This update reports on the IPEd Board meeting of 20 July 2026, linking to our 5 strategic priorities.
1 Standards
As you may have seen, the Accreditation Board is making some exciting changes to the accreditation exam, such as moving to a default online format and splitting the exam into 3 smaller sessions. These will make the exam more accessible to members and reduce our costs: a win-win! Stay tuned to Gatherings for further updates.
2 Membership
With the end of the financial year came a small rise in our member numbers, which was heartening after a period of gradual decline. We are looking forward to our next member acquisition initiative in October, where we will be reaching out to different sectors to uncover the staff who regularly edit but may use a different job title.
If you’re able to, we’d love you to chat to your own network about the benefits of IPEd membership for people who work with words. Any questions can be directed to Erin at members@iped-editors.org.
3 Support for the profession
We are delighted to announce that IPEd has secured a significant Copyright Agency grant for our awards program. This funding will support the hard work of the Standing Committee on Awards and Prizes in celebrating editorial excellence.
We also commend the ongoing work of the Mentoring Standing Committee, which has expanded its pool of mentors and begun a program of diversity training (also thanks to a Copyright Agency grant). Please contact Elizabeth Beach AE at mentorship@iped-editors.org if you are interested in joining the Mentoring Program.
4 Focus for the organisation
The Board would like to acknowledge 2 branch presidents who will be stepping down in the coming weeks.
Thank you to Deborah Shaw AE from Editors ANZ and Margaret Trudgeon AE from Editors Victoria for your enthusiastic and visible leadership. We have appreciated your tireless efforts to support local editors and we’ll miss your regular reports in Gatherings!
We are moving ahead with a new partnerships strategy to engage with organisations that link to our profession – from universities to software providers to government agencies.
5 Advocacy and education
IPEd is in contact with our international counterparts, such as the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) in the UK and the Professional Editors’ Guild (PEG) in South Africa. We hope to draft a joint position statement on artificial intelligence as we recognise that this developing field is looming large and prompting complex discussions for editors around the world.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for 31 August 2026.