YM23 Acronyms, terms and definitions

AF: The Australian Friend, the journal of Australia Yearly Meeting, is published online and in print in March, June, September and December. 

AFFH: Australian Friends Fellowship of Healing, a national group interested in healing, whose members are Friends, but which is a separately incorporated body.

AVP: Alternatives to Violence Project, begun by Friends, is now a separate organisation.

AYM:  AYM is generally used as the abbreviated name of Australia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia Incorporated.

AYM Committees and Working Groups: A list of all AYM Committees and Working Groups, with the names of all Committee members, is printed in Documents in Advance, and updated in Documents in Retrospect, and at http://www.quakersaustralia.info/in the Members section.

BL: James Backhouse Lecture. This is an annual lecture, which aims to bring fresh insights into truth, often with reference to the needs and aspirations of Australian Quakerism. It is usually presented at the time of Yearly Meeting, and is named after an English Quaker who travelled extensively in Australia from 1832 to 1837.

DAQB: The Dictionary of Australian Quaker Biography includes Testimonies to the Grace of God in the lives of many Australian Friends. The web page for Australian Quaker Biographies provides online access to all DAQB entries, together with biographies of prominent Quakers from around the world.

FNPCC: The First Nations Peoples Concerns Committee, formerly called the Indigenous Concerns Committee.

Formal Sessions of Yearly Meeting: The Presiding Clerk conducts the Formal Sessions according to the usual Quaker business method. The Presiding Clerk can grant permission for those who are not AYM Members to attend and fully participate in YM sessions, on the recommendation in advance of the Elders of the appropriate Meeting.

FPT: Friends Peace Teams.

The Friends’ School: The Friends’ School, Hobart, is the only Quaker school in Australia.

FWCC: Friends World Committee for Consultation is a worldwide body comprised of affiliated Yearly Meetings, Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups. It meets periodically to promote links between the different Quaker traditions. Australia Yearly Meeting is part of the Asia-West Pacific Section of FWCC.

Handbook of Quaker Practice and Procedure in Australia: The Handbook sets out the guidelines within which Meetings normally operate within Australia. The Handbook is continually revised in line with YM decisions. The current 7th edition was published in 2020, and is available on http://www.quakersaustralia.info/ (listed under Publications)

JYFs: Junior Young Friends are aged 12 to 17 years.

Meeting for Learning: a one-year program that begins and ends with a retreat week, usually held in September-October.

Ministry and Oversight: Sometimes known as M & O, or Elders & Overseers, or Ministry & Care. These Local or Regional Meeting committees, either separately or combined, are responsible for the spiritual and pastoral care of members.

NCCA: National Council of Churches in Australia, of which AYM is a member.

Pastoral Care Committee: This committee is set up for the period of Yearly Meeting and consists of Friends nominated by their Regional Meeting for the purpose of assisting people at Yearly Meeting.

Penn Friends: Penn Friends (after William Penn) are ‘written correspondence friendships’ between older Friends and children (often now by email), who may live in another Meeting.

QA:  Quakers Australia.

QPLC: The Quaker Peace & Legislation Committee, based in Canberra, lobbies government, provides a space for peace and social justice discussions, and posts on our website ‘Action Alerts’, ‘Watching Briefs’ and Discussion Papers on current issues for Friends.

QSA: Quaker Service Australia, the development aid agency, a company limited by guarantee, is based at Unit 14/43-53 Bridge Rd Stanmore NSW 2048.

QWCC: Quaker World Connections Committee, is a national committee of Australia Yearly Meeting, which supports Quakers in the Asia West Pacific Area (AWPS) and also links with the world wide Quaker community through Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) and beyond.

RM: Regional Meetings in Australia are Canberra and Region Quakers (CRQ), New South Wales (NSWRM), Queensland (QRM), South Australia Northern Territory (SANTRM), Tasmania (TRM), Victoria (VRM), and West Australia (WARM). These organisational bodies of the Society are individually incorporated associations. Regional Meetings are responsible for matters of membership and business within their area, as set out in the Handbook of Practice and Procedure.

The Sanctuary: The Sanctuary is the name of a house and grounds in Sydney that was part of the Lemberg Bequest to Australia Yearly Meeting. The property is behind the Wahroonga Meeting House, and has been leased as a residence.

SC: Standing Committee, a body with two representatives from each Regional Meeting, and from Young Friends to conduct business on matters which must be addressed before the next Yearly Meeting. 

SWQC or Silver Wattle: Silver Wattle Quaker Centre is a centre in Australia for spiritual development and learning about Quaker faith, based at Silver Wattle, 1063 Lake Road, Bungendore, New South Wales. See https://www.silverwattle.org.au/

TIWG: The Transition Implementation Working Group (TIWG) is a small, fixed term working group set up in 2022 and tasked with developing role descriptions for the new Quakers Australia Office team and continuing to support the new configuration until Yearly Meeting 2025.

YFs: Young Friends are 18 – 30-ish year-olds who may be Members or Attenders. 

YM: The words ‘Yearly Meeting’ (YM) are used to describe the annual meeting of Australian Friends.