Hey There! Organization Updates

Directors’ / Admin Update

Website Magic: We’re jazzing up our website with a fresh new header, footer, and sidebar navigation! Plus, we're including a promotional section for events like Comedy for a Cause. Josh will also provide a ‘report page’ for Directors to access member details and other stats. Check out the updated site here !

AGM Alert: Our AGM is scheduled for October 5th at 4 pm. Emma has drafted the Annual Report. Thank you, Emma, that’s the hard work done! Josh will provide the member numbers. Michael will review and send the report to the auditor. We’ll then hold a Directors' meeting to approve and sign everything. Expect a formal notice of the meeting in August!

Political / Public Outreach / Networking Updates

Left-leaning Unions: We’re connecting with several unions, including the United Workers Union, Australian Services Union (ASU) , Public Services Union (PSU), and the National Tertiary Education Union. Emma is taking over the ASU and PSU as she has now sourced a new contact.

Daniel’s Basic Income Walk - Canberra: Daniel, with his 70k subscribers, is raising awareness about UBI. Though we missed him in Sydney, Emma will check his finish date and Michael will follow up to potentially collaborate after his walk.

Newcastle Event: Emma attended a UBI event in Newcastle which was attended mostly by academics interested in a UBI. Caitlin from Newcastle is looking to set up a UBI course based on BIA’s policy proposal. Michael has reached out to her to talk specifics. Ben Mathews is exploring a collaborative venture for artists in Newcastle. Emma will discuss a UBI pilot in Newcastle with him after her European trip… have a great time. We’re all envious.

Comedy Event in Randwick: We need to sell at least 30 tickets ($40 each) to break even, with 150 seats available. We are asking all members to promote the event through friends, family, and social media! We’ve got raffle prizes, including double passes from the Ritz and meal vouchers from Wingboy. Jess is coordinating with the Ritz for additional free advertising, once we get the final line up. She will also consider paid advertising, depending on the cost. Michael to touch base with CFAC to confirm who the acts will be. Grab your tickets here !

CDP Job Trial Grant

Michael and Emma have reached out multiple times with no response yet. Michael to make one more attempt to get informal response, to determine if BIA would qualify for a grant under the CDP scheme. In the meantime, Emma has drafted the formal application, and Jess will review it. Emma and Jess are also in contact with a couple of people who could help get support for our application

Work for the Dole FOI Request and Remote Working Application

Emma has been persistent! After being ignored initially, she questioned why remote work is prohibited. The government confirmed it’s possible, so Emma has prepared a risk assessment. Next, Michael will write back to QITA to seek their approval for Donni to work for us remotely.

Investigating a Pilot

Michael is pursuing a Ramsay Foundation Grant. They are focused on ‘means tested’ benefits. However, our targeted approach to the UBI could satisfy their requirements. We are also exploring a pilot in Bendigo with Latrobe Uni. The most promising site for a pilot is Urana (a small town, pop 200, in Western NSW), with another nearby town of similar size as the control. We will be pursuing these options over the next few months. We’re learning from international trials, though comparisons are tough due to different support baselines. We’ve reached out to several organizations and it’s clear that the successful UBI pilots have been achieved by charities with an existing organization and funding base.

It may need to refocus our actions on delivering a specific pilot that gives money directly to participants. This would give us DGR status, meaning that donors could get a tax deduction for any monies they donate. This should also make it easier to get grants.

Michael will also be following up his local MP to find out where our request for Federal Government support stands.

Universal Basic Guys

This is a new series due to be released in 2025. It is a collaboration between Bentobox Entertainment and Fox and follows the exploits of people who are made redundant, but who have access to a UBI. Michael will contact Bentobox to see if we can get a licence for Charity screenings, possibly at The Ritz in Randwick and/or the Clyde Hotel in Carlton, and/or online.

Member Engagement

Meeting attendees to go through the minutes and decide what actions other members could be called upon to help do. For example, ask them if they know a cheap venue or club that could host Universal Basic Guys screenings

Upcoming Events: Mark Your Social Calendar

• Communications Meeting: Sat 27 July 4pm AEST [Zoom]
• Operations Meeting: Sun 4 August 4pm AEST [Zoom]
• Action Meeting: Sat 17 August 4pm AEST [Zoom]
• BIA - Book Club: Battling Eight Giants: Basic Income Now by Guy Standing: Thu 22 August 7pm AEST [Zoom]

Remember, choose your meetings like you choose your ice cream flavours—deliberately and with gusto!