2023 A year of moving and shaking for Wikimedia Australia

{{blog post
| date = 2023-12-13
| image = WikiCon Brisbane 2023 Attendees.jpg
| hide_banner =
| author = Amanda Lawrence
| mode = <!-- draft, featured, or hidden -->
| keywords = 
| description = 2023 has been another big year for Wikimedia Australia.
}}__NOTOC__

This year has been a chance to get back out into the world. The [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ESEAP_Hub East and South East Asia Hub] is in development and we have participated in Wikimania in Singapore, Wikidata in Taiwan and now preparing for [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ESEAP_Conference_2024 ESEAP in Malaysia, May 2024]. Look out for scholarship announcements coming soon. 

Wikimedia Australia also held the first community conference in Australia since 2019 - [[WikiCon Brisbane 2023|Wikicon Brisbane]] - and we are looking forward to doing this bigger and better in 2024. 

We also launched a new [[Partnerships|Partnerships program]] and ran [[Past_events#2023|loads of events and training sessions]] for the local community. As well as many other activities. 

Behind all this activity is our our wonderful staff. A big thank you to [[User:JamesGaunt|James Gaunt]] who left us in the middle of the year for setting up many projects and systems. And a big welcome to Alice Woods and [[User:Ali Smith|Alison Smith]] who joined us for the second half of the year and have hit the ground running. All this is overseen by the indefatigable [[User:BindiS|Belinda Spry]], Executive Director, who has been enthusiastically building up our partnerships and engagement strategy, nationally, regionally and around the world. 

I would also like to thank the [[Governance|Wikimedia Australia Board]], past and present, for contributing their time and expertise to ensuring we operate with good governance and a thriving chapter. It has been a pleasure working with you all. And acknowledge the support of the Wikimedia Foundation and all those who [[Donate|donate]] to Wikimedia to ensure we are able to continue.

Most importantly we have supported our members and many others across Australia to read, write, edit, research, reference, photograph, classify, analyse, fix, discuss, organise, support, encourage, train, build and otherwise contribute to "the essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge". 

Thank you to everyone for being part of this and all the best for the festive season. 

'''Amanda Lawrence''', President, Wikimedia Australia Board