Significant changes to the membership of the King and Amy O’Malley Trust took place in 2021. Professor Annette Gough stepped down after 15 years on the committee, eleven of them as chairperson. Annette was the community representative and was replaced by Dr Leanne Compton, who had previously held the role of HEIA representative on the Trust. Robert Ford became the HEIA representative and will hold this position on the Trust for the duration of his time on HEIA National Council. Professor Donna Pendergast took on the role of Australian Council of Deans representative on the Trust, replacing Dr Gayle Jenkins who previously held the university role. This means that currently all three members on the Trust’s Advisory Committee are HEIA members. Michelle Parente was appointed as the new Executive Officer. Michelle’s extensive experience working in universities, and her background in project management, has been extremely advantageous to the Trust.
Annette was farewelled from the Advisory Committee at the April meeting, which was held online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Annette was thanked for her incredible work with the Trust, which was undertaken in a voluntary capacity throughout her years of service.
During 2021, Michelle worked with the divisions from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia to organise State Assessment Panels. These panels consist of a HEIA representative, a school representative from the state/territory and a university representative from the state/territory, along with a member of the Advisory Committee. The Trust sincerely thanks HEIA for their assistance with getting these panels organised. Interviews for scholarships were held online again in 2021, and the Trust thanks everyone for their amazing contributions to these panels and the immense amount of work contributed by each member.
Michelle has also worked tirelessly to review and redevelop the Trust’s website which has included the addition of new images to complement the Trust’s branding and the updating of all documentation. The feedback from website users has been extremely positive. The Trust was also delighted to be a silver sponsor for the HEIA National Conference in September, which included sponsoring past scholar and HEIAQ member Dr Jay Deagon’s presentation entitled ‘The French Revolution and Home Economics: Fired up and speaking out’.