The 2023 APRA and AMCOS Annual General Meetings (AGMs) will be held on Tuesday 21 November. Voting for the election of directors to the APRA Board and AMCOS Board is conducted before the AGMs.
In accordance with the APRA and AMCOS Constitutions, nominations for director positions on the APRA Board and AMCOS Board must be received by the Company Secretary by close of business on Friday 22 September.
APRA Writers in Australia and New Zealand
If you’re an APRA writer in Australia or New Zealand, you could be eligible to nominate for a position on the APRA Board.
This year there are vacancies on the APRA Board for two writer directors to be elected by the Australian writer membership. This year there are no New Zealand writer directors up for re-election.
Australian Writer Directors Mark Callaghan and Jonathan Zwartz have both been in office for three successive annual terms since their last election and must retire.
Both Mark Callaghan and Jonathan Zwartz will stand for re-election.
APRA Publishers
If you’re an APRA publisher, you could be eligible to nominate for a position on the APRA Board.
This year there are vacancies on the APRA Board for two publisher directors to be elected by the APRA publisher membership. Publisher Directors Matthew Capper (Warner Chappell Music Australia) and Jaime Gough (Concord Music Publishing) have both been in office for three successive annual terms since their last election and must retire.
Both Matthew Capper and Jaime Gough will stand for re-election.
AMCOS Members
If you’re an AMCOS member you could be eligible to nominate for a position on the AMCOS Board.
This year there are vacancies on the AMCOS Board for three directors to be elected by the AMCOS membership. Directors Philip Burn (Hal Leonard Australia) and Heath Johns (BMG Australia) and Damian Trotter (Sony Music Publishing Australia) have been in office for three successive annual terms since their last election and must retire.
Heath Johns and Damian Trotter will stand for re-election, but Philip Burn has advised that he will retire from the AMCOS Board in November. AMCOS thanks Philip for his many years of service to the organisation, particularly in his capacity as Chair of the AMCOS Board’s Audit Risk & Culture Committee.
The role of APRA and AMCOS board members
More information
To discuss your eligibility to nominate for a position on the APRA or AMCOS Board, contact APRA and AMCOS’ Company Secretary Jonathan Carter by email at [email protected].
A formal AGM notification, including Board election nominee details and instructions on how to vote will be sent to all eligible voting members at least 30 days before the AGMs.
View the APRA and AMCOS Constitutions and governance statements.
Can a member vote for more than one candidate in the election?
Yes. Members who are eligible to vote in the election may choose to vote for one or more of the candidates in their respective category (i.e. writer candidates or publisher candidates).
Eg: if two writer member Directors are to be elected and seven full writer members have been nominated to stand as candidates, an eligible voting member can vote for a maximum of two of these candidates. Each candidate a member votes for will receive the number of votes they are entitled to cast.
Can writer members nominate themselves?
No, an eligible writer member can only be nominated by another full writer or publisher member in the prescribed form (i.e. the official nomination form available from the Company Secretary’s office).
Publisher members can nominate their corporate representative to stand as a candidate in the election of directors.
How do members vote?
In accordance with the APRA & AMCOS constitutions, all eligible members will be asked to cast their votes electronically through the secure login section of the website. Voting will close 7 days prior to the election. There's no voting on the day of the AGM.
A paper ballot will only be distributed to a member if they request this within 5 days of receiving their notice of meeting. All requests for paper ballots should be referred to [email protected].
How long does a director serve on the board?
In accordance with the APRA and AMCOS constitutions, an eligible member can be elected to the Board for an initial term of three years. After this time they must retire, but if eligible they can nominate to be re-elected by the members for a subsequent term.
How many seats are available on the board each year?
The APRA Board consists of six publisher directors and six writer directors (one of which must be a New Zealand writer member).
The AMCOS Board consists of 12 directors. There is no defined split between writer and publisher members in the AMCOS constitution.
If a director resigns before the end of their term the Board (at its discretion) may appoint another full member to fill this role on a casual basis until the next AGM. If a casual vacancy exists in any given year, this seat will be up for election in addition to the usual number of vacancies created by the retiring directors.
How many votes does each member have?
The APRA and AMCOS Constitutions provide that every APRA or AMCOS member who has received any earnings at all over the previous two financial years is entitled to cast one vote in the relevant company’s Board elections and AGM. Members are then allocated one additional vote for every $2,500 “block” of earnings they have received over the last financial year. For example, if a member receives $5,000 in earnings during the previous financial year, they will be allocated 3 votes to use in that year’s Board elections and AGM (one vote for being an “earning member” plus 2 additional votes for the $5,000 in earnings they received).
If a member is nominated by someone without their knowledge do they have to stand for election?
No. If a member has been nominated to stand as a candidate in the election of directors they must accept the nomination before the cut off date in order to be included on the ballot.
Which directors can a member vote for?
In the APRA Board election, eligible writer members can only vote for those writer members who have nominated to stand in the election of directors (subject to the following conditions):
In the APRA Board election, eligible publisher members can only vote for the corporate representatives of those publisher members who have nominated to stand in the election of directors.
In the AMCOS Board election, eligible full members may vote for any nominated candidate they choose.
Who can nominate to become a director?
Any full writer member or the corporate representative of a publisher member may stand for election as a director, providing they are eligible to vote in the election and attend the AGM. This means that only full members who have earned royalties during either of the last two financial years are eligible to nominate to become a director.
Who is eligible to vote?
Only full members who have earned royalties during either of the last two financial years are eligible to vote.
These earning requirements apply independently to both APRA and AMCOS. That means that if you're a member of both organisations but have only earned royalties from one company in the last two years, then you can only vote in the election for that company.