Saturday 29 August 2026, 2:00 pm AEST
Dear Friends,
This message was sent through to RM Clerks by our Presiding Clerk yesterday, and I thought I’d catch some more people through Streamlines.
At the recent Yearly Meeting, Quakers Australia did not respond to a request from The Friends’ School in Hobart to appoint five persons (already nominated by the Board) to the Board of Governors. This omission has left the School’s Board unable to function. There is an urgent need to make this omission good.
Rule 8.2 of our newly revised Rules allows us to convene an extraordinary online National Gathering of the Religious Society of Friends in Australia to consider urgent matters, if three regional meetings so request and if 14 days’ notice is given. Victoria RM, Tasmania RM and Queensland RM have now requested such an urgent extraordinary National Gathering.
Accordingly, I give notice to Friends for a brief urgent extraordinary National Gathering to be held on Saturday 29 August at:
2:00 pm AEST
1:30 pm SA time
12:00 noon WAST
We need not ask for prior registration, but an attendance list will be kept on the day. We need a quorum of 30 Friends in formal Membership, at least one from each of more than half of our regional meetings. If five Members from each RM can join the meeting, we will easily have a quorum. I have asked the RM clerks to try to arrange representation from their RM.
Agenda
The agenda will consist of only one question:
Do we agree to appoint the following persons to the Board of Governors of The Friends’ School? They have all been nominated by the Board:
- Emily Chapman-Searle for a first term of four years. Emily’s Resume
- Sarah Sealy for a second term of four years.
- Tom Dundas for a second term of four years.
- Lindsay May for a second term of three years.
- Jen Newton for a second term of three years.
Zoom Meeting
Topic: 2 pm QA Extraordinary National Meeting – Friends’ School Board nominations
Time: 29 August 2026, 1:45 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 848 5933 4891
Passcode: 722655
One tap mobile:
+61871501149,,84859334891#,,,,*722655# Australia
+61280156011,,84859334891#,,,,*722655# Australia
Further Information
We noted Emily’s appointment at our recent National Gathering, but in fact we need to appoint her to meet the legal requirement.
Emily, Tom Dundas, Lindsay May and Jen Newton are Members of regional meetings in Australia. Sarah Sealy, not a Member, is the Incoming Presiding Member of the Board. Jen and Tom are the incoming Deputy Presiding Members.
You may wonder why these appointments could not be made by Standing Committee. The reason is that the Rules of Association of The Friends’ School stipulate that appointments to the Board must be made by a general meeting of Australia Yearly Meeting (now known as National Gathering).
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. I hope the meeting will be very brief.
Duncan Frewin
Presiding Clerk
Religious Society of Friends, Australia
