2025 Annual General Meeting and Special General Meeting Outcomes

An update from Equestrian Australia: Annual General Meeting and Special General Meeting

We wanted to update you on the Equestrian Australia (EA) Annual General Meeting and Special General Meeting held on Wednesday, 19 November 2025.

More than 230 members participated in the online meeting, with the Board pleased with the strong engagement by members across the organisation. During the AGM, members received updates from outgoing EA Chair Zac Miles and Acting CEO Ben Houston.

Chairman’s Address

Zac Miles described the 2024/25 financial year as a pivotal year for Australian equestrian sport. From the inspiring performances at the Paris Olympics to the landmark agreement setting the framework for a 10-year strategy for the sport, the past 12 months have demonstrated the strengths of our sport and the collective commitment of the equestrian community in wanting to build a stronger, safer, and more sustainable future.

Zac highlighted the excellence displayed by our Olympians and Paralympians in Paris and showcased the strong performances during FY25 at a national level. As well as capturing national attention, the performances validated our investment in pathways to build success over the long term. With less than seven years until the Brisbane 2032, this work becomes more important by the day. 

Members also received an update on the substantial progress made in strengthening the sport’s foundations. New integrity and safety frameworks were embedded, including:

• independent complaints platform
• national horse welfare framework with clear sanctioning processes
• updated concussion protocols
• full implementation of coronial recommendations.

Member engagement climbed significantly, supported by the rollout of a new IT system and the expansion of education programs for coaches, officials, and compliance.

Zac also acknowledged the significant challenges that continue to confront our sport. Financial sustainability remains a pressure point due to an under-resourced shared-services model and insufficient levy revenue to fund core national functions. While there was a financial deficit in FY25, the performance was an improvement on the previous year and reflected the one-off investment in the IT program and ongoing essential program costs.

A landmark moment came with the National Strategy Workshop in October 2025. Representatives from Equestrian Australia, State Branches, Discipline Committees, the Australian Sports Commission, and the AOC reached unified agreement on a long-term vision: a safe, thriving sport that unites the community. Shared values, a 10-year strategic framework with a focus on Brisbane 2032, and immediate priorities - including digital systems implementation, structural and financial review, and improved communication - were endorsed.

Equestrian sport in Australia is now engaged in a critical phase of member consultation to finalise the 10-year strategic plan. Zac expressed gratitude to members, athletes, staff, volunteers, officials, partners, and the Board, and closed with a call to action: for all members to engage, ask questions, and actively shape the future of our sport.

CEO address

EA CEO Ben Houston reaffirmed Equestrian Australia’s direction as an organisation by reaffirming our purpose: Leading our sport. Connecting a passion. Inspired by the horse and vision for a thriving, safe, and united equestrian community. Every decision we make, every program we deliver, and every interaction we have will be driven by this.

This direction is guided by three strategic pillars:

• Strong Foundations, focusing on safety, governance, integrity, and the well-being of horses, people, and clubs;
• Sustainable Growth, aimed at expanding participation, education, and event quality through innovation; and
• Excellence in Performance, supporting athletes, coaches, officials, and horses to achieve world-leading standards.

These pillars are underpinned by our values of Teamwork, Integrity, Inclusion, and Excellence.

Ben detailed the organisational structure designed for accountability and effective delivery, with the CEO reporting to the Board and operational functions divided into Sports Operations, Health and Safety, Integrity, Operations, and High Performance.

• Sports Operations, led by Michelle James, delivered major achievements, including the finalisation of the Level 3 Coaching Qualification, improved communication channels, draft coaching and participation strategies, FEI equivalency for officiating pathways, and the introduction of online accreditation for officials. Engagement grew substantially, with social media interactions increasing by more than 300 per cent.
• Health and Safety, under Roger Kane, updated concussion protocols, progressed medical requirement pilots, standardised horse-welfare reporting, and improved incident-reporting compliance—strengthening safety culture and member support.
• The Integrity Unit, led by Dan Tranter, advanced compliance efforts through updated policies, disciplinary actions, collaboration with FEI and Sport Integrity Australia, and the implementation of the SpeakUp+ reporting platform.
• The Operations team ensured governance, finance, HR, and compliance systems functioned effectively, including ASC acquittals and transitioning to a fully online workforce.
• High Performance, led by Will Enzinger, continues to build a world-class pathway system. Achievements included implementing the LA cycle strategy, enhancing athlete support frameworks, strengthening multidisciplinary services, and increasing international team engagement.

Ben closed by reaffirming EA’s commitment to strong foundations, sustainable growth, and excellence.

Director Elections

More than 2500 EA members voted in the Director Elections, with eight eligible nominations for the two positions as Elected Directors on the EA Board. We commend all candidates for putting up their hand to help build a stronger equestrian sport in Australia.

To ensure impartiality, independent voting organisation Vero Voting conducted the election on behalf of EA. Regrettably, Vero Voting initially interpreted EA’s constitution incorrectly in relation to the counting process and the unprecedented event of a tie in the number of votes for candidates at the branch level. This led to an incorrect initial declaration of results. Vero Voting openly acknowledged to EA the inconvenience for members in the delay, the candidates and specifically Brad Frankum and Nicola Rockwell, created by the error.

Following a request for clarification concerning the application of the counting rules, EA commissioned external legal advice to confirm the appropriate counting rules under both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the election rules outlined by the EA constitution. With the counting rules confirmed, Vero Voting subsequently reviewed the count.

In this election, a tie in votes in Stage 2 of the counting process in Victoria and Tasmania impacted the count. In line with Section 18.1 (d)(v) of the EA constitution, in the event of a tie in Stage 2, the order is determined by total votes received across all branches.

The resolution of a tie at stage 2 of the count is determined by Section 18.1 (e)(v), with the tie is determined in favour of the candidate who received the highest number of votes from members across all branches.

The re-declaration reflects the correct application of the constitutional provisions. To provide confidence in the process, EA commissioned an external auditor to review the re-declaration in line with the proper process confirmed by the external legal advice. Here are the final results tallied by Vero Voting and audited by our external auditor, SW Accountants & Advisors.

While the need for a re-declaration was unfortunate, we can all have confidence that the final results are accurate and independently verified. Importantly, the results reflect the voting intentions of members and underlines the value in conducting an independent election process conducted at arm’s length from EA.

The successful candidates were Brett Cantle and Nicola Rockwell, and EA congratulates them on their election to the Board. Brett has been a member of EA for three decades and brings experience as a rider, coach, educator and volunteer. He was Chair of both Eventing Queensland and Equestrian Queensland. As well as being a participant in AOR dressage and having a child involved in the sport, Nicola has been involved at a committee level in equestrian and other sports. As the CEO of a successful software company, Nicola has substantial expertise in online learning and compliance.

Brett will serve on the EA Board for the next three years until the conclusion of the 2028 Annual General Meeting, and Nicole will serve on the EA Board for the next two years until the conclusion of the 2027 Annual General Meeting. We look forward to them furthering their contribution to our sport as Directors.

The full re-declaration provided by Vero Voting can be viewed HERE.

Special General Meeting

At the Special General Meeting (SGM) immediately following the AGM, EA members voted on a handful of resolutions related to the governance of our sport:

Resolution 1, put forward by the EA Board, relating to the recognition of Equestrian Northern Territory as a Branch of EA, received more than 98 per cent support from members and support from all six of the State Branches, which meant the resolution passed.

EA is delighted to have Equestrian Northern Territory recognised as a State Branch and their members now recognised as Participating Members under the Constitution. A special thank you to Northern Territory Chair, Christine Edgoose, for continuing to work with our Company Secretary to get a favourable outcome from Equestrian Northern Territory and EA.

Resolutions 2, 3 and 4, put forward by more than 100 members, relating to proposed changes in the EA constitution, were not supported by members.
The results were:

• Resolution 2: 28.17 per cent in favour; 70.85 per cent against; and 0.98 per cent abstaining
• Resolution 3: 221.78 per cent in favour; 76.72 per cent against; and 1.50 per cent abstaining
• Resolution 4: This motion was withdrawn by a number of the requisition members on Monday afternoon. As the resolution no longer had the requisite number of signatures, this motion was not put to members to vote on.
• Resolution 5 put forward by more than 100 members, relating to a proposal to amend Membership By-Laws, was not supported by members: The vote was 19.77 per cent in favour; 73.86 per cent against; and 6.37 per cent abstaining

A full declaration provided by Vero Voting can be viewed HERE.

Questions from members

During the meeting, EA answered a number of questions from members. A summary of these responses, along with answers to questions taken on notice during the meeting, will be shared with members shortly to further inform them about the activities of Equestrian Australia.

We look forward to keeping you updated about the busy year ahead.

Equestrian Australia

Election 2025 - Re-Declaration of Results
SGM - Declaration of Results