Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) sponsorship and exhibition

The Australian Pain Society (APS) expects sponsors and exhibitors to:

• Be aware of the vision, purpose and priorities of the APS.
• Provide unencumbered sponsorship, with the understanding that the scientific program is produced independently by the Scientific Program Committee (SPC) without consultation or input from sponsors or exhibitors.
• Comply with all Australian laws and all Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) requirements.
• Disclose any and all breaches of Australian laws and TGA requirements to the APS before entering into a sponsorship agreement and/or as soon as they are aware that they are in breach.
• Notify the APS of any activities which may pose a reputational risk to the APS, or compromise the APS' vision, purpose and priorities.

In turn, the APS commits to:

• Work collaboratively with sponsors and exhibitors to support best ethical practice within a sponsorship agreement.
• Regularly review notifications from TGA and other relevant bodies to ensure no breaches by sponsors or exhibitors have occurred.
• Review or withdraw from relationships with sponsors or exhibitors where a breach has occurred.
• Ensure decisions about content of APS educational offerings (including but not limited to Annual Scientific Meetings and associated workshops, webinars, publications and podcasts) are made independently of commercial and financial interests of sponsors and exhibitors. This is achieved via the maintenance of the independent APS SPC, governed via the relevant APS By-Law and Charter.