1. The Council of ICT Associations (CICTA) will comprise one delegate of each member association, a maximum of three co-opted members and if appointed, the CICTA Chief Executive Officer. These delegates must be financial members of their associations, and preferably current committee members.
2. CICTA members will appoint a Chair in March each year. The Chair’s major responsibilities are to chair CICTA meetings be the official spokesperson for CICTA.
3. The Council will set CICTA priorities, appoint any staff or contractors deemed necessary, approve projects and the annual budget.
4. Council delegates will meet either in person or via teleconference a minimum of 10 times per calendar year.
5. The Council may by consensus from time to time co-opt up to three additional delegates drawn from the member associations. These delegates may be co-opted for a fixed period not exceeding one year. Co-opted delegates will have the full privileges and obligations of other CICTA delegates.
6. The Chairs of member associations who are not on the Council may request an invitation from the CICTA Chair to attend any CICTA meeting as an observer.
7. Member associations can replace their CICTA delegate at any time.
8. Delegates will give three months’ notice to their association and CICTA of their intention to leave the Council.
9. When a delegate gives notice, their association may immediately nominate their replacement. This person may then attend all CICTA meetings and participate in all activities before taking over as a delegate on the retirement of their predecessor. The selection of a replacement is solely a matter for their association.
10. To ensure the continuity of CICTA activities, communication and decision making, casual alternate delegates cannot be nominated to attend meetings in place of the regular Council delegate
11. The one exception to this rule is that, with the approval of the majority of other Council delegates, a member association may nominate an alternate to replace their delegate for a maximum period of four months.
12. All CICTA delegates in accepting their position on the Council agree to hold in confidence and not disclose to any outside party, any information or materials that the Council has agreed to accept and hold in confidence.
13. Where a non disclosure agreement does not apply, all CICTA delegates in accepting their position on the Council agree to hold all Council discussions and materials in confidence and not to disclose details to any party. The only exceptions to disclosure are to a formal meeting of their association executive committee
14. All CICTA delegates in accepting their position on the Council agree to disclose all potential conflicts of interest before participating in the relevant discussion or decision making.
15. All CICTA delegates in accepting their position on the Council agree to put their personal commercial interests aside and participate from a broader ICT industry perspective
16. All CICTA delegates in accepting their position agree that unless explicitly authorised to do so by the Council Chair, only the Chair or their nominee will provide an official Council position to any media or political party representative.
17. To save on administration costs, funding for the Council may be administered by a member association, which will provide quarterly financial reports to the Council. The selection of this association requires a majority vote by Council delegates and must be reviewed at least every two years.
18. ICT associations will be expected to facilitate communication with the Council by collecting and prioritising their issues and communicating decisions and outcomes from the Council. Where an association’s position differs from a Council position, they will duly inform the CICTA Chair prior to communicating externally.
19. The Chair of the Council will invite additional representatives of member associations to attend CICTA meetings when a broader discussion of issues is necessary to gain a wider industry view.
The Council may also choose to invite individual industry leaders to participate in Council discussions from time to time to gain further input into the identified issues.
Individuals attending Council CICTA meetings must agree to abide by the rules on confidentiality that CICTA delegates adhere to.
20. Responses and input from industry should be via their relevant association, in written form, and communicated by their association to the Council for consideration and inclusion in an overall industry response.
21. CICTA delegates must have the authority to make decisions on behalf of their association on issues put forward by the Council. Unless otherwise agreed, decisions are requested within 10 working days. If an association delegate cannot ratify the stated issue within the given time frame, the association agrees to abstain from the decision. In such circumstances, it will be noted that the association was not able to ratify the decision and abstained.
22. CICTA delegates will be expected to commit the time required to actively participate in Council activities
23. Issues presented at Council meetings requiring a decision from each association will be decided by majority ruling. Only CICTA delegates may cast votes. CICTA staff and contractors have no voting rights. An association cannot veto Council decisions. In the case where an association does not agree with a majority decision, their opposition will be minuted accordingly.
24. Associations will have the right to present an alternative position from that presented by the Council as the majority position. In this instance, it will be noted accordingly as an attachment to any document prepared by the Council for the purpose of distribution to the wider industry and other interested parties.
25. Where an association feels that it does not support the overall position and views of the industry as presented by the Council, it has the right to withdraw from the Council. The remaining associations will have the right to continue their charter as part of the Council.
26. Where the Council has been given a mandate to prosecute a specific issue on behalf of its member associations, each participating association agrees to support the Council in its role.
27. Member associations are free to pursue any non-Council issue on behalf of their members without consultation with the Council.
28. When it is deemed that the Council has achieved its objectives or is no longer needed, the member associations will agree to dissolve the group by unanimous assent.
29. With the agreement of delegates, some Council activities may be deemed to be ‘consulting’ in nature and will be fee based.