Our Charter

Hargraves Institute was founded in 2006 by 12 leading organisations seeking to create a collaborative forum and source of knowledge for innovation. Therefore our Charter, written by these Founding Members, aims to articulate our vision, purpose and commitment. In addition, it sets out a code of conduct for all.

When forming Hargraves, the founding members and our Executive Director, Allan Ryan, took inspiration from one of Australia’s most accomplished inventors, Lawrence Hargrave. Renowned for creating the box kite in 1893, Hargrave refused to patent his inventions. Instead, allowing them to benefit anybody who wished to use them. Consequently, this willingness to share his ideas openly enabled others to achieve crewed flight. This principle of sharing and collaboration to advance knowledge is the cornerstone of Hargraves Institute.

We acknowledge the trust placed in our stewardship of the Institute by our Founding Members and will endeavour to honour their vision, purpose and objectives.

Our Mission

Hargraves provides its members with opportunities for collaboration, innovation, transformation and growth by delivering various programs, products, services and activities. In addition, we work with individuals, teams and organisations to develop tools and programs which create measurable performance improvements and results underpinned by insight and rigour.

To guide and define our focus, we have adopted the definitions of ‘innovation’ and ‘leadership of innovation’ as follows:

For the purpose of this Charter:

• ‘innovation’ shall be defined as the generation and/or discovery of ideas, be they original or adapted from another source, and the successful implementation of those ideas to create a better future.
• ‘leadership of innovation‘ shall be defined as a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others to accomplish a common task related to innovation.

These definitions are not intended to prescribe a definition to others and may well differ from those used by community members. However, we believe they are appropriate to the Institute’s purpose.

Our Objectives

Our objectives are developed through collaboration to ensure relevance in a changing world. They include:

• Provide members with a forum to collaborate to share ideas and knowledge.
• Strengthen business leaders’ understanding of issues surrounding innovation.
• Support collaboration across all levels of organisations.
• Support and encourage research of innovation and collaboration.
• Identify and promote best practices, tools and techniques to support innovation and collaboration.
• Use innovation, continuous improvement and generation of knowledge to improve our service to members.

Our Code of Conduct

Hargraves Institute provides a platform for sharing and acquiring collective wisdom in innovation and collaboration. Its core strength is its ability to unite individuals in a non-competitive, mutually supportive environment.

Our Code of Conduct sets down the standards of behaviour expected of all individuals participating in activities. 

Standards of Behaviour:

1. Individuals participating in activities do so genuinely intending to collaborate and build collective wisdom in innovation.
2. Individuals joining our community do so with a genuine intention to collaborate and learn.
3. It conflicts with the spirit of membership to use the Institute merely for self-promotion or sales generation. Mutually beneficial business relationships fostered through interaction are encouraged, while “working the room” for selling is not considered appropriate behaviour.
4. Participants are expected to self-regulate their attendance at events hosted at a competitor’s premises or where a key presenter is a competitor, and there is a possibility of embarrassment. If in doubt, please check the sensitivity of attendance with Hargraves.
5. Participation in any activity is at Hargraves’ discretion to manage participation from completing organisations. VIP members receive priority registration over Alumni and DIY members.
6. The event dress code is not specified unless any venue has specific criteria.
7. It is a requirement that all those associated with Hargraves Institute take care to protect themselves and each other by observing the following protocols of privacy and confidentiality:
8. We will not share any individual’s contact details without their approval.
9. ­Participants are expected to use appropriate discretion and avoid disclosing insights that might embarrass or damage other members.
10. All participants accept responsibility for protecting confidential material and IP by not disclosing it in the collaborative forum environment. Participants should assume that all forums are public, which they may well be if guests are present or the session is being recorded (see below).
11. Using the guidelines above, we may record online sessions and share these with non-competing organisations or individuals who cannot attend. We will notify participants will that the session is being recorded.

Should we learn that any individual or organisation has acted in a manner that breaches this Code of Conduct, Hargraves Institute will investigate. Outcomes may include counselling, removal from our online community, or withdrawing invitations to future events.