Update from the President and CEO – November 2021
Dear members,
As we approach the end of 2021, we would like to share some recent highlights with our members and celebrate some of the collaboration we are seeing across our AusIMM community.
AusIMM has continued to ramp up our efforts to engage our members and leverage their knowledge. We have delivered the first of our six regional Congress meetings, starting in Dunedin, New Zealand. This fresh approach is an opportunity for our Board and Management Team to connect with and support our Communities of Interest, and discuss AusIMM's strategic, professional development and policy focus areas. Our members remain at the heart of our organisation, and we are pleased to say that the results from our recent engagement survey show that member satisfaction has increased over the past 12 months. We will continue to use data to make informed decisions about how we support our members.
As the trusted voice for resources professionals, we led conversations on the future of our industry through our recent Thought Leadership Series. We brought together more than 1,000 participants to hear influential thought leaders discuss 'Next Generation Mining'. Experts from our partners including PwC Australia, Reconciliation WA, Fortescue Metals Group, METS Ignited and Rio Tinto discussed social responsibility, the future workforce, technology and innovation, and critical minerals.
The expertise of AusIMM members in environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practice was on display at our second Social Responsibility Forum. Led by our ESG and Social Responsibility Committee, with support from our Consultants and Social and Environment Societies, the Forum gained members’ input on an ESG ‘action agenda’ for the next two years. The facilitators will report back to the AusIMM Policy and Advocacy Committee with outcomes and recommendations.
To better understand and engage our future workforce, AusIMM partnered with government and industry in October to deliver our second Resources Education Collaboration Summit. This Summit comprised leaders from AusIMM, government, mining companies and the education sector discussing professional skills needed by industry to meet future demand. New research facilitated by AusIMM into the supply and demand of these skills was also presented. A report from the Summit will be made available and used as an important tool to continue our policy and advocacy work.
Our world-class professional development program continued with delivery of the highly successful Iron Ore Conference. Earlier this month we welcomed more than 550 delegates in person and online to hear from leading keynote speakers and technical presenters. The conference attracted strong government engagement, with the WA Minister for Mines providing an opening address. Our policy team also hosted 15 members of state and federal parliament to tour the exhibition hall, allowing delegates and exhibitors to share their professional experience with senior ministers and shadow ministers.
Our online courses are proving to be a highly popular format to deliver specialty knowledge on a range of topics to a global audience. This year we have delivered 9 courses to 800 participants (an increase of 105% on last year), with nearly half our participants based outside Australia. More courses will be on offer in 2022, with two new courses just announced: Study Processes for Resources Projects and Practical Data Analytics and Machine Learning.
We are thrilled that in 2022 we will be offering our biggest and most comprehensive program of professional development. This includes 10 technical conferences, 18 online courses, 3 event series and many community technical talks. Please keep an eye on our conferences and events calendar for full details. The breadth of our professional development calendar is a result of our ongoing commitment to provide high quality, relevant and timely content to resources professionals globally. We continue to work closely with external specialists to find ways to effectively leverage our digital ecosystem, which is the key enabler of our online content delivery. This includes continued refinements to our Learning Management System and digital library to create a better online experience for our members.
We also wish to congratulate our re-elected and new Board members for the period 2022-24. Katrina Crook MAusIMM(CP) and Rene Sterk FAusIMM(CP) have been re-elected to the Board for second terms, and Amy Lamb MAusIMM(CP) has been elected for her first term. The entire AusIMM Board and Management Team are looking forward to working together and delivering on our strategy in 2022.
We have been very pleased with and greatly appreciate the level of activity and collaboration between our Communities of Interest, members, and partners on our strategic imperatives. This united approach will be critical as we focus on 2022 and continue to deliver on our strategy. As always, please get in touch if you would like any more information or support. Please contact our team at membership@ausimm.com or reach out to us via our email addresses below.
Stay safe and well.
Sincerely,
Dave Clark FAusIMM(CP), AusIMM President, president@ausimm.com
Stephen Durkin FAusIMM, AusIMM CEO, ceo@ausimm.com