Have you ever considered joining our Committee?
RWAus was created back in 1991 by eight incredible women who had a vision to promote excellence in romantic fiction. They wanted to help aspiring writers become published, and assist published authors to develop and maintain their careers.
Today, we're no different. We aim to foster a safe, equitable, inclusive, and diverse community, providing continuing support for writers – whatever their genre – within the romance publishing industry. But we can't do it alone.
We're an organisation based solidly on the generosity and expertise of our volunteers. With over 800 members and counting, RWAus wouldn't be continuing to thrive without the passion, dedication, and hard work of these amazing people who help us achieve our vision.
Every year at our AGM in August, all of our Committee positions fall vacant. Some of the outgoing Committee will re-stand, while newcomers are always welcome to put their hands up.
Commitment
How to nominate
You'll need to ask two current RWAus members to support your nomination and add their email addresses to your nomination form. They'll get an approval email after you click 'submit', which will need to be clicked in order for your nomination to be valid.
Nominations must be received by the due date. No late nominations will be accepted.
Click on the job description for each role or email admin@romanceaustralia.com for more information.
Committee Positions
President
Executive Committee
The President oversees RWAus' strategic, financial, and operational activities. They will develop a deep knowledge of the industry, core programs, operations, and business plans. The President presides over the committee and AGM meetings, is responsible for managing the Lynne Wilding Award and also manages the process for Hall of Fame or Life Membership awards.
Time requirement: 5-8 hours per week
Position Description
Vice President
Executive Committee
The Vice President supports the President and is an active participant in making strategic decisions for RWAus. This position involves developing plans and enforcing RWAus' policies and objectives to ensure we maintain our values and meet goals. The Vice President also manages the process for the Membership Assistance Fund.
Time requirement: 3 hours per week
Position Description
Treasurer
Executive Committee
The Treasurer is responsible for the oversight, management and reporting of RWAus’s financial records, and the presenting of reports to internal stakeholders (committee, membership) and external parties.
Time requirement: 2-3 hours per week
Position Description
Secretary
Executive Committee
The Secretary is responsible for organising committee meetings, including preparing agendas, writing minutes, recording actions, handling incoming and outgoing correspondence, sending online meeting invitations, and also inviting guests to meetings. They also update official RWAus records with ASIC and NSW Fair Trading. The Secretary is responsible for notifying members of the AGM date, collating all AGM reports, and updating the Committee Register after any new Committee members are sworn in.
Time Requirement: 1 hour per week
Position Description
Member Services Manager
Portfolio Holder
The Member Services Manager is the liaison between RWAus and its members. This includes answering queries, providing information, devising regular communication activities, and maintaining membership records. They also keep a record of volunteers, promote volunteer opportunities, recruit new volunteers, and develop strategies to retain the volunteers we have.
Time requirement: 5-8 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 3-5
Position Description
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager
Portfolio Holder
The DEI Committee Manager is the Committee representative for the DEI sub-committee. They attend both RWAus Committee meetings and DEI sub-committee meetings, acting as a liaison between the two groups. They proactively seek ways to represent diverse authors and authors of diverse romance within the RWAus membership community, and to nurture an inclusive environment within RWAus.
Time requirement: 2 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 3-5
Position Description
Relationships Manager
Portfolio Holder
The Relationship Manager deepens key customer relationships and provides strategic account management to support the needs of RWAus and our stakeholders. They develop and deliver corporate sponsorship proposals to publishing houses and industry providers; build and maintain strong relationships with existing and potential sponsors; work closely with the Marketing Manager to produce quality communication documents and with the Events Manager to engage pitch takers for conference from within the sponsorship pool, ensuring sponsorship inclusions are delivered.
Time requirement: 3-5 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 1
Position Description
Events Manager
Portfolio Holder
The Events Manager liaises with our external events provider to organise the annual conference and also manage the event portfolio, working with state event coordinators to implement a series of networking, promotional and social events in each state and online. The Events Manager reports to the RWAus Committee and works with the President, Treasurer, and external events provider to oversee the budget for conference and other events.
Time requirement: 5-8 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 8-9
Position Description
Marketing Manager
Portfolio Holder
The Marketing Manager is responsible for working closely with each of the other portfolios to deliver quality marketing and communications with the aim of improving the visibility and viability of our various programs and services, both internally to our members, and externally to a range of various stakeholders. The Marketing Manager works with the Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Blog and Hearts Talk volunteers.
Time requirement: 5 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 4-6
Position Description
Contests Manager
Portfolio Holder
The Contest Manager works with a team of volunteers to ensure the smooth running and continuing development of RWAus contests. They report to the RWAus Committee, liaise with external stakeholders, answer contest queries, and provide support to entrants. From the start of the contest season the Contest Manager works with the Judge Coordinator through to liaising with the Anthology Production Manager and organising the annual gala awards dinner, and is involved with every contest.
Time requirement: 3-5 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 10
Position Description
Professional Development Manager
Portfolio Holder
The Professional Development Manager is responsible for developing and managing a robust and active professional development program for RWAus members and non-members, including but not limited to RWAus Academy Courses. The Professional Development Manager liaises with the Treasurer to ensure all costs for programs are covered by the income from the programs.
Time Commitment: 2-3 hours per week
Other volunteers within this portfolio: 3-5
Position Description