By Emily Halloran AE
Event report: Editors NSW annual branch meeting 2026
We held our yearly branch meeting on Tuesday 4 August 2026 via Zoom. Regrettably, with only 15 attendees (and no apologies), we could not pass any resolutions.
As we have continued to operate without a president, the Accreditation Board NSW delegate, Emily Halloran AE, chaired the meeting. Minutes were recorded by Secretary Marita Smith AE.
Committee reports
Committee members briefly reported activities from the past year and plans for the next 6 to 12 months.
Branch overview: Russell Noakes (Budget Officer) summarised the branch’s activities and thanked the outgoing committee and delegates to the national committees. He acknowledged our lack of a president over the past 12 months and thanked Dr Rhonda Daniels AE for acting as our returning officer.
Presentations: Dr Jennifer Rowland AE (Presentations Coordinator) reported on successful presentation by Dr Joanna Beresford about working with neurodivergent writers. Jennifer listed the presenters booked for the rest of 2026 (Dr Iain Giblin and Anne Edwards). She is also working on finding a presenter to speak about the legality of AI in editing.
Member networking: Ruth Power (Networking Coordinator) reported on the 9 events held throughout the year, including lunches, brunches and dinners. Members attended regional and Sydney-based events. For our twice-yearly dinners, IPEd and various publishers donated prizes.
Workshops: Keely Mewett (Professional Development Officer) reported that IPEd workshops in June, July and August will focus on artificial intelligence, and more workshops are in development.
News: Elisabeth Thomas (News Editor) reported on the content Editors NSW contributed to IPEd’s newsletter, Gatherings. She thanked Carolyn Page AE who is stepping down after 2 years as the branch news writer. Elisabeth also thanked this year’s contributors: Ruth Power, Caroline Birch AE, Donella Andersen AE, Julie Martyn and Greg Price.
Accreditation: Emily Halloran AE (Accreditation Board NSW Delegate) reported on accreditation renewals and the accreditation exam. Five AEs who missed renewing in 2024 successfully reinstated their accreditation by applying in 2025; the 2026 renewal round was open to 125 AEs. In 2027, the AEs who passed the exam in 2012 and 2022 are due for renewal.
In February 2026, the Accreditation Board and IPEd postponed the 2026 exam scheduled for August. From 2026, the AB will run the exam remotely in 3 parts, starting with the Language part on Monday 7 December 2026.
Budget: Russell Noakes (Budget Officer) reported on the committee’s financial results. Overall, we delivered a net yearly deficit against a budgeted surplus, which meant our budget outcome was worse than budgeted. We attribute this to speaker events not going ahead but is mitigated by savings on honoraria.
Committee positions and elections
Marita Smith AE (Secretary) noted that there weren’t enough nominations to fill all vacant positions on the committee and called for any nominations from the floor from voting members. We didn’t receive any nominations.
The returning officer, Dr Rhonda Daniels AE, noted she had received nominations from 5 voting members and 3 non-voting members for election to the committee. She declared the 5 voting members duly elected to the committee. We decided to invite the non-voting members to join the committee at our next meeting.
Our 2 ex-officio full voting members (Accreditation Board and NSW Director) have terms and appointments separate to the ABM.
From the committee
The new 2026–27 committee met immediately after the Editors NSW annual branch meeting on Tuesday 4 August 2026 via Zoom. There were 10 attendees and no apologies.
Under by-law 10(c), the new committee decided to invite Penny Carroll, Keely Mewett and Sally Asnicar to join the committee. They have accepted their places on the committee.
The committee now comprises:
- Budget Officer: Russell Noakes
- News Editor: Elisabeth Thomas
- Secretary: Marita Smith AE
- Presentations Coordinator: Dr Jennifer Rowland AE
- Event officers: Caroline Birch AE and Penny Carroll
- Networking Coordinator: Sally Asnicar
- Professional Development Officer: Keely Mewett
Committee members in an ex-officio capacity:
- IPEd Director: Justine Dixon Cooper AE
- Accreditation Board Delegate: Emily Halloran AE
We’ve scheduled our next meeting for 13 October 2026.