President’s message from Dr Sally Colgan – June 2024

It is an honour to have been elected President of the AVA and I thank the Board for trusting me with this role.

Thank you to Immediate Past President Diana Barker for her innovative and forward-thinking leadership. I’m delighted she has been re-elected to the Board. It’s a reflection of the support from our members who have seen her tireless work advocating for the profession across disciplines, making sure the government and the public know that we are absolutely essential.

I’d also like to congratulate James Gilkerson on being elected Vice President. I look forward to working closely with James, Diana and our esteemed colleagues on the board. Together with our CEO and her team, we aim to deliver on some big project goals this coming year. This includes continuing our work on constitutional reform and continuing to better understand what our members value.

^{Prof James Gilkerson AVA Vice President , Melissa King AVA CEO, Dr Sally Colgan AVA President}

The Stage 2 constitutional reform work centres on migrating the AVA constitution to the model constitution of not-for-profit organisations (ACNC) and therefore updating to Corporations Act requirements (Procedural Changes).

It's also time for the AVA to re-engage with members and non-members. We want to know how you view the Association, its purpose and its value to members. Your feedback shapes our future, so we look forward to hearing from you!

Please register for the Member Forum on 13 June 2024 to hear more about these key projects.

We will do this while keeping our eye on the important deliverables from our AVA Policy and Advocacy team, as well as continuing to deliver outstanding, relevant and innovative CPD.

This last week at AVA Conference was a timely and powerful reminder that our professional and collegial networks facilitate the conversations and actions which drive change and amplify our voice.

As an AVA Member for over 20 years, I am a firm believer that you need to be at the table to be heard and to be appreciated. It is through working together that we can ensure our profession is visible and receives the respect it deserves.