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May 2025 Board Meeting Summary
The WSAA Board held its most recent meeting on Thursday 15th May 2025 in Sydney. Below is a summary of the meeting from President Gilbert Da Silva:
The Board meeting initially focused on the subject of governance and in particular the upcoming member director nomination, selection and election process. Discussions centred on potential limitations of the current director eligibility criteria as set out in the Constitution (particularly limiting directors by geographic location) and it was agreed to review clause 35.3 of the Constitution to potentially exempt nationally operating businesses from these limits.
The Board also identified desired skills for new directors, including governance, finance, retail business ownership, and technical expertise, and will develop a board skills matrix to guide future nominations.
Three governance resolutions were unanimously approved: a new Selection & Appointment of Directors Policy, the 2025 Call for Nominations Form and timeline, and the President Election Procedure.
In the energy efficiency agenda, Jason Lewis and Wesley Fawaz presented promising results from a sample of residential energy simulations, indicating notable cost and energy savings for consumers when installing window shading. Following a peer review of the simulation process and results, the Board committed to creating a member-only web tool showcasing this data.
On our training front, the Board held discussions on the Cert III program and a potential short course offering and remains committed to supporting the delivery of the Cert III, while exploring other collaborating opportunities with Frontline.
The strategic plan is progressing well, with key priorities over the next 12 months being a new WSAA website with CRM, launching an Awards program, enhancing SuperExpo, government engagement on our energy effeciency results, and finalising our next Proposal for Change for the National Construction Code regarding external blinds.
Financially, our year-end forecast is better than budgeted, and the Board has approved the 2025/26 budget, which projects a surplus based on expected SuperExpo profit share results.
In general business, I announced my upcoming retirement from Uniline (early June) and will continue on the Board in a co-opted capacity until this years AGM when my term expires. Past WSAA Board member Frank Cairns who recently passed away was acknowledged for his service along with a planned moment of silence at the May members meeting.
Our next Board meeting is Wednesday, 6th August in Brisbane.