WA Genetics Council
The Western Australian Genetics Council (WAGC) was established in 2001 to provide advice to the Department of Health Western Australia on issues related to the coordination of genetic services and the future development of those services in WA. A number of Committees have been established to advise the Council on the specific areas of ethics, familial cancer, prenatal diagnosis and newborn screening.
The Terms of Reference and Committee Operating Procedures can be found below. The WAGC Strategic Plan (PDF 82KB) is also available.
Terms of Reference
- Provide advice to the Department of Health on key emerging human genetic issues that will impact on the development of health services for the population.
- Provide advice and leadership on issues of ethics, legislation and public policy in the area of human genetics and contribute towards informed community debate on these issues.
- Review proposals for the development of additional clinical, laboratory and other genetic services as they arise and provide advice to the Department of Health on the likely impact and priority of these services.
- Review policies and guidelines developed locally, nationally and/or internationally and recommend on their endorsement.
- Provide advice on priority areas for education of health professionals and the community in Western Australia about human genetic issues.
- Review evaluations and other information on services to enable the WAGC to make informed recommendations on service development to Department of Health.
- Establish ad hoc working groups as required to assess and address issues arising for genetic services and to report to the Department of Health.
- Provide advice and support in progressing the implementation of agreed recommendations within the Department of Health purchaser/provider/program context in WA.
Committee Operating Procedures
These procedures set out the guidelines for the operation of the Western Australian Genetics Council (WAGC) and its subsidiary Committees. NB – the term “Committee” is used as an overarching reference to each of these groups unless otherwise stated.
Membership
Committee members are appointed as individual experts in their field rather than as representatives of any particular organisation. The nomination of proxies is therefore unnecessary if a member is unable to attend a committee meeting.
The term of appointment for Committee members is 2 years.
Additional Committee members may be appointed by the Chair of the WAGC.
On occasions where specific expertise is necessary to enable the proper consideration of an issue, and such expertise is not available via the regular membership, Committees may coopt persons with such expertise on a non-ongoing basis.
Resignation/Termination of Appointment
A member of a Committee may resign by notifying the Chair in writing, copied to the Executive Support Officer.
The Chair of the WAGC may terminate the appointment of any Committee member for reasons including:
- failure to disclose a conflict of interest;
- failure to fulfil his/her obligations as a Committee member; and
- failure to attend at least one-third of all Committee meetings held within a 12 month period.
Meetings
Members should endeavour to agree at the beginning of the year to a 12-month Committee meeting schedule.
Committee meetings will be face to face except where the Chair considers it appropriate and efficient for the Committee to meet out-of-session (eg by E-mail or teleconference).
Members wishing to nominate agenda items should do so in writing to the Chair, copied to the Executive Support Officer, no later than 14 days prior to the meeting.
Unless otherwise agreed, members nominating agenda items will also be responsible for providing any background information necessary to facilitate discussion of the relevant item.
On occasions where the Chair is unable to attend a scheduled meeting, the Chair may nominate a Committee member to preside over the meeting in his/her absence.
Executive Support
Executive Support for the Committee will be provided by the Department of Health.
All Committee meetings will be minuted by the Executive Support Officer and distributed to members within 14 days of the meeting where possible.
Members will have 14 days to comment on the draft minutes. If a member does not submit any comment by this time it will be assumed that the member is satisfied with the minutes as drafted. If significant changes to the minutes are suggested, a revised draft will be re-circulated (via E-mail) to members for further comments and clearance.
Quorum and Committee Decisions
A quorum exists if half of a Committee’s members are present at a meeting, including the Chair or his/her nominated delegate.
The Chair will be responsible for ensuring that all members with relevant skills are present before a decision is made by the Committee.
Committee Relationships and Liaison Between Committees
The Chairpersons of the Familial Cancer Committee, Ethics Committee, Prenatal Diagnosis Committee and the Newborn Screening Committee shall also be members of the WAGC.
The Chairpersons of the Familial Bowel Cancer Registry Sub-Committee, the Familial Breast/Ovarian Cancer Sub-Committee and the Familial Endocrine Neoplasia Sub-Committee shall also be members of the Familial Cancer Committee.
Members in common are required to liaise between their appointed Committees to ensure an adequate flow of information both ways.
Liaison with Non-Committee Members
In the interest of consistency of advice given to outside parties, the WAGC Chair (or his/her nominated delegate) will be the spokesperson on all matters relating to Committee decisions. All requests for comment on matters relating to Committee decisions, or on behalf of a Committee, should be referred to the Chair of the WAGC in the first instance.
Members should refrain from divulging the views expressed by individual Committee members to any person outside the Committee.
File Formats
Some documents for download on this website are in a Portable Document Format (PDF). To read these files you might need to download Adobe® Acrobat Reader.