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Chairman's Report
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, IT IS MY PLEASURE TO REPORT ON PROGRESS OF THE HEARING COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRE DURING THE PERIOD JANUARY 2007 THROUGH JUNE 2008.
As the Members will be aware, there was a significant delay between the incorporation of the HEARing CRC Ltd on 18 January 2007, and the eventual signing of the HEARing CRC Members Agreement and Commonwealth Agreements in December 2007. In part, this was due to the complexity of the incorporated structure required by the Commonwealth, the number of Members involved, and the transitional aspects of moving from the previous Cooperative Research Centre for Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aid Innovation (CRC HEAR) to the new HEARing CRC.
As Chairman, I have had the opportunity to observe the transition to our new governance and management structure, and it is pleasing that the majority of these issues have now been resolved. This will enable the Board and management to focus more on the potential for significant achievements from our new program of activities aimed at both prevention and remediation of hearing loss.
It is pleasing to report that many of the HEARing CRC research projects which were carried over from the previous CRC HEAR have been fully operational during the whole of the financial period, and we are now starting to see achievements in filing of new patents in sound coding, and development of more specific projects aimed at specific needs of our industry and clinical partners. A majority of our new research projects have also commenced, and in particular, our genomics projects have generated significant momentum. It was also very pleasing for our HEARing CRC to have been involved in the launch of the Paediatric MEG facility at Macquarie University, and we look forward to the impact it will have on acoustic and cognitive research studies with children.
It is also pleasing to report a number of commercial successes achieved through HearWorks Pty Ltd. During the past financial year, HearWorks has received significant funds from licensing and other commercial endeavours, and these will be distributed in part to the CRC HEAR Parties holding Project Interests, as well as to the HEARing CRC to further support its activities. On this note, the Board has agreed to recognise a payment of $1.9 million to be received in this financial year from HearWorks as a full payment of its future six years of cash contributions. The HEARing CRC will benefit from having these funds available earlier than would otherwise have been the case.
The HEARing CRC’s management team has slowly been developing, with appointments of a Finance Manager, and Research Program Coordinators at Macquarie University and Australian Hearing, as well as a new Executive Assistant to the CEO and Board. We look forward to the imminent appointments of a Communication and Education Manager, and Commercial Operations Manager, who will greatly strengthen the management team.
Our Board has benefited much from the involvement of the nominee Directors of the Core Members, who have been active not only as Directors of HEARing CRC Ltd, but also as members of the Finance and Audit and Nominations and Appointments Committee, and in some cases as Directors of our commercial arm HearWorks Pty Ltd. In particular, the Directors would like to recognise Ms Anthea Green, who resigned from the Board in September 2008, for her contributions to the governance and success of the HEARing CRC and its predecessor.
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