Policy Advisory Council

The Policy Advisory Council develops AVA policies and position statements through consultation with members about the issues that are important to the profession.

Each division and special interest group nominates a Policy Councillor to represent them at council meetings.

Policy Advisory Council meets each year, and working groups collaborate between meetings to review and update old policies, as well as develop new ones.

Policies are underpinned by evidence from the scientific literature wherever possible. Note that evidence is obtained using targeted rather than systematic literature reviews, but every effort is made to present comprehensive, balanced and unbiased content.

What's the difference between a policy and a position statement?

A policy is where there is a high level of consensus among members about the issue. A position statement reflects a significant diversity of opinion among members on the topic.

How is a policy made?

A draft is prepared by a working group, usually led by the relevant special interest group representative on the Policy Advisory Council.  

The draft is discussed and amended at a Policy Advisory Council meeting, and a majority vote agrees to send the second draft to members for comment.

Draft policies for comment are circulated to all AVA members through AVA publications and/or email communications, and are also posted on the AVA's member-only discussion forums.

All drafts released to members for comment have already been debated at least once by Policy Advisory Council.

Members' comments are considered by Policy Advisory Council, who then decide which changes to include before voting on the final draft to send to the AVA Board for review.

Policy councillors are responsible for contacting their group members directly for feedback on all proposed new policies and policy revisions.

All member comments are distributed prior to the next meeting and then debated by Policy Advisory Council. Often further changes are made in response to this second debate.

The final draft is arrived at by majority (75%) vote, and it is sent to the AVA Board for review. When the Board ratifies the policy it becomes official AVA policy and the website is updated.

How else is policy decided?

The AVA Board has the ultimate responsibility to adopt policies on behalf of the association. Policy Advisory Council makes recommendations to the Board, but the ultimate decision is the Board’s.

If action is required on an issue where no policy exists, either the Board makes the policy itself, or may delegate that responsibility to a group of members with the appropriate knowledge and expertise to reach consensus. This group is usually led by the AVA President, and includes policy staff, appropriate special interest group representatives, and any other special experts that are required.  Ultimately the Board must ratify the final draft before it becomes official AVA policy.