Five Basic Principles on which change in the WIA should be based 

Since I wrote my original paper on reforming the WIA I have had interesting discussions with many radio amateurs regarding the proposed organisation. 

In the course of these debates it has become clear that there are a few basic principles which underlie everything we are trying to achieve. We may argue about this or that detail. We may argue about why and how we arrived at our present state. 

However, for those of us who believe there is a better way then these fundamental principles seem to provide a good starting point.

Members to "own" the organisation
The essence of most re-organisations lies in getting responsibility, authority and power (with accountability) aligned so as to achieve the goals of the organisation.

The Federal/National office holders must have the power and authority to carry out their responsibilities. They do not have that at present and any change to the present organisation that does not correct the situation will fail, and will be seen by members as merely "window dressing".

All power comes from the members. In the present organisation that power has been taken by the state divisions and wielded in a way that still holds the federal executive responsible but denies them the authority and power to carry out that responsibility.  The crude way in which the power derived from a large grouping of members in VK2 and VK3 has been used with threats of withdrawal and legal action is only the gross surface evidence of a deep rooted failure in the structure of the present organisation.

That is a grand way of saying that without the members becoming the owners of the Federal/National body and voting directly for their representatives and officers there will be no real change.

In that way the Federal/National officers take their power directly from the members. They will answer to the membership not a small elite of divisional officers. Once elected they will have the authority and power to carry out their responsibilities. They will be seen by the membership at large as responsible and accountable.

The change must be "significant".
Over the past few decades attempts have been made to dress up the present organisational structure as relevant and effective. They have all failed to convince the membership and amateur radio operators at large. Membership has continued to decline.

Those failures now make it imperative that the change carried out now is seen as a major change in direction.

It should be a complete break from the past.

If it is not, if all that happens is a minor re- adjustment, then it will fail to motivate the Amateur Radio operators of Australia to give their support to a reinvigorated WIA.

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