By Matt Helmers, PCA CEO
As the largest Equestrian organisation in Australia, stakeholder collaboration and advocacy continues to be important for PCA.
This month the Pony Club International Alliance (PCIA) convened for its quarterly virtual meeting. The shared commitment to promote a strong international Pony Club community through equine education, friendship and leadership is evident through the authentic engagement from members who coordinate calendars across eight different international time zones to meet.
The agenda provided progress updates from 2026 international exchange event hosts and early planning for 2027 calendar year which includes PCA hosting the PCIA conference. PCA will have teams representing in the 2026 International Mounted Games Exchange (IMGE) in the USA in July and International Tetrathlon Exchange (ITE) being hosted in Queensland which are in the final stages on selection and will be announced next month.
The PCA National Safety Committee also convened to review the minimum medical standards framework which was introduced in 2022 and applies to our affiliated network of event organisers.
The review seeks to reduce the rigidity of the framework to allow flexibility in application within local contexts including rural and urban disparity while supporting organisers to maintain high safety standards for event participants. The review includes an analysis of trends from incident reports and industry benchmarking.
The PCA Finance and Audit Committee also convened this month for a virtual meeting to review of policy and risk register. A framework for AI governance is current focus for the review which aims to provide some parameters to ensure responsible use aligned with our values while leveraging its benefits.
Finally, our state executives also convened this month for its quarterly virtual meeting with the PCA board. The agenda including some early planning for 2027 nationals and a focus on membership included improving members understanding of insurance coverage through highlighting prominence of the schedule of benefits and supporting the understanding of scope and application with a supporting FAQ resource.
