Ever wondered what a national committee does?
Who can be a member and what they do?
To really embed those living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) into the Centre’s research and programs of work, a strong governance structure was developed that included the formation of a national Community and Consumer Involvement Committee that provides a lived-experience view from across Australia. This structure also embeds Consumer Representatives into almost all of our other committees, subcommittees and working groups. This strong partnership with the T1D community means that research outcomes and translation of these outcomes into clinical care, or the development of new models of care, have a better chance of being successful.
Current committee members, called Consumer Representatives, consist of parents who care for a child living with T1D and individuals living with the condition themselves. Representing Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland, the Community and Consumer Involvement committee is hoping to expand its membership to the Northern Territory and Tasmania within the next 6 months.
The committee, reporting directly to the Centre’s Management Steering Group, provides advice to the Centre on the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of research projects, including setting research priorities and has input into the development of Centre project ideas, documents and processes, including advertising materials, data collection documents, changes to research protocols, ethics/governance applications and funding applications.
They are the conduit to the Australian T1D community, including allied health care professionals, advocacy groups, professional societies, clinical and academic institutions and government bodies to share information and seek opportunities for comment and feedback on research projects.
Meetings are held online every two months and researchers are encouraged to present their projects and invite feedback from the committee to ensure their project and its outcomes will be relevant and meaningful to those who need it the most; children and young people living with T1D.
If you are a researcher working on a project within our Centre and would like to present your project to the committee, our next meeting dates are:
· 23 April 2024
· 26 June 2024.
If you or someone you know lives with T1D and would like to become a Consumer Representative, please reach out to the Community Involvement Coordinator at community@childrensdiabetesresearch.org.au. to find out how.