Port Albert Progress Association Presidents Report - Jenny Smith

Rob Durrant
Nov 19
5 min read

This November sees my second full term as 2024-2025 President of the Port Albert Progress Association (PAPA) come to an end.

A special thankyou to the members of the committee for their support this year (Scott, Collin, Warren, Dot, Kez, Emma and Sharon) and especially for Sue for stepping up to fill the Presidents shoes whilst I was away for almost 6 months.

Sue took the lead on arranging the flood level meeting, the comedy night and also running the AFL event whilst I was away. Thank you Sue.

Thanks to Chris, Sandi and Sue for their support again this year in their respective exec roles. It’s a huge loss to lose both Chris and Sue from our exec team for 2026, there are some big shoes to fill. Thanks for the great contributions you have both made over my term as President.

Hall management has continued to be managed largely by the exec team this year and I would like to see a role created specifically to manage the Hall and the Tennis courts to help the Exec team remove some of the workload moving forward.

We have seen an increase in hall bookings this year which is great to see. A number of kids parties as well as full blown celebrations like weddings, memorials and parties. Our new pricing structure introduced last year makes it a viable option for many different types of hires. The tennis courts are being used on an adhoc basis, but it’s great to see them being used safely. We also have our regular community hires for Playgroup etc. Emma continues to do a great job running the playgroup.

Our internet and Facebook presence, engagement and also reach continues to be effectively managed by Rob and Sharon behind the scenes. They both do a power of work updating, responding and chasing new content and business.

The're hard work, and photos from Sharon, help to make Port Albert very visible, benefitting many local business’s.

Website Stats – Last 12-Months

• 8,000 Website Clicks

• 250,000 Appearances in people searches

• Top pages (in order), Home Page, Fishing, Food & Drink, Accommodation, History, NYE, Children’s Activities.

• Top Countries (in order), Australia, NZ, Canada, UK, USA, Singapore

• Added New Online Revenue Channels – Business memberships, Sponsorships, Supporters, Premium Accommodation Listings Website generated sales of around $6,000 over the last 12-months.

Rob has also done an exceptional job this year strengthening our sponsor, supporter and business membership base, resulting in a significant increase in community support. This provides valuable financial support also to help with insurances, PAPA operations and community events.

Collin again completed another year of support of the NYE fundraising raffles on Friday nights at the Albo, especially with me being away for 6 months and not there to help. Thanks to Sue and Scott for stepping up in my absence to give Col a hand. Another thankyou to Brendan, Michelle and the team at the Albo for supporting our NYE fundraising efforts during 2025.

Collin also looks after the merchandise restocking and supply in a few locations around the area so another thank you to Col for looking after that for me

Thankyou to Warren for again organising another very successful ANZAC day event, which was well attended and well supported by PAPA committee members. A slightly different structure this year with the coffee van worked well.

A shout out to Kez who organized two community music events at the hall this year. Both were well attended.

A huge thankyou to Rob and Deb for looking after grant applications and NYE market stall applications whilst I was on holidays. Rob has also completed a number of other grant applications on behalf of PAPA this year.

We held our very first Melbourne Cup Day High Tea this year that we very well attended. Feedback on the day was extremely positive and the Hall looked amazing for the event. Well done Sandi and Charla.

The Port Albert CFA helped us out with two of our events this year which helped with the workload for PAPA committee members. It also helped us contribute to fundraising efforts for the Port Albert CFA. I hope to see this partnership continue into 2026.

Our business memberships for 2026 have seen a really good take up level with 14 Business Memberships purchased for the 2026 year. We currently have 108 financial members all up.

We now also have 4 major sponsors for the 2026 year. The Yarram Country Club (confirming outcome this week) and Port Albert Fishing Club have come onboard as silver sponsors whilst Star of the South and Nutrient Harcourts have come on board as “Kingfish” supporters.

The business memberships and sponsorships help support our events program and PAPA operations with some additional funding. For a full list of our supporter base for this year head over to https://www.portalbert.vic.au/supporters

S&S Hire in Morwell have also committed to supporting us with free hire of the lighting towers for the NYE and Easter events in Rutter Park. The Port Albert General Store donated the use of a hire boat for the lantern Launching last Easter and the Port Albert Fish and Chip Co continue to support or Xmas and Easter hamper raffles.

The Yarram Country Club also allowed us to make use of one of their community raffle nights this year and all funds raised went towards NYE fundraising efforts.

Many of our members who are not on our committee still contribute very generously to our fundraising efforts re raffles etc. They help out at events shaking tins on NYE and Easter to help us try to cover costs.

The support is very much appreciated by the PAPA team.

Regards Jenny PAPA President 2024-2025

2025 - 2026 PAPA Committee

Welcome to the New Port Albert Progress Association Committee

We are pleased to welcome the newly appointed committee of the Port Albert Progress Association (PAPA). Following in the footsteps of committees from years past, these dedicated individuals will work tirelessly to make Port Albert and the surrounding region an even better place to live, work, and raise families—contributing countless volunteer hours without hesitation.

PAPA members extend their gratitude to the committee for their commitment and service over the next 12 months.

Executive Members: