About Australian Political Studies Association

The Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) is the professional association for those teaching and researching in Politics and International Relations in Australia and is dedicated to promoting and facilitating work in the discipline.

APSA’s activities include an annual conference which attracts national and international experts, and provides a forum for Early Career Researchers and postgraduate students in the field. In addition, APSA has conference exchange agreements with the UK’s Political Studies Association, the New Zealand Political Studies Association, the Canadian Political Science Association, the Indian Political Science Association and the Pacific Islands Political Science Association.

APSA also publishes the Australian Journal of Political Science (AJPS), distributes a regular newsletter to members, sponsors workshops organised by members and makes a number of prizes and awards each year. The association also liaises with government bodies and learned academics on matters of concern to the discipline.

APSA has an active Women’s Caucus, a Postgraduate Student Caucus, a Standing Committee on International Relations (SCIR) and the First Peoples’ Politics Forum. APSA is also open to the formation of Specialist Groups that can assist members to network and cooperate in their sub-fields of political science. The currently active groups include an Environmental Politics and Policy Research Group, a Policy Studies Research Group, a Teaching and Learning Group, a Political Organizations and Participation Group, a Quantitative Methods Research Group, and a Political Theory Research Group.

APSA is also a member of the International Political Studies Association (IPSA).


APSA History and Overview

The founders of APSA recognised very early on in the discipline’s development in Australia that a professional association was essential to nurture its intellectual growth and to facilitate networking.

Continue reading about APSA history and overview.

APSA Executive Committee

According to the APSA Constitution, the association shall have an Executive Committee made up of a President, a vice President, an immediate Past President, a Secretary/Treasurer, three Ordinary Members.

Meet the current Executive committee members.