Covid Protection Framework

Under Tradition 2 your General Service Board is a trusted servant and each group should be autonomous, guided by its own Group Conscience. However, the Board has received a number of requests for guidance as New Zealand moves into the new Traffic Light System, and we hope the following will help inform your group conscience.

The Government COVID website provides good reference material on what is required at each different level (Red, Orange and Green). An outline can be found here and an easy read version here. As A.A. is not above the law, we suggest groups be guided by the rules for “gatherings” set out in this framework. These rules are changing regularly so it is worth checking the government website often.

We suggest each group also speak with your meeting venue as they may have requirements for you to abide by.

On top of the above, some points for discussion might be;

• In all phases of the Traffic Light System (Red, Orange and Green) where vaccination records aren’t checked, 1m metre spacing between people is required. Some groups may have to consider if their venue is the appropriate size to achieve this.
• In Red level, face coverings are mandatory in public venues and recommended whenever leaving the house. In Orange, they are mandatory in public venues and encouraged elsewhere.
• For gatherings under the Red level, the rules state that the maximum number of attendees can not exceed 25 if vaccination status is not checked. The limit for the gathering increases to 100 if vaccination status is being checked. The group conscience under Red may have to decide how they handle this i.e. hold the meeting online, check vaccination status, or perhaps a combination so members can choose whether they attend in person or online. It may be helpful to have this discussion before you are in the situation so there is less confusion if it does happen.
• Under Orange, up to 50 people can gather without needing to check vaccination status, which would cover most groups. There is no legal requirement to query vaccination status if your meeting is under 50 people in Orange or 100 in Green.

After the legal and venue requirements are met we trust the group conscience will be guided by our Traditions and we hope the deliberations will focus on;

• Tradition 1 and our common welfare
• Tradition 3 where the only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking
• Tradition 10 where A.A. has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never to be bought into public controversy

Some years ago a law was passed which prohibited smoking at indoor venues and at the time caused great angst and disunity within some A.A. groups. However, we followed the law and today it is a non-issue. We believe, in time, the COVID response and requirements will be similar and we will adapt as we always have.

Good luck with your Conscience Group discussions and please remember to update your meeting details when they change via the website page.

Meetings finder app guide

During 2019, AA NZ still had an android app which they supported and it was provided via Google Play services. Unfortunately, this app was linked to a failing database behind the old website and as we got closer to replacing the website it became clear that we could no longer support the app or the data that fed it. Instead of developing a new app for both android and apple users (previously it was only android), we learned that with the new WordPress website, we now had a better solution.  This meant that AA could integrate a website and app in one place and avoid having to develop a website and two additional apps. There are two ways you can make use of the meetings finder app embedded in the website.

1. Go to the www.aa.org.nz/meetings and filter for your area etc. From here on your browser, select “Add to home screen” and create a shortcut to the meetings page and that shortcut will act exactly like an app.
2. Download the USA World Services AA app Meeting Guide and set the location to NZ (or to any another country, if you are visiting) from either Google Play or iTunes

Detailed video guide here 

Literature Price Rise/ Reminder Service Positions / A.A help email

Literature Price Rise

Some will have noted after the office reopened there was a literature price increase. The Board runs literature pricing in accordance with a set policy including pricing according to landed cost and the biggest factor is the currency exchange rate between $NZ and $US.

Just prior to lock down a new shipment arrived with a currency rate below the 5% tolerance we factor in before repricing (as per Literature Policy). We waited until after the Covid-19 lock down of the office to change prices resulting in some feedback. The policies for pricing are not the variable here, cost ex USA is and this is something the Board cannot control. AAWS had a price increase last year that was not passed on to the fellowship.

We are bringing this to your attention so there is better understanding of price rises. The result is stock newly arrived increased in price while stock which did not have new orders placed has remained at old pricing. Obviously fast moving popular stock items are affected the most in this scenario.

The Board recently reviewed all pricing to ensure the literature pricing policy is working. As a result we did find an opportunity to change the pricing on four of the more popular pamphlets. A single pamphlet is $1 but for those pamphlets regularly held in stock by groups for newcomers we are offering packs of 10 for $5 and this change is on the website.

The A.A help email

A reminder that the help@aa.org.nz is for the still suffering alcoholic to make contact with us. This email account is manned by a member of the fellowship and we would like to ensure the focus remains on outreach.

If you have any queries about the website please email website@aa.org.nz Any other queries should go to GSO on nzgso@aa.org.nz

Freight charges for Literature

Following GSO’s recent review of freight charges, which have steadily increased in recent years, we realise that we are not covering our costs when sending out small packages.
At its meeting in April, Conference agreed the following:
For orders under $150, a charge of $10 will be added toward shipping costs.
For orders over $150, shipping will remain free of charge.

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