auDA has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent months. The .au policy and regulatory body announced they were going to “build and operate” the registry in-house, they imposed an onerous Code of Conduct on members and they withdrew all historical board minutes, agendas and reports (public versions) from their website.
Then members became annoyed at the lack of consultation, which auDA is obliged to do which led to the grumpy.com.au petition that included 4 resolutions, relating to the above, as well as the removal of the Chair. auDA received legal advice knocking out 3 of the resolutions, leaving only the removal of the Chair to be voted on. And members, riled, duly started voting to oust the Chair, no doubt many in protest at the knocking out of the 3 resolutions. The Chair, Stuart Benjamin, saw the writing on the wall and resigned days before the vote that was due to be held at a Special General Meeting.
The meeting was still held with auDA saying they were listening. Initial responses showed auDA weren’t listening.
And today it was revealed Dr. Michaella Richards has resigned from the auDA Board. This time auDA is seeking nominations directly from members and interested people instead of using a recruitment firm for the Demand Class Director casual vacancy, according to a statement announcing the resignation.
Now there are flickers that show the organisation is listening to its members. There are indications the organisation is sticking to its current outsourced registry model which has been supported by the industry over the years in a tender that is underway, although with some changes in how the relationship is managed. The Code of Conduct has gone back to the drawing board and so far at least, board minutes, agendas and reports are back on their website.