Minutes of the AOMC Annual General Meeting
Monday November 17th, 2025 at 8.45pm
Venue: Austin Healey/Jaguar Clubrooms
Chairman Keith Mortimer welcomed everyone present to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the AOMC.
Attendance and Apologies: Darren Green (TSOA) and the rest as per the delegates meeting.
Minutes of the 2024 AGM: The minutes of the 2024 AGM and the February Special General Meeting were accepted on a motion moved Iain Ross, seconded Lawrence Glynn and carried.
President’s Report: The report was printed in the last newsletter.
Keith Mortimer then acknowledged a few people.
Philip Johnstone: Words cannot express the work Philip has done for this organisation for over 2 decades. He has given us some wonderful stories from the engine number records over the years.
The Executive Team: Tony Hall (secretary), Mark Fenton (Treasurer) and Iain Ross (Vice President). This organisation could not exist without the work these gentlemen do on a volunteer basis.
Howard Billing: Has done hours and hours of office and volunteer work and is always the voice you get when you contact the AOMC.
Iain & Maureen Ross: Organise the shows, the Florence Thomson tours and loads of other behind the scenes work.
The Committee: A lot of hard work this year, but we have achieved some good things. A thankless task as you only hear the whinges about VicRoads and Insurance schemes. But everyone sitting around the committee table has a view to make this a better organisation to benefit our purpose – to help our clubs.
Daryl McMahon: Gets all of our minutes out in good time.
Families of our committee members who put up with the absences, the late nights, the phone calls, etc.
The Delegates: the conduit between the AOMC and the clubs. Important to keep communicating back to the clubs and providing feedback to us so we can be a better organisation.
What have we achieved this year.
The MembershipPLUS insurance scheme has been the star of the show this year. It is something we committed to do a couple of years ago, but it has taken a lot of work to get off the ground. Tony, Lawrence and Mark took the lead in getting it up and running.
Seminars: This year were focused on insurance, but we will continue to develop our education program around governance and insurance.
Apprentice and Business Support Grants: Something we did for first time this year and it is something we hope to build on.
What’s On In Motoring: very popular and gets read by a lot of people, as do our newsletters and website.
Where to from here: In January we will do a review of our strategic plan. Will measure how we are travelling and how far down the road we are from when we started setting out in developing our 5 priority areas and how much we have achieved. We will work out what our challenges are and where to from here. Other roles will be to work on succession and rules.
Treasurer’s Report: Mark Fenton presented the annual financial report for 2024/25 financial year.
This year is my fourth year on the Committee of the AOMC in the role of Treasurer and continues to be very satisfying as we worked on the strategic goals for this organisation to ensure it stays relevant and meets the needs of our member clubs. Our office and accounting systems have continued to improve, and we continue to be very well supported by our accountants DFK Benjamin King Money under the guidance of Terry Stramotas. The committee wishes to continue this relationship with Benjamin King Money.
The AOMC has again ended the year in a healthy position, while funding the strategic initiatives that we see are critical in our role as a representative organisation.
The AOMC accounts for last financial year have been independently reviewed and a summary of those accounts have already been shared with you. Here are the key points taken from the financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2025
2025 2024
Membership Income $47,913 $47,749
Record Search Income $8,040 $10,777
Event Income and donations $101,965 $121,304
Other Income $12,070 $8,322
Event Expenses $101,836 $113,088
Other Operating Expenses $73,897 $74,060
Operating Surplus/(Deficit) $(5,745) $1,265
Total Assets $309,655 $265,436
Total Liabilities $58,406 $8,769
Members Funds $251,249 $256,994
I am pleased to be able to report that the AOMC maintains a steady financial position and is well positioned to continue funding the required services to members, and the strategic initiatives that have been identified for this organisation, including the launch of the MembershipPLUS affiliation scheme that offers much needed insurance relief for our member clubs. But more about that later as it did not impact on the financial year being reported here.
One noticeable change in these numbers compared with last year is the significant increase in assets and liabilities, however this is due to a one-off change in accounting practise as membership invoicing was brought forward into the previous financial year as part of the process changes implemented with the launch of the MembershipPLUS program. These earlier invoices and receipts have been reported here as Income in Advance so as to not adversely affect the 2024/25 P&L.
Motoring shows and events have historically been an important fund raiser for the AOMC but have continued to be a challenge this year. You will note that no funds were raised this year from running our events, primarily due to the losses incurred in the running of the American Motoring Show at Mornington Racecourse due the disappointingly low attendance, admittedly in unfavourably hot conditions. These losses were offset, thankfully by the ongoing success of the British & European Motoring Show at Yarra Glen Racecourse.
Despite this loss, it should be acknowledged that not all our events are run seeking a profit for the AOMC but are held simply to contribute to the community or the heritage vehicle movement. For example, the Festival of Motoring at Cruden Farm raised $12,000 for the RedKite charity, and the Florence Thomson Tour with the financial support of the RACV continued as a revenue neutral event to celebrate the pioneering spirit and contribution of women to Australian motoring. The Aussie Classic motoring show has had a troubled history and this year’s event, which was reformatted as a lower cost “coffee and cars” style event, was a very popular change that is on track to be repeated.
The remaining AOMC headline events, including the Club & Trade Showcase (now called the Expo), and the various events held around the metropolitan and country areas as part of the National Motoring Heritage Day were all held with the objective of just promoting the heritage vehicle movement, which was done with valuable support from RACV and Penrite Oil.
Membership fees have remained stable for many years, but these funds continue to trail the actual cost of running the organisation. Fortunately, the income generated by the AOMC engine No search facility managed by Phil Johnstone has again made an important contribution to not only AOMC income but also the preservation of our motoring heritage through retrieval of important historical data. Our thanks go to Phil for his considerable efforts in this area, especially with this year being his final year in the role. It should be noted however that the income resulting from this service has been declining steadily in recent years, which is an unwelcome sign requiring future attention.
It is proposed that no change to AOMC membership fees is needed for the next financial year, although with no change for many years this is sure to be closely examined in the next 12 months as we review our strategic aims.
I am also pleased to report that due to the activities of the AOMC this year that a financially measurable benefit to the general community can be demonstrated based on the charitable donations that have been made, and how the costs have been expensed. Measuring such community benefits helps us tell the story about why the heritage vehicle movement matters.
Community Benefit Net
Car Clubs $1,436
Carbon Offset $248
Charities $12,000
Service Clubs $8,140
Other NFPs $3,414
Total $26,203
Lastly, it is heartwarming to report that despite no impact on the results being reported here for 2024/25, the launch of the AOMC MembershipPLUS affiliation scheme on 1st July 2025 is proceeding very well and with the financial strength of the AOMC it is well placed to support the scheme with a successful rollout providing significant benefits to clubs through reduced insurance costs.
In addition to presenting this report I can also give an assurance on behalf of the Committee that the AOMC has met all its financial and tax obligations including GST and payroll reporting in a timely fashion and believes it will be able to pay any debts as and when they become due and payable.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this Treasurers Report for 2025
It was moved Mark Fenton, seconded Peter Welten (Triumph CC) that the 2024/2025 annual financial statement be accepted as published. Motion carried.
Keith then introduced Daryl Meek (Veteran CC) to chair the election of office bearers and committee.
Daryl singled out Keith Mortimer for another fantastic year at the helm of the AOMC. In Daryl’s opinion the AOMC after all these years is in the best state it has ever been in. This is due to the dedication and professionalism of the volunteers involved, including Howard.
Both the current and long-term initiatives of the AOMC reflect precisely what I believe is expected from this organisation and by its member clubs, and I am confident in saying the AOMC is regarded as the pre eminent representative historical vehicle organisation in this country. Congratulations to the AOMC.
All position were declared vacant and nominations called for.
Secretary – Tony Hall (Escape Motoring) was the only nomination and was duly elected.
Treasurer – Mark Fenton (Chrysler Restorers) was the only nomination and was duly elected.
Vice President – Iain Ross (Bristol Owners Club) was the only nomination and was duly elected.
President – Keith Mortimer (Jaguar CC) was the only nomination and was duly elected.
The AOMC rules state that the general committee numbers are determined by a resolution at each AGM. At present there are up to 10 positions on the general committee.
Daryl moved a motion that this remain the same, that up to 10 positions on the general committee be available to be elected. Motion was seconded by Jeff Whitehead and carried by unanimous show of hands.
There were 6 nominations for committee positions being: Lawrence Glynn (BMW Drivers), Peter Matthews (Classic Motorcycle Club), Robbie Mihelcic (Vic Torana Club), Ken Goodin (Vict. Torana Club), Keith Taylor (Chevrolet CC) and Jeff Whitehead (Geelong Motoring Enthusiasts Club).
Daryl called for nominations from the floor to fill the positions.
There being no further nominations those 6 nominees named above were duly elected to committee for the 2025/26 year.
Newly re-elected President Keith Mortimer resumed the chair and announced that this will be his last 12 months in the role, and the committee will be working on a succession plan.
He also announced that 2026 is the 50th year of the AOMC. We intend to celebrate and acknowledge 50 years. We have never recognised the foundation clubs of this organisation, or the people who have built and served in this organisation. We will do that next year.
Keith Mortimer announced the meeting closed at 9.55pm.