The Australasian Music Publishers’ Association Limited (AMPAL) has held its Annual General Meeting in Sydney on 25 November 2025.
This year the number of nominees for the position of director matched the number of available director positions.
In accordance with article 12.5.7B of AMPAL’s constitution, all nominees in that case were be deemed elected without a ballot at the AGM, meaning that a ballot was not required.
There were 5 board vacancies available.
5 Directors retired in accordance with the Constitution and, being eligible, 4 offered themselves for re-election, being Clive Hodson, Jodie Feld, Karen Hamilton, and Ralph W Peer. Jaime Gough volunteered to go for re-election early, making him the required fifth director to retire. No additional nominations were received.
The Company Secretary declared the result in the 2025 AMPAL Board elections to be that all the nominees were elected to the AMPAL Board, being the following people now listed in alphabetical order:
Jodie Feld
Jaime Gough
Karen Hamilton
Clive Hodson
Ralph W Peer
AMPAL is an industry association with more than 50 music publisher members in Australia and New Zealand and is governed by a Board of 15 elected member representatives. Between them, our members represent the majority of the economic value of the music publishing sector. The current AMPAL Board is shown at: www.ampal.com.au/ampal-board/.
Presented below is the AGM Report from AMPAL Chair, Clive Hodson.
Before anything else, I want to acknowledge the passing of Matthew Capper in January this year. As well as being a dear friend, Matthew was a deeply respected colleague and champion of music publishing. His contribution to AMPAL and our industry was massive and will never be forgotten.
Despite the setback and heartbreak of Matthew’s passing, 2025 has been a defining year for AMPAL.
We strengthened our voice, made the invisible visible, and expanded our influence across Australasia - thanks to our members, our Board, and the leadership of our Chief Executive Officer, Damian Rinaldi.
This year, AMPAL delivered real advocacy outcomes.
We played a role in the Government’s rejection of the proposed Text and Data Mining exception and continued to champion the principle of licensing, not exceptions in AI and copyright. This strengthened AMPAL’s standing as a trusted industry voice.
We also strengthened how AMPAL works - establishing formal committees, launching @WeAreAMPAL as a uniform presence across all major social media platforms and then as our weekly newsletter, and expanding how we connect with our members.
We deepened our Trans-Tasman relationships through face-to-face engagement with New Zealand members and peak bodies, including with Heard & Seen, Precise Digital, the New Zealand Music Commission and NZ On Air.
Through Music Australia’s International Conference Contribution (or MAICC) program, our members accessed opportunities that would not traditionally be available to them. We are also grateful for Music Australia’s core contribution funding, which allowed AMPAL to introduce the Communications and Development role carried out so transformatively by respected industry veteran Kylie Martin.
As we look to AMPAL’s 70th anniversary in 2026, we are focused on honouring our past and investing in our future.
AMPAL is more united, more visible and more future-focused than ever.
As always, I’d like to thank all of our directors for their commitment to AMPAL.