More than 170 ICPA members from across NSW were set to converge on Moree this week for ICPA NSW's annual state conference, however it had to be cancelled amid the rapidly-evolving coronavirus crisis, as presenters and guests were unable to make it.

"We were getting phone calls from presenters, for example the Telstra people weren't allowed in a room of 120 people, and departmental officials couldn't come because of the travel bans that started on Sunday," ICPA NSW president Claire Butler explained.

"We were looking at a significant drop in people coming anyway, so we thought we might be able to do it, but then we looked at the complications of delivering a two-day conference over a teleconference or web platform and just didn't think it would be feasible.

"So we had to make that difficult call."

READ MORE:

Ms Butler said it was "so disappointing" to have to cancel the conference, particularly for the ICPA Moree branch who had been planning it for the past year.

"We really wanted this to happen," she said.

"We can't ever express any words the disappointment that we know the Moree committee is feeling. They've lived and breathed this for at least the last six months.

"I was also really excited to come to Moree, because I went to St Phillies in 1988 and '89. I was looking forward to coming back to where my first experience of education in Australia was, so it's doubly disappointing."

Although the conference was cancelled, the state council decided to still hold their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday afternoon since they were all in Moree anyway.

"The most important thing that we needed to do was to remain constitutional," Ms Butler said.

"So whilst we're all here, we decided we may as well forge ahead and attempt to have the AGM using teleconferencing."

The state council was re-elected, with two new councillors elected following the retirement of two.

"I'm really pleased given the circumstances that we've still had two new state councillors come on board remotely," Ms Butler said.

"We still have a couple of casual vacancies to fill to make it run at full steam so people aren't doubling up on portfolios, but we wanted to make sure we left here constitutional. Now we don't know when we'll be able to meet face-to-face again."

The state council now need to decide how to proceed with the 84 motions that were submitted by ICPA branches across the state to be debated and voted on at the state conference.

These motions are what ICPA NSW would normally take to parliament in June for action.

Ms Butler said the conference provides members with the opportunity to debate motions and often helps people understand issues that might be important for some but not relevant for others.

"Every year conference gives us a clear direction for what we're going to fight for for children in the bush," she said.

"We need to re-group and look at how we're going to get these motions done. We need to go home to our families and then work out a way to move on.

"It needs a lot of careful thought; we're in uncharted waters."