In contrast to other think tanks that focus on providing the government with policy advice, key officers of the institute emphasise the AIIA's role as a forum for public discussion.

[4] According to the institute's National Executive Director Dr Bryce Wakefield the AIIA is "completely apolitical, so we can genuinely say that we are not pushing an agenda and we are not promoting our own people.

Each branch of the institute has its own constitution, maintains a local membership and council and in turn is a "member" of the national body.

Some AIIA members were concerned that the IPR was "a vehicle for American influence which, in zero-sum terms, was assumed would displace that of Britain".

[10] The institute's role in developing Australia's place in the world is signified by the fact that it was the first organisation to use the term "Australian Foreign Policy" as a book title, in 1934.

"[12] During the 1970s, when Australian foreign policy and the Asia-Pacific region were undergoing considerable change, the institute failed to expand.

Gough Whitlam, the Australian Prime Minister at the time, wrote a message to the institute in 1972 that actively encouraged it to help inform public opinion on the rapid changes underway in Australia's neighbourhood.

There are several other office holders, including the institute's treasurer, research chair, and editor of the Australian Journal of International Affairs.