A Fresh Start for the Home Education Association

[edited: the FB group A Fresh Start is no longer operational. I have been informed that "everyone was removed from the group as the reason for the group, ie to find HEA members to nominate for the HEA Committee at the 2020 AGM, no longer existed. Apart from Stuart Chapman, who's nomination for the Committee was not accepted, there were no other members who nominated for the 2020 Committee."

By International Speaker
Mr Stuart Chapman,
B Eng; B A; Grad Dip Ed

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for watching this video.   There is no sugar coating it. The Home Education Association has been dysfunctional for a number of years and has lost credibility and the trust of many in the homeschooling movement.      

I am going to tell you things about the HEA that are not well known and which will probably shock you.

I also want to say that despite all the troubles there is hope that the HEA will be an outstanding organisation once again which will have the trust and support of all members.   

My name is Stuart Chapman.  I have been involved in home education for over 25 years. I was born in NSW, lived on a Island near Brisbane, went to school in Melbourne and I have also lived in Adelaide and Perth.

I have spoken at homeschooling conferences on five different continents being the only Australian to be a board member of the Global Home Education Conference and the only Australian member of the International Home Educators Leaders Group.

Likewise, I am the only person who has provided accurate numbers on the growth of home education in every Australian state and territory over the last eight years to journalists, politicians and the homeschooling movement.  

I was also elected a committee member of the Home Education Association in May last year [2019].  

I want to see excellent services provided to the HEA membership and I want to increase the membership numbers above and beyond the time when HEA was recently in such turmoil that a whole committee resigned, the HEA was sued and bank accounts and the website were frozen for a year.   

The renewal rate for members dropped below 10% during this period which means that up to 90% of members either did not approve of the action of a handful of members suing the HEA or did not feel it worth renewing membership having lost confidence in the organisation.   There is no question that the reputation of the HEA was severely damaged during this time.

No members were offered a refund or a discount for the reduced services provided while the HEA was in hiatus and they should have been.           

We need to restore the HEA to an organisation, which is transparent, not mired in dispute and where members want to stay longer than one year.    

The following are nine policies, which I believe will restore HEA to good governance and provide a basis for great service to the homeschooling community.   

Policies

1. At least 3 committee meetings per year should be open where all members are invited to participate, and to speak.  The committee must be transparent given all the problems of the past. Members should be allowed to make statements or ask
   questions of the committee during these meetings.    That has not occurred in any committee meeting for the last two years.
   
2. Suing of individual members and contractors of the HEA must stop.  
   
   It is not well known that a member of the current committee sued former HEA staff and former HEA committee members and then sued the association and that the majority of the current committee supported all these actions.
   
   Those who participated in these legal actions lost every single case against individual HEA members.  Not one of those sued had a case to answer and money was paid out in compensation.
   
   Even so, two HEA members were left considerably out of pocket, and none were paid adequate compensation for the significant disruption to their personal lives brought on by these unnecessary legal actions.
   
   Those former members deserve an apology, which they have never received fromthis current committee.
   
   These actions ended up costing the HEA and those who sued the members hundreds of thousands of dollars and if it were not for committee insurance the HEA would have become insolvent and bankrupt.  
   
   Have you been told that by the current committee? No. 
   
   Sadly this tendency to purse aggressive legal action did not end with the Supreme Court decision of last year. The current committee brought another legal action against an HEA contractor only a few months ago. This time the HEA committee brought a case before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal against the former website developer Peter Wennersten of Icon Innovations whose work was previously approved by the 2016 Committee.
   
   This case unsurprisingly was also dismissed. It was a crushing defeat for the HEA and the report by NCAT was highly critical of a number of members of the current committee who were mentioned by name. 
   
   Have you been told that in the HEA newsletter? No.  
   
   The report is now a public document and the membership should read the findings of the Tribunal.   You will not find a link to the document on the HEA website as the current committee do not want you to read it. However there is a link to the findings in the comment section below.    
   
   This practice of litigious action against HEA staff and contractors and members must cease.
   
   Not only is it a complete waste of time, money and resources, the members who were sued have told me personally that it was extremely distressing and many thousands of hours were spent fighting these actions.  
   
   No legal action by the HEA should occur without the prior approval of the membership at a general meeting. 
   
3. Employees and contractors of the HEA should be paid according to their bone fide contracts and should be paid their superannuation as the per the ATO’s requirements.  
   
   Committee members who have previously supported suing these individuals should not be voting on financial matters regarding payment of these individuals.  This is a clear conflict of interest.
   
4. At the HEA Special General meeting held on 22 June 2019, members were shocked and dismayed when they were told that they were not allowed to speak against the resolution.  
   
   The case for the resolution was provided by the current committee but nobody was allowed to present the against case and a serving committee member was not allowed to table a document opposing the resolution. This is an absolute travesty of meeting protocol and demonstrates a committee afraid to let the membership hear differing viewpoints. Remember one of the most important freedoms we have is to speak, if we lose that right, it’s a lot easier to lose our other freedoms as well. This goes against everything we as home educators stand for.
   
   If elected I will propose a policy which will allow members to speak for or against any motion and I will not prevent members having their say during a meeting.
   
5. Committee members should not be spending thousands of dollars of members’ money on accommodation and air travel. Doing so is not in line with the Objects of the Association or working with a voluntary spirit for the benefit of the membership.
   
6. Members who lodge a formal complaint against the committee should have their complaints responded to in writing and not be given the run around. If requested, complaints, must be tabled and a copy provided in the committee minutes whilst
   respecting a member’s right for redaction of their names.   
   
7. We all know bullying is not ok. It is especially not ok in a volunteer organisation such as the HEA.   An HEA committee should not bully another member of the committee by calling them insulting names, by refusing to hold meetings at times,
   which they cannot attend because they live in a different time zone, or by denying them access to committee documents.   They should also not expel a member from the committee without due process and without any warning.   
   
   Such behaviour constitutes institutionalised bullying will not be tolerated in the next HEA committee.   
   
8. The committee should never hire or take advice from the lawyer who has previously advised aggrieved members to sue the association or individual members of the association. We should never use the services of the same lawyer who sued the HEA but unfortunately this is exactly what the current committee has been doing and it is not in the interests of the membership for this situation to continue.
     
   Furthermore, the committee must make available to the membership the terms of reference of any contract with any party especially for the provision of legal advice on behalf of the HEA and must not ignore members' request to view such documents.
     
   Finally,
   
9. HEA committee members should be of good character and should not hide behind a veil of secrecy and obstruction.
   

I have other policies and these can be viewed at our Facebook group A Fresh Start for the HEA.  

We need more people to join the next HEA committee who will support these policies and who believe in transparency, self-reflection and who treat the membership with respect.   When the membership trusts the leadership group, the organisation will thrive.

If you believe that the HEA needs new leadership, then join us at our Facebook group  A Fresh Start for the HEA or email us at freshstarthea@gmail.com

This project to elect a new committee is endorsed by:

• Beverley Paine Founder The Educating Parent; HEA committee member 2008-2010, 2013,2017
• Esther Lacoba President HEA 2005-2010
• Tamara Kelly President HEA 2013-2016
• Myfanway Dibben HEA Committee member 2017

NCAT findings:  https://geni.us/NCAT-HEA-Results

Thank you for watching this video and please share it within your local homeschooling community.

see also:

• Deja vu! Key HEA committee members resign due to entrenched culture of bullying
• Spin and Lies: HEA Nov 2022 Committee Report
• Bullying culture at heart of HEA under investigation: the Good versus the Bad and Ugly
• A Fresh Start for the HEA (video, transcript) Stuart Chapman
• HEA Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right
• HEA in Disarray - Chaotic SGM
• Justice, solidarity and friendship forged: HEA Defendants
• HEA: concerned members want stalled website
• HEA Members Organise Petition to ask their Committee to Cease Litigation
• HEA: What Happened? Committee Dysfunction
• HEA Buyer Beware: concern re HEA subscription promotion to families temporarily home schooling due to school closure or self-isolation
• HEA Newsletter: FACT or PROPAGANDA?
• HEA owes tens of thousands in unpaid wages to former workers
• HEA Gets It Wrong
• Letter to HEA members 4th May 2018
• Caveat Emptor: HEA Inc.