What You Need to Know
As we edge closer to June 2024, it’s time for us all to prepare for the annual membership and insurance renewals. In today’s economic climate, where the cost of living continues to rise, we recognise that renewal time can pose challenges and we’re committed to doing what we can to keep costs fair and reasonable, while adding value to your membership wherever possible.
Understanding Our Costs
To ensure we continue to offer the best possible value, we have been actively negotiating and comparing the market rates for our insurance cover. For perspective, here’s what a hypothetical Landcare group with twelve members would pay for the same coverage:
- Public Liability Cover: $1,300
- Association Liability: $700
- Personal Accident: $450
- Plus GST
This totals $2,450 for a year’s coverage, highlighting the significant savings our group arrangement offers—akin to the cost for four small group memberships at our current rates.
Upcoming Changes
While some cost increases for the 2024-25 period are inevitable, we’re aiming to keep them to a minimum wherever we can. And when things are tight, you need to know exactly what your money is buying – so, we’re separating insurance and membership costs in our invoicing, so you can see exactly what you’re paying for.
Enhanced Benefits
We’re not only trying to keep our costs as low as possible; we’re also working to increase the value of your membership. For example, once our new insurance broker is appointed, we’ll host another Insurance Webinar, following on from the success of last year’s program. These webinars will be offered monthly, with guest speakers and special interest topics. The webinar series will also give you a voice and a forum to share your ideas and experiences with other Landcarers.
Advocacy and Support
We understand that during tough economic times, the support of a strong community is more important than ever. And that’s a big part of what Landcare NSW offers its members your continued membership ensures that Landcare NSW can continue to advocate on your behalf to state politicians and parliamentarians, and to government agency executives. And advocacy isn’t just for the bigger issues – we’re here to help you resolve problems at all levels. This is a critical and core function of Landcare NSW and an important service for our members.
Program Participation
Active membership is crucial for those wishing to participate in the Landcare Enabling Program (LEP). Keeping your membership current is essential to accessing those benefits associated with the Program.
Pricing Considerations
As far as pricing is concerned, there’s a few factors to consider as we head towards the 2024-25 cycle. The ongoing cost-of-living situation that affects us all, coupled with our own very tight administration budget, makes it difficult to calculate pricing that’s both fair and effective.
But we’re doing our best to find the middle ground. You can be assured that we’ll always put your interests first as we work towards providing cost-effective and valuable memberships.
As we began to receive our quotes and make our calculations, we’ll be keeping you informed as regularly and as early as we can.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, you can get in touch with our Membership Officer any time via memberships@landcarensw.org.au