From the Chapter President
2018 is well underway and likely to be another action-packed year. I hope all members had a wonderful break and have begun the new year refreshed and recharged. The chapter office has had a busy start to the year. We said farewell to Dale Campisi at the end of 2017 and Lara Maeseele welcomed her third child – a baby girl (Ella Lara) and is now on maternity leave. In her absence, Katie Katos has taken on the CPD role and we have welcomed Fiona McMullen to the office, to take on finance and provide advocacy support to Bron Hill. With Jen still on a well-deserved break, I would like to thank Katie, Bron and Fiona for so ably running the chapter office in her absence.
Chapter Council election results have been announced. Congratulations to Sophie Bence, Cath Hall and Paul Wakelam who have been re-elected, and to Genevieve Lilley and Gaetano Palmese who will be joining Chapter Council. I look forward to starting work with you at our March Chapter Council meeting. Thank you to all of the candidates for stepping up in the elections to work on Chapter Council for the next two years.
Thank you also to the outgoing councillors, Daniel Lane and Ceridwen Owen for your commitment over the past two years. And, my thanks also to the ongoing councillors. It is always a big commitment giving up one’s time to volunteer on Chapter Council and we greatly appreciate members’ willingness to do so.
The Institute is also pleased to announce Vanessa Bird (Victoria) and Justin Hill (international) as our new nationally elected National Councillors. They will join newly elected Chapter Presidents Jenny Culgan (NT), Paul Trotter (Queensland) and Amy Muir (Victoria) on National Council from March.
With the Tasmanian election campaign now in full swing, we have identified our priorities and have distributed our policy platform to the parties. We are also finalising a survey for the parties or for individual Institute members to discuss with MPs or aspiring MPs.
The awards program is also getting underway – entries for the 2018 Tasmanian Architecture Awards close on March the 2nd. If you haven’t started your awards submission yet, now is the time to dive into it. My best wishes to all entrants for a successful outcome.
Meanwhile, I look forward to another year of working with you all to achieve the best possible results for our profession.
Yvette Breytenbach RAIA
President, Tasmanian Chapter,
Australian Institute of Architects