AERA is a member organisation, described in Section 3 of its Constitution:

‘AERA will act as a coordinating body for the sport of endurance in Australia and it will aim to promote all aspects of the sport, including the highest ideals of sportsmanship and horsemanship, with horse welfare being of prime consideration, as embodied in the mission “to complete is to win”.’

Who are AERA’s members?

AERA’s members are the six Division (State) Associations and AERA’s Honorary Members.

Its Divisional members guide AERA’s activities through their delegates. The number of delegates each Division has is proportional to the number of members each has – one delegate is appointed for each 100 (or part thereof) of its Divisional membership (to a maximum of 5 delegates). For example, a Division that has 450 or 550 members appoints 5 delegates. A useful way to picture the AERA delegates is as its Board of Management.

Day to day management

While the ‘Board’ oversees and guides AERA’s activities, its work is done by its Management Committee (MC) and Sub-committees (SCs).

The AERA MC consists of eight members – 2 each from the NSW and Queensland Division Associations and 1 each from the Victorian, South Australian, Tasmanian and Western Australian Division Associations.

It is important to note that MC members do not ‘represent’ their Divisions. They must act in the best interests of AERA, setting aside any sectional interests.

A full account of AERA’s governance structure is detailed in the AERA Constitution.

What AERA actually does (and does not do)

Section 3 of the AERA Constitution lists a number of Objects (roles, functions) which can be summarised as follows:

1. To act as the coordinating body for the sport of endurance in Australia that promotes all aspects of the sport.
2. To maintain the Rulebook and associated guidelines, standards etc and monitor compliance with these.
3. To maintain the AERAspace database and manage a number of annual national awards for riders and horses.
4. To supervise, in association with an incorporated Divisional Endurance Club, the organisation of an annual Australian National Championship Endurance Ride, The Tom Quilty Gold Cup.
5. To formulate standards and processes for the accreditation of officials.
6. To encourage and assist Division Association (DA) members to compete in international competition and to encourage, promote, and conduct Endurance Events with international standing within Australia.
7. To encourage and assist interested parties to conduct relevant research and, where appropriate, disseminate the results of such research to DAs and their members.
8. To ensure financial management of the Association to ensure that funds are available at the beginning of each year to pay Public Liability and other Insurance premiums, to pay for EA Affiliation and to contribute to the expenses of the Tom Quilty Gold Cup, and throughout the year to cover the ongoing maintenance and development of the database.

These functions are performed by the AERA MC SCs. Each SC comprises at least one AERA MC member. Other members are drawn, where necessary or desirable, from the broad endurance community.

AERA has NO role in disciplinary matters relating to members of Division Associations or in hearing appeals flowing from incidents at events.