The Hargraves Institute is named after the aviation pioneer and inventor Lawrence Hargrave who believed in open communications and that his inventions were there to benefit anybody who wished to use them.

The Hargraves Institute was founded in July 2006 to provide a unique and exclusive community of major enterprises to share knowledge, wisdom and experience in a non-competitive environment for the purpose of growth and development.

The Institute takes its vision from one of Australia's most accomplished inventors, Lawrence Hargrave, who refused to patent his inventions, preferring them to benefit anybody who wished to use them. Hargraves willingness to share his ideas with the world enabled others to achieve manned flight, and this principle of sharing and collaboration to advance knowledge is indeed the cornerstone of Hargraves Institute.

The inaugural meeting of Founding Members was held in May 2006 and the value of Hargraves is evident from the observations which arose from that discussion:

• "To be a part of the collection of the country's best innovators; learn how to be more innovative through the collective experience of the group."
• "To enhance the international competitiveness and financial performance of Australian businesses through innovation."
• "Creativity and innovation are key strategies for us. Hargraves will provide us with a forum to benchmark and give our people an opportunity to develop skills in creativity and innovation."
• "To keep abreast of the latest theories for excellence in innovation."
• "To network outside current industry; to broaden business outlook; to create a medium for young graduates to participate in; to expand the description of innovation away from inventiveness."
• "To pool resources to attract world-class facilitators, teachers, and speakers on innovation."
• "To provide cross fertilisation of ideas - learn how to do things differently by working with a different industry."
• "Identify and exchange best practices in innovation."

Founders of the Hargraves Institute

The Hargraves Institute was founded on 1 July 2006 by twelve member organisations who formed the original Hargraves Institute Advisory Council and developed the Hargraves Institute Charter of Operations.  The Advisory Council and Hargraves Institute work closely together to ensure the following:

• Relevance of Hargraves activities to members and effectiveness in achieving member satisfaction and the Institutes objectives.
• To formulate opinions regarding future activities and determine if these should be considered for inclusion on the calendar
• To maintain awareness of other members' needs and opinions and take these into consideration when forming opinions for the purpose of making recommendations.

These Founding Members were:

The idea for the Hargraves Institute was born out of a conversation that occurred back in 2005 between the now Executive Director of Hargraves and a senior management team member of one of Hargraves Founding Members.

They were discussing how members of large, leading organisations can continue to learn and posed the question : “…how do we learn, how do we excel, when we’re already very, very good…?”.

How do these large, leading organisations continue to grow and improve and where does the new knowledge come from?  How do you know if a new consultant or technique or tool is appropriate, or if it works?  How can these organisations short-cut the path of trial and error and fast track along the journey of continued success?

The answer arrived at was “…to have conversations with diverse companies that are very good, and meet people that are different to ourselves who we can talk to about their experiences...” And thus the seed was planted that was to become the Hargraves Institute.

The Hargraves Institute is named after the aviation pioneer and inventor Lawrence Hargrave who believed in open communications and that his inventions were there to benefit anybody who wished to use them.

Quintessential nineteenth-century gentleman, scientist of independent means; gifted explorer; astronomer; amateur historian; mason and practical inventor.

On 12 November 1894 Lawrence Hargrave, the Australian inventor of the box kite, linked four of his kites together, added a sling seat, and was lifted 16 feet (4.9 metres) into the air.

By demonstrating that it was possible to build a safe and stable flying machine, Hargrave opened the door to other inventors and pioneers.  He refused to patent his inventions, preferring them to benefit anybody who wished to use them.  He believed passionately in open communication within the scientific community.  The founding members of the Hargraves Institute wish to emulate his philosophy.

The Institute takes its name from the first commercially available aircraft, which was built in Europe by Gabriel Voisin.  Voisin called the box-wing cells 'Hargraves'.