1. There will be at least one meeting of the Australian Physiological Society each year. The time and place is to be determined at a preceding business meeting.

2. The Annual General Meeting of the Society is to be held in relation to one of its scientific meetings each year.

3. Members who are temporarily overseas may notify the National Secretary that they wish to suspend their membership temporarily. In such circumstances, the member's name will be removed from the mailing list until such time as the subscription is renewed.

4. Members who are retired shall not be required to pay an annual subscription.

5. Members who fall six months in arrears with their subscriptions shall be so notified by the Treasurer. If a member fails to become financial within one month of such notification that person will lose their right to vote in Society elections.

6.1 Applications for membership of the Society shall be received by the National Secretary at least four weeks prior to the business meeting at which they are to be considered.

6.2 Eligibility for membership will be assessed by the Membership Officer in terms of the applicant's qualifications and background. In general candidates would be expected to hold a recognised higher degree in a discipline related to the professional interests of the Society and to have documented research achievement and/or have a substantial record of tertiary teaching in their discipline.

6.3 In considering whether to recommend a candidate for membership, the Membership Officer will take into account the participation of the person in meetings of the Society. Applicants applying from overseas must have participated in a meeting, or participate in the meeting at which their membership will be considered by a General Meeting.

6.4 Individuals undertaking postgraduate and honours degrees may be recommended by Council for election as Student Members of the Society for a period not normally exceeding four years (five years for a student joining while an honours student). The fee for this period will be the same as the annual fee set by Council for Ordinary members. Only persons who have been approved as Student Members will be eligible for Student Prizes and for Society travel subsidies. Student Members shall not be voting members of the Society but shall receive all Society notices and papers. Student Members who do not complete their degree within the term of their membership may make a request for an extension to the Treasurer. The annual fee for the duration of an extension shall be one quarter that for an Ordinary Member. Upon graduation, the Student membership will terminate. Student Members can convert to Ordinary Membership by payment of their first annual fee at the Ordinary Member rate.

7.1 Candidates for election to membership shall attach payment to the value of one year's subscription to their nomination form at the time that it is submitted to the National Secretary. This subscription will be returned in the event that the candidate is not elected.

7.2 New Members elected at any meeting of the Society, regardless of the month in which it is held, will become formally affiliated with the Society with effect from July 1 in the calendar year of their election, and their subscription fees shall be taken as being paid from that date.

8.1 In agreeing to host a scientific meeting of the Society, members of the host department(s)/ institute(s) shall set up a representative organising group which shall choose a staff member, normally a member of the Society, who is prepared to organise the meeting in co-ordination with the National Secretary. This person shall be called the Local Secretary.

8.2 The Local Secretary shall be co-opted to Council beginning with the Council Meeting held in conjunction with the scientific meeting one year prior to the meeting for which he or she has been appointed and continuing until completion of the meeting (including financial matters) for which the Local Secretary is responsible.

8.3 Registration, payment for accommodation and attending Society functions (e.g. dinner), must be made in advance in accordance with arrangements determined by the Local Secretary.

8.4 The Local Secretary shall maintain proper accounting records, which within four weeks of the completion of the scientific meeting, shall be submitted to the Treasurer for subsequent auditing as part of the Society's accounts.

8.5 The Society shall maintain records of registration at all its Scientific Meetings for a period of at least the previous seven years.

8.6 Attendance of Members at all Business Meetings of the Society shall be recorded, and the records held by the National Secretary.

9.1 All persons except those exempted by the Local Secretary attending a scientific meeting of the Society must pay the normal registration fee.

9.2 All persons attending a scientific meeting of the Society who register after the deadline set by the National Secretary shall pay an additional late registration fee set by the Local Secretary.

10.1 A person who is not a member of the Australian Physiological Society may present a free Communication or Demonstration in person at a Meeting of the Society provided that he or she is introduced by a Member of the Society and is duly registered. The name of the introducing member must appear on the abstract. The editor will forward by electronic mail a copy of the abstract to the introducing member, who must acknowledge their sponsorship of it.

10.2 It is the responsibility of an introducing member to ensure that the Communication or Demonstration and its abstract comply with the rules of the Society.

11.1 The exact format to be followed in preparing the manuscript is prescribed in "Preparation of Abstracts of Communications and Demonstrations to The Australian Physiological Society", and related pages published on the Society's web site.

11.2 Abstracts, if acceptable to the Editor in form and content and received by the deadline set for receipt of abstracts, will be selected for presentation as oral communications or poster communications according to the authors preference where possible. However, to assist in Programme planning, the Programme Committee reserves the right to allocate abstracts to either category of communication.

11.3 Abstracts received by the Editor after the final date set for submission may be returned to authors. Returned abstracts to authors can be resubmitted for a subsequent meeting.

11.4 Experiments on human or animal subjects described in any abstract submitted for publication in the Proceedings, must be conducted according to the current codes laid down by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. The author submitting an abstract through the Society's web site must acknowledge these conditions before being allowed to proceed.

11.5 All abstracts that deal with animal experimentation in vivo should include the names, doses (where applicable) and modes of administration of all anaesthetic, tranquillizing and muscle relaxant drugs employed.

11.6 Responsibility for the literary and scientific content of abstracts accepted for publication shall remain with the authors and their sponsoring institutions. Acceptance by the Society for publication shall not imply any acceptance by the Society of responsibility, and a disclaimer to this effect will be published in each issue of the Proceedings.

11.7 The National Secretary shall be responsible for the Programme planning of each meeting assisted by a Committee which shall consist of the Editor, Webmaster, Treasurer, Local Secretary and up to two other members selected by the National Secretary. The Local Secretary will organise a Programming Meeting two months before the meeting, at which the abstracts and other scheduled events will be timetabled. The Webmaster will then prepare the Programme for the Society's web site.

11.8 Acceptance or otherwise of abstracts and the form and time of its presentation will be indicated in the published program as soon as possible after the programming is completed.

11.9 When an abstract of a communication is offered to the Society for inclusion in the programme of a forthcoming scientific meeting, it is accepted by the Society and published in the on-line Proceedings on the Society's web site on condition that one of the authors, designated as requested by the Editor, shall present the communication orally or as a poster at the meeting for which submission of the abstract was invited. If, due to unforeseen circumstances, the presenting author is unable to present the communication, another author shall do so (notwithstanding Domestic Rule 12). If no author is able to present the communication and the paper is withdrawn the body of the abstract will be withdrawn from the on-line Proceedings and replaced by a note stating the abstract was withdrawn.

12. No person will deliver more than one oral Communication per meeting (but may be a co-author of other papers) unless as a result of exceptional circumstances approval is given by the National Secretary.

13. The duration of a communication will not normally exceed 10 minutes and discussion will not normally exceed 5 minutes. When possible no more than two oral communications will be scheduled concurrently. Poster communications and demonstrations will be allocated at least one hour in the programme during which no oral communications are scheduled.

14. Communications will be presented at the time specified in the programme. If a communication is withdrawn without notice, no other Communication will be presented at that time.

15. On the recommendation of Council the National Secretary may invite distinguished Physiologists visiting Australia to be guests of the Society at its meetings.

16. Periodically, as necessary, the National Secretary shall invite all members to submit names of persons for consideration as AuPS invited lecturers. The submitted names will be considered by Council. The Council shall have absolute discretion as to how many such lectures, if any, there shall be at any meeting, and there is no restriction on the number of invitations any one speaker may be given.

17. Invited lectures shall be known as "AuPS INVITED LECTURES". A list of these shall be kept by the National Secretary, and published on the Society's web site. Invited lectures are subsequently published in the on-line Proceedings.

18. Ordinary members who are resident overseas shall pay a subscription reduced to 60%. To be eligible for this discount, ordinary members temporarily overseas must be away for more than 1 year. For the purposes of the membership records, such members shall be designated "Ordinary-overseas”.

19. Following each scientific meeting of the Society, the Local Secretary shall update the "Notes to assist local organisers and Local Secretaries in organising scientific meetings of AuPS" based upon the practice at that meeting. The revised guidelines shall be submitted to Council, for consideration, possible modification and final endorsement.