President's Report

12th June 1996

In the nine months since the last Annual General Meeting in Sydney, the Central Committee has met together on one occasion, in Wollongong in February this year. A great deal has, however, been going on behind the scenes since the highly successful 15th ANZSMS Conference and I would first like to comment on some of these.

You should all be aware by now that ANZSMS Inc has its own home page on the World Wide Web. We are extremely grateful to John Traeger at La Trobe University for the effort that he has put into setting this up and maintaining it with regular updates. There is no doubt that it will continue to foster better communications between the ANZSMS Central Committee and its members, as well as enhancing our international profile. We are looking at ways of improving communications and welcome any suggestions from members. Possible additions include a "positions vacant/wanted section" and a "trash and treasure" section for surplus equipment, etc.

Organisation of the 16th ANZSMS Conference in Hobart is well in hand and you will have already received the first circular, to which I hope you have responded. The Convenor, Noel Davies, has been working closely with the Central Committee on matters such as student subsidies, the Morrison lecturer, overseas speakers, etc. I look forward to seeing many of you in Hobart next February. If you know of any one who is not presently a member, but may be interested in attending ANZSMS-16, they can obtain information about the Conference from the WWW or from Mures Convention Management, Victoria Dock, Hobart, Tasmania, 7000.

By the time you read this Report the inaugural ANZSMS Visiting Lecturer, Professor Graham Cooks, will be on his way around New Zealand and Australia. Graham is giving lectures in Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide all in the space of two weeks, then goes on to Perth for well-deserved rest and recreation. We are indebted to Graham for taking time off from his busy schedule to undertake this lecture tour.

There was a good response to the questionnaire distributed by Michael Guilhaus last year requesting information on MS facilities in Australia and New Zealand. Michael is collating this data into a suitable format which will be available to those who responded. The question of whether this information might be put on the Web with restricted access is being looked at by the Central Committee. Michael has also taken responsibility for organising the production of a small number of new logo designs which members will have the opportunity to comment on in due course.

At our meeting in February this year, the Committee clarified procedural and financial guidelines for student support to attend ANZSMS and International MS conference; travel support within Australia for visiting overseas speakers; support for the interim ANZSMS lecturer; and support for local ANZSMS branches. A paper detailing these guidelines will be prepared and put on the Web for discussion at the General Meeting in Hobart.

Last but certainly not least, I thank all the members of the Committee for their valuable contributions. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Ray Lidgard, who is standing down as Treasurer, having occupied that position since the inception of the Central Committee in 1994. Ray was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the ANZSMS Central Committee and we also owe him a debt of gratitude for his efforts in that regard.


John MacLeod