AUTEC’s membership is determined in accordance with the Terms of Reference given in the previous section. It is also guided by the following:
4.1. Accreditation Membership Requirements
AUTEC is accredited to the Health Research Council. It is the responsibility of the Chair and the Committee to ensure that the following accreditation requirements of the Health Research Council are met each time the composition of the Committee is changed:
- the primary guiding principle is to ensure that the Committee has the appropriate expertise, skills and knowledge to conduct ethical review of the best quality
- the Committee should have a balance of experience, knowledge and perspectives. Attention should be paid to cultural diversity, gender balance and inclusion of people with disabilities
- the Committee should have a composition tailored to ensure that it has appropriate medical, scientific and other research expertise to enable it to provide ethical review of the majority of proposals coming before it
- the Committee shall have at least one member who is a lawyer
- the Committee should have a composition which includes individuals with an appropriate knowledge and understanding of community issues and perspectives, including health consumer perspectives
- the Committee shall have at least two Maori members; at least one member should have an awareness of Maori and understanding of tikanga Maori, including knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi
- the Committee shall have a balance between lay and non-lay members
- when appointing a member, the Committee should consider whether the appointment of a person as a member of the Committee would raise the issue that that person could be construed, by virtue of employment, profession or relationship, to have a potential conflict of interest or professional bias in the majority of proposals reviewed
4.2. Term of Appointment
4.2.1. Members shall be appointed for a term of three years, with the right of reappointment, on the basis of the specialist expertise or knowledge and understanding which enables them to contribute to the appropriate balance of the Committee’s composition.
4.2.2. No member shall serve on the Committee for more than two consecutive terms or six successive years. The Chair may have a term as Chair after any other consecutive terms in another capacity. The Executive Secretary, as an ex officio member, is exempt from this requirement.
4.3. Chair
Each meeting is to be chaired by the Chair or their nominee. The Chair shall be recommended by Academic Board and appointed by Council from the lay membership of the Committee.