaree, and I have the privilege of being the Chairperson for today’s Local Service Conference. Can we have a moments silence to remember the still suffering addicts in and out of these rooms, the ones yet to make it and the ones we’ve lost along the way.

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.

Service Prayer

God, grant us the knowledge that we may serve according to your divine precepts. Instil 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. I’ll now share on screen the 12 Traditions & 12 Concepts and call on members to read.

Narcotics Anonymous 12 Traditions

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on NA unity.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority— a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

3. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or NA as a whole.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry the message to the addict who still suffers.

6. An NA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the NA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

7. Every NA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

8. Narcotics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

9. NA, as such, ought never be organised, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

10. Narcotics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the NA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. https://www.na.org.au/multi/the-12-traditions/

Narcotics Anonymous 12 Concepts

1. To fulfil our fellowship’s primary purpose, the NA groups have joined together to create a structure which develops, coordinates, and maintains services on behalf of NA as a whole.

2. The final responsibility and authority for NA services rests with the NA groups.

3. The NA groups delegate to the service structure the authority necessary to fulfill the responsibilities assigned to it.

4. Effective leadership is highly valued in Narcotics Anonymous. Leadership qualities should be carefully considered when selecting trusted servants.

5. For each responsibility assigned to the service structure, a single point of decision and accountability should be clearly defined.

6. Group conscience is the spiritual means by which we invite a loving God to influence our decisions.

7. All members of a service body bear substantial responsibility for that body’s decisions and should be allowed to fully participate in its decision-making processes.

8. Our service structure depends on the integrity and effectiveness of our communications.

9. All elements of our service structure have the responsibility to carefully consider all viewpoints in their decision-making processes.

10. Any member of a service body can petition that body for the redress of a personal grievance, without fear of reprisal.

11. NA funds are to be used to further our primary purpose, and must be managed responsibly.

12. In keeping with the spiritual nature of Narcotics Anonymous, our structure should always be one of service, never of government.

https://na.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Twelve-Concepts-English.pdf

ID of members present: (**as named above**)

LSC – Local Service Conference

❖ In addition to welcoming everyone here today from the Northern Australia Service Area which includes the Northern Territory and Qld with the exception of the Logan area, Sunshine and Gold Coast. We also acknowledge those members who are attending their first Local Service Conference (LSC).

❖ By way of background, the LSC was established by, and is responsible to, the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. Its purpose is to be supportive to the fellowship as a whole and to define and implement the policies/ guidelines of Narcotics Anonymous.

❖ The LSC does this by joining NA members; Groups; GSR’s; GSF’s, and the Local Service Board into a unified fellowship. This body is designed to deal with the needs and problems of the fellowship, to actively encourage the primary purpose and growth of Narcotics Anonymous. The LSC is not an entity, it is an event or gathering.

❖ The intent for an LSC is to plan the annual strategy for the Area and then review the progress consistently. This in turn provides direction for the Local Service Board which is also referred to as the LSB.

❖ This conference also allows the opportunity for those members attending to discuss topics of significance to the area. The LSC meeting attendees include GSRs and/or GSF delegates, members along with trusted servants of the LSC and LSB.

❖ The LSC is an opportunity for us to grow spiritually and to build upon what those who served before us achieved. Therefore, in the spirt of unity, all participants are requested to assume their share of responsibility for creating a safe, productive environment in which to conduct today’s LSC. There are only three acronyms you’ll need to remember today – NANASA which stands for Narcotics Anonymous Northern Australia Service Area, LSB which stands for Local Service Board and LSC with is Local Service Conference.

➢ Timekeeper nominated with a five-minute warning – Nina. S (Nominated timekeeper)

➢ Honouring our commitment as members of NA to place principles before personalities, which includes practicing honesty, humility, compassion, tolerance, and patience with everyone, whether we like them or not. Working together also requires sharing our opinions respectfully. If you wish to speak, please use either the raise hand function or your physical hand, this will allow the Chairperson or Facilitator to better manage discussion and questions.

➢ Should a speaker be unable to maintain an atmosphere of recovery, I will pause the meeting to remind them of their responsibility to communicate respectfully. If the speaker is not willing to follow that request, I will mute the speaker’s microphone and camera (if necessary).

Reports: To allow time for discussion and the election process the LSB monthly reports will not be reported on verbally today but are available online on the Na.org.au website. No LSC reports have been submitted at present.

• We have gone slightly overtime; however, I will now hand it over to Brad who will facilitate the first discussion on Consensus Based Decision Making.

CONSENSUS BASED DECISION MAKING

10.30AM – FACILITATING: BRAD (REGIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBER)

Hi everyone and welcome, we will just wait a moment while we get set up.

Screen share from NA approved material URL [ https://na.org/wp-content/ uploads/2024/06/CBDM-Basics-English.pdf ]

Brad reads from Local Service Tools (2018, p.1) “…CBDM isn’t just about particular policies or rules, or one or two specific Concepts or Traditions. It’s about a group conscience process that connects us with a Higher Power and offers a potentially more inclusive process than parliamentary procedure. Our service bodies’ meetings should be forums where trusted servants can be heard, and CBDM is about listening. With its emphasis on inclusion, collaboration, and consensus building, CBDM is in harmony with our spiritual principles. The consensus process is how we manifest the idea “together we can do what we cannot do alone” in a service setting.

What types of decisions can we make with CBDM?

CBDM can be used to reach agreement on the types of decisions that are also made using parliamentary procedure. It can also be used to hold broader discussions that may not result in a specific decision. Each community is free to determine when a CBDM process will be most effective for them. Elections are one type of decision where it is common to simply seek a majority or a two-thirds vote rather than utilize a consensus-based decision-making process…”

Can we move to the next page please?

Depicted on Zoom screen is a visual CBDM diagram (See below) from the Local Service Tools (2018, p.2)

Brad asks the LSC if they have any questions:

Jason – My experience in service in the Northern Territory and within the Inner-City Brisbane area with consensus-based decisions is that everyone agrees on a decision, and for the most part this has worked. So I am just wondering if the model used at region is the only model of CBDM you have experience with?

• Brad – Yes Jason, I am primarily familiar with the Consensus Based Decision making model used at region because that has been my service experience. Yep.

• Jason – So are we being asked to vote or choose a particular model?

• Cameron – My concerns are that we as board should not be making this decision about the what the CBDM model is on behalf of the Northern Australian Service Area, the groups should decide what model they would like to use.

• Meredith – Okay so I would like to just clarify for the purpose of this discussion here, the purpose was to provide some information about each of the models we have available then see what we as the board would like to do.

Bruce (NA Regional Member – IT) facilitated straw poll based on the following Consensus based decision making options:

1. 80/20 (80%)

2. 2/3 (two thirds majority vote)

3. Strict vote (everyone agrees)

4. Show of hands either way

• Re-vote required due to suggestion from Meredith & Bruce re:

voting option ‘show of hands’ being an indicator of the necessity for a CBDM model to be used when making decisions in service; but it is not a decision-making model in and of itself.

Bruce (NA Regional Member – IT) facilitated straw poll based on the following Consensus based decision making options:

1. 80/20 (80%)

2. 2/3 (two thirds majority vote)

3. Strict vote (everyone agrees)

Outcome: 80/20 was the agreed Consensus Based Decision Making method to be used in Local Service Board & Local Service Conference meetings.

**10-minute zoom break**

11.40 am – 12.50pm FACILITATING: SONIA (H&I) – GAP ANALYSIS (OLD + NEW NANASA GUIDELINES)

Sonia spoke to a review of the documents provided by Cameron between November 2024 LSC in comparison to the NANASA Guidelines created by the policy workgroup. The Review + Gap Analysis was a process initiated by the LSC in November 2024.

Objective: Discussion on the Need for Guidelines for the Northern Australia Service Area + Voting on the Proposal of NANASA Guidelines.

• Draft NANASA Policy Guidelines election process and position descriptions were adopted by consensus to move forward with to elect vacant service positions.

• The LSC agreed that: the Draft NANASA Policy Guidelines would be taken back to the Groups for further discussion and amendment for consideration at the LSC on 2nd February 2025.

Gap analysis presentation:

Sonia (H&I) reviewed documents sent from Cameron via email linked to a Dropbox account. These were reviewed in comparison to the NANASA draft guidelines completed last year by the policy workgroup. The documents sent to the LSB were included as part of the guidelines gap analysis. Sonia + LSB members reviewed all of the documents.

Key findings:

– Overall, while there was some good stuff in there – for the most part, the majority of those documents appeared unfinished or disjointed. It appears as though there is no record of them being ‘formally’ ratified by the board, however I acknowledge there is some tension around this and issues with NA and record keeping in the past.

– Moving forward, and keeping things brief – I think there are parts of these documents we could draw from most definitely however it is not one single comprehensive set of guidelines. The language isn’t consistent throughout, and when I compared what was sent in those documents from the dropbox to the draft guidelines it seemed that it would be the better option to move forward with what we have and take on the feedback from the groups (GSRs in the NANASA) – then incorporate this as best we can. I think we all need to remember these guidelines, I prefer the term guidelines over policy personally, they are a living and breathing document which can be changed as needed.

Key discussion from LSC:

• Concern that the groups in the Northern Australia service area were not given sufficient time to review the draft guidelines and provide feedback – Jason

• Concern that the formation of the policy workgroup was not in alignment with NA service concepts and traditions and therefore the draft NANASA guidelines poses a number issues – Cameron

• Inner-city Brisbane GSF reviewed the draft NANASA guidelines and felt it was a useful document that gave them structure they would like to have and work with as a group service forum – Dillon

• Provision of the Absent GSF representative form could be a method in which GSR’s unable to attend the Local Service Conference may be able to participate in such decisions and vote on future proposals – Sonia

• If we do not have draft policy adopted by the Local Service Conference then the Policy Chair & Policy Workgroup (vacant positions) will have no viable documents to work with + while these positions mentioned are still vacant there will be no service member able to action the feedback gathered from GSF’s – Meredith

Bruce (NA Regional Member – IT) facilitated straw poll to gauge when was a suitable timeframe for the NANASA groups in the area to have reviewed the draft guidelines and attend an upcoming LSC based on the following options:

– Feedback provided from groups (GSFs/GSRs) by the May LSC

– Feedback provided from groups (GSFs/GSRs) by the August LSC

– Feedback provided from groups (GSFs/GSRs) by the December LSC

Equal votes were placed on each option from attendees at the Feb 2025 LSC therefore no consensus could be reached.

The decision was made to proceed with another straw poll after further discussion regarding the nature of the draft guidelines being a ‘living & breathing’ document that requires adoption by the LSC to be applied and worked with by a Policy Chair & Workgroup.

Bruce (NA Regional Member – IT) facilitated straw poll to gauge whether the LSC would adopt the NANASA draft policy as it stands Options:

– Yes – No

Outcome: Consensus could not be reached, under 80% of attendees voted yes.

Bruce (NA Regional Member – IT) facilitated straw poll to gauge whether the LSC felt there was a need for the NANASA guidelines – Options:

-Yes -No

Outcome: Yes, the consensus was that there is a need for guidelines.

As per NA guidelines re: CBDM, if consensus is not reached, the proposal may be dismissed until the proposal may be sent to a reconciliation. In this instance it was decided that the proposal would be revisited at an upcoming LSC.

ACTION: The LSB decided to extend the timeframe for the GSFs and broader fellowship to review the draft NANASA guidelines subsequent to the last LSC (**ongoing**).

**Decision made to post-pone discussion re: GSF and GSR roles and responsibilities to next LSC due to time restrictions**

**10-minute zoom break**

1PM – 1.30PM – FACILITATING: BRAD (RCM) ELECTIONS

• Service positions vacant were read, no nominations were submitted to the board via email.

• Bruce read the position descriptions from the NANASA draft guidelines and screen shared the document for attendees on zoom.

• Those nominating were asked to verbalize a brief service resume and if there were no other members nominating for the same position at once – no straw poll/secret ballot required.

• LSB/LSC agreed in discussion to be flexible re: clean-time requirements listed in the NANASA draft guidelines for role descriptions due to the number of vacant service positions required to be filled.

Election 1.

LSB/LSC Chairperson – Dillion nominated by Michael and 2nd by Joymaree

Service resume: (Clean time: 13 months) (Clean time requirement: 3 years)

Chair of Inner-city Bris GSF 2024-25

HG member – Men’s Group

NB: LSC agreed to waive the clean time requirement for the LSB/LSC Chairperson position. Meredith also endorsed Dillon’s nomination as the previous LSB representative who attended Inner City GSFs that Dillon is Chairperson for.

Election 2.

LSC Facilitator – Cameron nominated by himself and 2nd by Nina. Service resume: (Clean time: 15 tbc* years) (Clean time requirement: 3 years)

NANASA Convention 2024 – Assistant Treasurer

Unity Day Inner-city Brisbane 2023 – Disruptive Behaviour Workshop

Facilitator

Past experience to be added (FSO, ARSC, etc.) No further elections/nominations.

Positions still vacant:

• Local Service Board Vice-Chairperson

• Policy Coordinator

• Fellowship Development Coordinator (Outreach)

• Convention Workgroup Coordinator

• Activities Workgroup Coordinator

□ Further information available from the position descriptions within this link: URL link to NANASA Draft Guidelines – scroll to page 27 to review position description + review the “Nomination form” hyperlink underneath the embedded PDF viewer Guidelines document for a template service resume.

[ www.na.org.au/multi/greaterqld/how-to-use-this-site/northernaustralia-service-guidelines/]

□ To nominate for a position please send your service resume to the Local Service Board for review at the next Local Service Conference (LSC) via the following email:

Serviceboard.northernaustralia@na.org.au

1.30PM – 2.00PM – FACILITATING: MICHAEL (TREASURER) – NEW BUSINESS

Proposal for new software application to be used in NA virtual meetings – (Bruce – Region IT)

Proposal for new software application to be used to replace WhatsApp chat for LSB members – Bruce (NA – Region IT)

Proposal to discuss the frequency of the LSC events on an annual basis – (Joymaree – PR)

Proposal to utilise an Actions & Decisions register for monitoring what has been discussed and actioned in LSB and LSC meetings (Meredith – Board Member)

Regional members presented their current interest in future attendance:

Thanks to everyone that attending today and to those who contributed their experience and knowledge. I’d like to acknowledge and say thanks to Bruce for his expert guidance through the elections and voting process.

Date of next LSC will be held virtually on Sunday the 4th of May 2025, all Group Service Representatives welcome to attend from across the Northern Australia Service Area.

Newly elected LSB members to send their contact details to serviceboard.northernaustralia@na.org.au

Close with the Serenity Prayer in the WE version:

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. Keep doing service!

Appendix A)

NANASA LOCAL SERVICE BOARD | ACTIONS & DECISIONS REGISTER

2ND OF FEBRUARY 2025 – 10AM – 2PM

Discussion agenda item Action Decision Who is involved?

Choice of a Consensus based decision making model

for application in

LSB setting Discussion by those present at the LSC regarding current models endorsed by Narcotics Anonymous

fellowship, followed by voting on preferred choice of CBDM model to use by the Local Service Board. Voting from those present at the LSC – decision made to use 80% pass CBDM model.

Further details about this model shared during the LSC can be found here [see URL link: https:// na.org/wpcontent/uploads/

2024/06/CBDM-

BasicsEnglish.pdf

The NANASA

Local Service

Board (LSB)

Platform for NA meetings

(primarily LSC/ LSB) to migrate from use of current software application to a more versatile technology. Proposal regarding pro’s of migration from Zoom platform to Microsoft Teams for NA virtual meetings – led by Bruce (NA-IT). Pro’s include flexibility re:

sharing access to whiteboard, screenshare, doing collaborative work, design individualized access, chat

functionality, smaller meetings (e.g. break-out spaces) + additional migration from WhatsApp to Microsoft Teams for LSB discussion/ document sharing and storage. Decision made to trial new software at upcoming LSB meeting on the 24th of February 7pm AEST and assess ease of user accessibility for current board members before

rolling out to further online meetings across the NANASA

region as a full replacement for zoom software. Bruce G (NA-IT)

Provision of the Absent GSF representative form could be a method in which GSR’s unable to attend the Local

Service

Conference may be able to participate in such decisions and vote on future proposals. This form (see appendix b) can be sent virtually (via email) to groups across the Northern Australia Service Area to provide a method of engagement for those representatives unable to attend virtual LSC’s in future and have a say in adoption of the NANASA draft guidelines. Attendees at the

LSC February 2025 agreed to review the absent GSR form and send this to all contacts in the Northern Australia Service Area to review for use in voting in the proposal for adopting the draft NANASA

guidelines at the next LSC. Sonia &

Joymaree (Public

Relations)

Draft NANASA

Policy Guidelines election process and position descriptions were adopted by consensus to move forward with to elect vacant service positions. During an LSC election, the clean time requirements can lenient in order to ensure vacant positions are filled in the service structure currently. The disgression/ flexibility can be used to ensure the person nominating is suitable for a position and also supported by other experienced LSB members. LSB agreed in discussion to be flexible re: cleantime requirements listed in the

NANASA draft guidelines for role descriptions [ see URL link: https:// www.na.org.au/ multi/greaterqld/ how-to-use-thissite/northernaustralia-serviceguidelines/ ]

Local Service

Conference &

Local Service

Board Members

Appendix B) – Template to be reviewed + edited for application re: proposal for use of draft NANASA guidelines. See below – Absent GSR

Home Group Conscience Outcome Form