Standards Australia Limited ("Standards Australia") is a public company limited by guarantee and operates under a written Constitution.

Standards Australia's Constitution [PDF]
Standards Australia's Membership Rules [PDF]

Governance

73 of Australia's leading industry, government and consumer organisations form the Members of the Standards Australia Council. The Council has the responsibility to elect the Board of Directors, the Accreditation Board for Standards Development Organisations (ABSDO) and to appoint new Members to the organisation.

The Standards Australia Council is responsible for the general oversight of standardisation in Australia and the governance of Standards Australia.

Members & Councillors Guide

The Board has a number of Committees that consider the detail of the major issues that need to be addressed by the Board. Board Committee's may make decisions where appropriate authority has been delegated, or provide recommendations to the Board for final consideration.

The Board’s Charter and of its various Committees are attached:

Board Corporate Governance Charter
Finance & Audit Committee Charter
Remuneration & Nominations Committee Charter
Strategy Committee Charter
Standards Development Committee Charter
National Standards Advisory Group Charter

The Standards Development Committee

The primary objective of the Standards Development Committee is to assist the Board in the development of Australian Standards and related documents, in particular to:

• Exercise oversight of Standards Australia’s processes, policies and procedures as an accredited developer of Australian Standards and related documents;
• Provide process governance for the development of Australian Standards by Standards Australia, and as agreed on a case by case basis for other accredited Standards Development Organisations as required, and to ensure compliance with appropriate processes for the development of Australian Standards;
• Determine which projects are resourced by Standards Australia, with reference to published criteria;
• Provide guidance on, and if necessary make decisions on, priorities for  the development of Australian Standards and other documents in the public interest; and
• Provide the final point of process dispute resolution within Standards Australia as an accredited developer of Australian Standards and related documents.

 Membership is as follows

• Peter Cockbain, SDC Chairman, Standards Australia Director
• Ken Bowron, Executive Director EnergySafety, WA Government
• Richard Dixon Hughes, Managing Director DH 4 Pty Ltd
• John Furbank, Consumers Federation of Australia
• Barry Lee OAM, Technical Consultant Tyco International
• Dr Bill Petreski, Principal Advisor – ICT Industry for AI Group
• Paul Trotman, Commonwealth Dept of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (ex-officio Member)

The Chairman of the Standards Australia Board and the Chief Executive Officer also attend Committee meetings as Observers

Government Relationships

Standards Australia is an independent company, not directly associated with government, although the Commonwealth Government and State governments are listed among our members.

However, the important role of Standards in any advanced nation's technical infrastructure means that a close and co-operative working relationship with government is essential. To ensure this, a Memorandum of Understanding has existed between Standards Australia and the Commonwealth Government since 1988. The Memorandum recognises Standards Australia as the peak non-government Standards body in Australia.

This Memorandum details the accord that exists between the two parties in respect to Australian standardisation. Among the principal accords are that no Australian Standard will contravene the World Trade Organization's requirements that national Standards should not be used as non-tariff barriers to free trade; and agreement that no new Australian Standard will be developed where an acceptable international Standard already exists.