Terms of reference

Objectives

Terms of Reference

The objective of the AARC is to provide a regular and organised mechanism to:

  • consult on the state of autism research in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand;
  • identify priorities for autism research in an Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand context;
  • report on priorities for autism research in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand;
  • inform funding strategies for autism research in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

AARC activities are to be community-led and community-informed – by autistic individuals, their families/carers and allies who provide services and support – for the benefit of those communities and the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealander community as a whole.

Word definitions
  • A mechanism is a way of doing something or a process that makes something work.
  • Consult means to ask people what they think about something.
  • Identify means to find something.
  • Report means to tell other people what you found out about something.
  • Inform means to give people information.
  • Community-led means that the community leads what the AARC does.
  • Community-informed means using ideas from a community to make decisions.
  • Allies are people or groups who help and support other groups of people.

What does this mean?

The AARC is a group of people that meet regularly. They:

  • ask people what they think about autism research;
  • find out what autism research the community thinks should be done;
  • say what autism research should focus on;
  • tell people who fund research what the most important autism research is.

What the AARC does is based on information from the autistic and autism communities. All AARC activities are done to help the broad Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand community.

Membership

Terms of Reference

The AARC will have no less than 10 and no more than 15 members. Members must be aged 18 or over and reside in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand.

The AARC membership is intended to be representative of the key stakeholder communities. Subject to there being suitable nominees to fill the positions, AARC membership should include at least:

  • 2 members from Australia;
  • 2 members from Aotearoa New Zealand;
  • 3 autistic individuals;
  • 1 nominee of the Autism CRC Board;
  • 1 parent or carer of an autistic person;
  • 1 representative of an autistic or autism community advocacy organisation;
  • 1 representative of a service organisation to the autistic community;
  • 1 representative of the Australian or Aotearoa New Zealand autism research community;
  • 1 representative of each of an Australian Commonwealth government and Aotearoa New Zealand national government department or agency delivering services to members of the autistic community, preferably with a broad portfolio view, e.g. disability, education and health.

If there are not suitable nominees for a position, that position may remain vacant until at least the next period of member nominations.

The membership term will be three years, commencing from 1 January in the first of these years. A member may be re-appointed to the AARC for a further term, subject to the member guidelines below.

Word definitions
  • A representative is a person who speaks for a group of people.
  • Suitable nominees means someone who has the right skills or experience to be a member.
  • Re-appointed means to be chosen again.

What does this mean?

The AARC needs to have 10 – 15 members. They must be 18 or older and live in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand.

The AARC must include people from Australia and New Zealand; autistic people, a member of the Autism CRC Board, a parent or carer of an autistic person, a representative from advocacy and service organisations, the research community, and government departments.

If a suitable person does not apply to join the AARC, the spot stays empty until the next round of applications.

People can be a member of the AARC for three years. Memberships start on 1 January each year.

People can be chosen again to be a member of the AARC.

Auspicing and Administration

Terms of Reference

The AARC will operate under the auspices of Autism CRC.

Autism CRC will provide management and operational support, including the services of a Secretary to the AARC.

Word definitions
  • Auspices means help or support from a person or organisation.
  • A secretary is a person who helps to organise things. They write notes, keep records, and send emails
  • Management means helping to make things work well and make good decisions about something.
  • Operational support means helping with the jobs that keep things working well.

What does this mean?

Autism CRC will help and support the AARC to do their work. They will also provide a secretary to help organise the AARC’s activities.

Co-chairs

Terms of Reference

The members of the AARC will appoint two of its members as Co-Chairs on an annual basis at the first meeting of each calendar year. Should a Co-Chair position become vacant before the next annual appointment process, the AARC shall appoint one of its members to that position. All such appointments are subject to the ratification of the Autism CRC Board.

At least one of the Co-Chairs is to be autistic, and at least one will be an existing member who has served at least 12 months on the AARC.

Word definitions
  • Appoint means to choose someone to do a job or a role.
  • A Co-Chair is a person who helps another person to lead a meeting.
  • Ratification means to agree or approve a decision.

What does this mean?

At the beginning of each year, the members of the AARC will choose two members to be Co-Chairs. If a Co-Chair leaves the AARC during the year, the AARC can chose a member to be the Co-Chair until the next year. The people chosen can be Co-Chairs after the Autism CRC Board approves this.

One of the Co-Chairs must be an autistic person.

One of the Co-Chairs must have been a member of the AARC for 12 months.

Member guidelines

Terms of Reference

In undertaking AARC activities, members are to demonstrate:

  1. Mutual respect
  2. A desire to reach consensus
  3. Effective two-way communications with other AARC members.

Membership years shall run from 1 January to 31 December.

At least one-third of the membership positions on the AARC are to be called for nomination each year. This includes the positions of all members whose current membership term is due to expire at the end of that year. These members can renominate, however at least half of the positions called for nomination should be filled by new members.

Nominations will be called for by the end of October each year.

The AARC will establish a process for calling for new members, including targeted stakeholder representation, selection and appointment. The Board of Autism CRC has the right of refusal over the proposed appointment of a member of the AARC.

An invitation to membership of the AARC is made to persons on an individual basis, not to an organisation.

Members cannot nominate a proxy to attend meetings on their behalf.

A member may:

  1. resign from the AARC by notifying the Co-Chairs of the AARC in writing; or
  2. may be removed from the AARC if that member is deemed to be impeding the achievement of any of the AARC objective or not participating in AARC activities for an extended period, creating a casual vacancy. A decision to remove a member requires the support of all other AARC members or a resolution of the Autism CRC Board.

Other than for the position of the AARC member nominated by the Autism CRC Board, the AARC may invite an individual to fill a casual vacancy.

Word definitions
  • Consensus means everyone in a group agrees or accepts a decision.
  • Nomination means naming someone who wants to join the AARC.
  • A proxy is a person who is allowed to speak for someone else in a meeting if that person cannot attend the meeting.
  • Resign means to leave a job or a role.
  • Impeding means stopping something from happening.
  • A resolution is a decision made after a discussion or voting.

What does this mean?

AARC members should:

  1. Treat each other with respect
  2. Work together to come to agreements
  3. Communicate clearly and listen to others in the group.


Each year (1 January to 31 December), at least one-third of the membership positions will be open to people interested in being a member of the AARC. This includes positions held by existing members whose membership ends that year. These members can choose to apply to be a member again, but at least half of the open positions should be filled by new members.

Nominations will open by the end of October each year.

The AARC will create a process for inviting new members to apply. This will include inviting applications from specific members of the community, choosing new members and adding new members.

The Board of Autism CRC can say no to a person becoming a member of the AARC.

The AARC invites people, not organisations to become members.

Members cannot ask someone else to attend meetings on their behalf.

A member can leave the AARC, by telling the Co-Chairs of the AARC in writing.

A member may be removed from the AARC if they are preventing the AARC from achieving its goals or if they have not been involved in AARC activities for a long time. This needs to be approved by all AARC members and the Autism CRC Board.

If there is an empty spot on the AARC, someone can be invited to be a temporary member. The AARC member who represents the Autism CRC Board can only be chosen by the Board.

Voting

Terms of Reference

Quorum for an AARC meeting is a majority of the full membership of the AARC.

Word definitions
  • Quorum means the smallest number of members required to make decisions at a meeting.
  • Majority means more than half.

What does this mean?

Most of the AARC members need to attend a meeting for the AARC to be able to make decisions.

Council Meeting Protocol

Terms of Reference

The Council will implement a meeting protocol that maximises the opportunity for members to participate. The protocol will ensure contributions to meetings can be made both through real-time participation in an AARC meeting and/or in writing within a timeframe specified by the Co-Chairs which might extend beyond the time of the meeting. Meetings may be held in person or online.

Council discussions are deemed confidential in nature.

AARC meetings will take place at least three times each year, up to a maximum of eight times. Members may also be invited to optional meetings relevant to any project work being undertaken on behalf of the AARC. Matters may also be considered out of session via electronic means (e.g., email or online polls).

Any publication of AARC outputs and external communications are to be agreed by the AARC, and approved by Autism CRC, in advance of their release.

Word definitions
  • Protocol means the rules or steps to follow when doing something.
  • Maximises means making something as good or big as possible.
  • Real-time means something that is happening right now.
  • Confidential means private information that should only be shared with certain people.
  • Maximum means the biggest or most something can be.
  • Optional means something that you can choose to do if you want to.
  • Matters are important topics that you want other people to know about.
  • Outputs are the things that are made from an activity.
  • Communications are the ways you share information with other people. This can include talking, writing, email, or phone.

What does this mean?

The AARC will make rules for meetings to help members participate as much as possible.

Members can participate in meetings during a designated time or by writing, before or after. The timeframe they can do this is decided by the Co-Chairs. Meetings may be held in person or online.

Discussions that happen during meetings cannot be shared with people who are not members of the AARC.

AARC meetings will take place between 3 and 8 times a year.

Members of the AARC may also be invited to attend optional meetings about AARC projects.

Members might also be asked to discuss matters online outside of regular meetings.

Anything that the AARC creates or communicates to people needs to be agreed upon by the AARC. It also needs to be approved by Autism CRC before being shared.

Reporting

Terms of Reference

The AARC shall publish a report or update on its activities before the end of each membership year. The publication should include information on AARC activities and their findings consistent with the AARC objective. The annual report on AARC activities requires the approval of at least 75% of the full membership of the AARC before submission to Autism CRC.

Reports generated by the AARC are to be published by Autism CRC. Autism CRC's publication guidelines shall apply to all AARC reports.

Autism CRC Board may refuse publication if it believes the publication is inconsistent with the AARC objective or the vision and mission of Autism CRC. In such circumstances, Autism CRC will return the proposed publication to the AARC for further consideration and revision.

Word definitions
  • A publication is something that is written and shared with other people, like a book, report or poster.

What does this mean?

At the end of the year the AARC will write a report about the activities they have done. The report needs to be approved by at least 75% of the AARC.

Report will be published by Autism CRC and need to be approved by the Autism CRC Board. If the board does not approve the report, the AARC can make changes to it.

Review

Terms of Reference

These Terms of Reference will be reviewed annually by the AARC, in time for their inclusion with the call for nominations for membership of the AARC for the following year. Any revisions will be submitted for approval to the Board of Autism CRC.

Word definition

Review means to check and update.

What does this mean?

The AARC will review the Terms of Reference once a year.

The AARC will do this before they ask for new members to apply for the next year.

If the AARC make changes to the Terms of Reference, those changes must be approved by the Autism CRC Board.