As of 2022[update] the president of RCOA is Jasmina Bajraktarevic-Hayward, the chair is Maya Cranitch and the CEO Paul Power.

Martin Chittleborough of the ACC (chair); Rex Hubbard of Save the Children Australia (vice-chair); Michael Carroll of Austcare (secretary/treasurer); Roger Walker of World Vision, Sid Bartsch of Lutheran World Federation and Ted Bacon of St Vincent de Paul Society.

[5] At the time, then Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said "It's not the government's view that taxpayers' funding should be there to support what is effectively an advocacy group".

[7] As of 2022[update] the President of RCOA is Jasmina Bajraktarevic-Hayward (since 2021[8]); the chair is Maya Cranitch AM (since 2019); and the organisation is led by CEO Paul Power (since 2006).

[11][12][13] Its 2010 publication What Works documented refugees' experiences and the challenges they faced while trying to enter the Australian employment market.

[20] It publishes key statistics about refugees in Australia and around the world on its website,[21] and the results of its research are used by other organisation, such as the Kaldor Centre.