Wombat Protection Society
of Australia Ltd

Bulletin Number 2 - November 2006

Welcome to Bulletin Number Two.

The Society is now registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission as Australian Company Number 122 449 665.

Membership to the society is available to anyone who has an interest in wombats WORLDWIDE.

Membership fees are set as $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. We have set these fees low, to just cover membership costs rather than use this as a way of raising money.

Membership entitles you to copies of the society’s bulletin by email, and a birthday card as well as access to the members site on the website.

The society will take up issues that concern wombats and which members bring to the board’s attention.

Currently we are asking all state premiers to explain what they are doing to combat wombat mange and exploring issues related to the South Australian Museum’s fundraising event where a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat was consumed as part of a recreation of a 19th Century “feast”.

The society is a not for  profit special purpose company limited by guarantee.

Certificates of membership will indicate that adults are members and children are associate members. There is also a category of honorary member for anyone who has made an outstanding contribution to the society or wombats in general. If you know of someone who fits this category let us know. In our constitution any three members or directors or combination of these can nominate someone. If you don’t know other members yet but do know of someone who deserves to be honored for their work with wombats, let us know. The Directors can follow up and support your nomination.

In our last bulletin we indicated a list of tasks that the Directors saw as required to move the company on and we are pleased to have had a great response to this. 

Rowena McConnell from www.rowenamc.com.au has been employed to begin the Website and our site is registered.

Thanks to all those having input during this process. 

The www.wombatprotection.org.au site will have six areas when completed. We would still like to hear from you if you enjoy web design as there are many tasks to complete to get this site up there and out there.

To overcome confusion with the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia www.wpsa.org.au, our site is www.wombatprotection.org.au and Webcity an Australian company is our host.

The first most obvious entry to the site will be called “Accident and Emergency” and will provide information to people who may have injured a wombat or be concerned about a wombat. This site will give basic instructions (for example if they see a wombat hit by a vehicle to check the pouch and remove the parent from the road, how to immediately handle the joey and how to get into contact with the appropriate care agencies carers  in each state.

The shop will be an on line venture stocking items “wombat”. Products will be eco-friendly with everything from wombat print aprons and oven mittens to superbly carved recycled hardwood wombat figures.

If members are aware of anyone producing something “wombat” that they believe we should stock or if members make items they would like considered, get in touch. The criterion is that the production of the item does no harm to any wombat (eg; plantation pine might be great, not so great if wombat burrows were ripped up in the process of planting or a hardwood forest cut down to do this). The product also needs to be made or available in a way that meets the “acting locally, thinking globally” philosophy of the organization.

The third site is a Children’s Activities Area where free down loads of activities are available. The idea of this site is to develop children’s interest in wombats while providing a positive interaction and educational experience. We are currently planning for drawings of wombats to use as colour- in downloads and also have some patterns suitable for children to make wombat items. There are a few recycling projects and some simple woodwork ones as well. Once again if you know of anything useful for this area of our site, get in touch. This site will be linked to the children’s membership site so kids who really enjoy helping wombats can become members and follow through with fundraising activities if they wish.

Two areas will be members only areas, one for children and one for adults.

The children’s site will have monthly updates on wombats sponsored by the children’s programs so children can follow the real world life of different wombats as they develop. Through this portal children can undertake projects to raise money to help wombats and vote to support a particular project or fund. Fundraising activities will be linked to the “free” children’s activity site, for example suggesting younger children download and colour in a particular wombat picture and then “raffle” their artwork off to the highest bidding relative or friend. Or for older children having might make a wooden wombat and do the same, or, in the future sell their drawings or artwork through the Wombat Shop.

The adult members site is where Board activities and minutes will be available as well as relevant company material. This area will also “post” the society’s labor requirements. The board has set a standard rate per hour to be acknowledged to the various members who provide services. This “gift in kind” labor becomes relevant if we apply for any grants which require an “in kind” contribution. By keeping track of members’ voluntary input in terms of time we not only meet the requirement for matched funding but we also get a realistic picture of just how much time and which skills are required to build up the organization.

The final site entry point is information and research. This site will link to as many other web sites as we can locate that provide useful information about wombats. Where we can get permission, papers and other documents will also be available on our site. Information will range from basic through to research level as well as medical information wombat carers may want to access. Ideally, eventually, this area will have an area where people can post the most up to date information. Once again please let us know about any inclusions you believe would be useful.