The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) was formed in 1910, and is the first and oldest national amateur radio society in the world.

[7] The WIA holds regular meetings with the ACMA to inform the Authority on matters concerning the Australian amateur radio community.

The WIA is the Australian "peak" radio amateur society being the sole national organisation recognised by the IARU.

The IARU represents Radio Amateur Service and their global spectrum allocations with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The ITU, originally the International Telegraph Union, is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.

The Annual General Meeting was held in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, over 28–30 May 2010, and included an inspection of Black Mountain Tower, an ARISS contact[10] with the International Space Station, operator astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and students from Trinity Christian School, Canberra,[11] and a live broadcast of the weekly WIA news.

[14] Between mid-1990 and Feb 2019, the WIA delivered amateur radio examinations, issued certificates and related callsign management services.

WICEN has been activated for various emergencies, notably in recent years the Black Saturday bushfires on 7 February 2009 in Victoria.

The licensee data was made available under exclusive arrangement with the regulator of the day (presently Australian Communications and Media Authority).

The most recent effort (2017) is Wireless Men & Women at War, edited by a team including the WIA historian Peter Wolfenden VK3RV.