Advocacy

ALIA assisted groups such as the Health Libraries section and mounted a general discussion with the Australian Tax Office to clarify the exemption of contra inter-library lending agreements from the goods and services tax regime. These protracted negotiations on a number of fronts were successful and gratis arrangements do not attract tax. ALIA also has a watching brief on the defence of the present legal scope of exemptions for library copying under the Copyright Act. The executive director, Jennefer Nicholson and Nick Smith of the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee and the Australian Digital Alliance had discussions with the Attorney-General's Department on proposals for further amendments. As a result of our joining with the publishing and bookselling industry campaign against a tax on books, ALIA is represented on the Book Industry Assistance Plan committee which guides the direction of the Federal Government's assistance package.

Submissions

Queensland Pay Equity Inquiry

NSW Labour Hire Task Force Inquiry

Duration of copyright in photographs, Intellectual Property Branch Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

The chance to change. Discussion paper by the chief scientist, Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Telecommunications Service Inquiry

Education and training

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy finished with the completion of the Association's contract with the Department of Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. In 2000, two cadets, Kirsten Thorpe and Gail Taylor, graduated from their studies and completed their cadetships. The Association this year recognised double degrees courses at Curtin University of Technology containing a library and information studies qualification already recognised by the Association. The Board incorporated the revised Education Policy Statement Number 1 into course recognition and annual course return and sought feedback from the schools. The Board of Education examined the Library Industry Training Package. Given the opportunities for workplace assessment in the package, the Board developed mechanisms to ensure communication and a consultative working relationship with educators, practitioners and bodies such as CREATE Australia. The Board reinforced the importance of the Diploma as the required qualification for admission to library technician membership of the Association. During the year the Board of Education provided advice to the Board of Directors on various issues including membership categories, admission to associate and library technician membership through widened eligibility and the implementation of ALIA's Object 3. Following a planning day at which it consulted with representatives of ALIA and other library groups, the Board of Education hosted a forum, Survival, improvement, innovation: how research makes good practice; how practice makes good research, in Canberra as a pre-ALIA2000 session. Educators and practitioners came together to build upon previous exploration by the Board of Education of research in the library and information sector. Alan Bundy was appointed as the Board of Directors' representative to the Board of Education. Ross Todd, deputy chair, resigned from the Board of Education at the end of 2000 to take up a visiting professorship at Rutgers University.

Awards

Two national awards were presented in 2000. Felicity McGregor was awarded the ALIA Manager of the Year Award which recognises outstanding skills in management in an Australian library and information service. Kathleen Sharrad received the 2000 Library Technician of the Year Award. Not awarded: HCL Anderson, Redmond Barry and Ellinor Archer; Metcalfe Medallion; Study Grant.

Fellowships

Sydney University librarian and former ALIA president John Shipp and state librarian and chief executive of the State Library of New South Wales, Dagmar Schmidmaier, were made Fellows of the Association for their contributions to the advancement of Australian librarianship.

Continuing professional development

ALIA introduced in 2000 a membership subcategory that recognises the continuing professional development (CPD) of associate and technician members. By the end of the year uptake in this category reached eleven per cent of total personal membership, similar to the level experienced by other professional associations. Participants receive on-going personal assistance from ALIA National Office staff and are also encouraged to ask questions and share information with their professional peers via an electronic mailing list dedicated to CPD. During the year ALIA also began brokering partnerships with several training providers, with the intention of providing a range of CPD activities to ALIA members at a discounted rate. By late-2000, ALIA had finalised one such partnership with CAVAL Collaborative Solutions, a registered training organisation, providing links from the ALIA CPD website to a list of CAVAL training activities. The Association redesigned its CPD website to make it more prominent. ALIA National Office received several requests from divisions for assistance with providing resources for career planning workshops. A package of workshop resources and a presentation have been developed for use by divisions.

Industrial relations and employment

Strong demand for the Association's industrial relations and employment advisory service continued throughout the year as members experienced further major changes at work. Negotiation of wages and employment conditions saw greater complexity and increasing diversity. The national move away from award coverage intensified with more and more members covered by enterprise agreements negotiated at a local level. But collective agreements remained far more popular than individual contracts. National average weekly earnings rose by 5.5 per cent but this result marked considerable diversity between different sectors and different forms of bargaining. Union-negotiated outcomes were consistently higher than those achieved via other forms of bargaining. The experience of Australian librarians in these areas was consistent with national trends. Members' quest for attractive job opportunities was made harder by surging casual and non-standard employment. Increasing numbers of library workers found themselves subject to casual and independent contractor arrangements, often with consequential reductions in benefits. Nationally, aggregate openings in traditional librarian positions declined while job opportunities increased in 'new information' and internet-related work. ALIA made written and oral submissions to the New South Wales Government's Labour Hire Industry Inquiry expressing concerns about trends which clearly disadvantage its members. In particular, the use of contracts to circumvent established employment conditions was opposed. The Association's proposals called for a formal code of conduct to regulate the industry. ALIA continued to support the introduction of processes for greater focus on pay equity in wage fixing in various industrial jurisdictions. Subsequent introduction of new pay equity principles in both New South Wales and Tasmania was welcomed. Toward the end of the year, the Association's submission to the Queensland Government's Pay Equity Inquiry recommended similar action in that state. A Queensland decision is foreshadowed for March 2001. The employment and industrial relations advisory service conducted seminars and meetings with various ALIA groups including those in Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Sydney, Toowoomba, Townsville and Wollongong. A wide range of employment-related material, including updated Salary scales, was made available to members via ALIA's website. There was a strong rise in the volume of inquiries received electronically. Articles and papers on a broad range of labour-market topics were again provided in inCite, Quill and other publications.