It is a member-based organisation with its management complemented by volunteers, who support and contribute to its activities on various levels.

PIA also publishes Australian Planner, a peer-reviewed journal for the planning profession in Australia and the Pacific Region.

[1] The Planning Institute of Australia holds an annual National Congress on a rotational basis between the capital cities.

[2] The first of these bodies was the Town Planning Institute of Western Australia, formed by Harold Boas in 1931 and lasting only 4 years.

[5] The institute works closely Australian universities providing accreditation to town planning courses and programs.