About Us

The African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) is a national network of academics, students, consultants, activists, diplomats, artists, community leaders, and others who share a mutual interest in the promotion of African Studies in Australasia and the Pacific region.

AFSAAP was founded in 1978 with the following specific goals that continue to the present:

• to promote research and teaching of African Studies in Australia and the Pacific.
• to facilitate contact among scholars and students in the field of African Studies through conferences, regional meetings, and publications.
• to coordinate African Studies programs and the acquisition of African materials by Australian and Pacific libraries.
• to serve as the professional body representing Africanists’ interests to governments and the community.
• to contribute towards an understanding of Africa in the community at large.
• to establish contact with African universities and scholars, other overseas scholars and African Studies associations, and to promote interchanges with them.
• and to publish, distribute and sell the bi-annual peer-reviewed journal “The Australasian Review of African Studies” and other occasional publications.

Download PDF – AFSAAP Constitution updated 26 Nov 2014

Ratified at the Annual General Meeting held on 15 November 1979.

Amended at the Annual General Meetings held on 29 September 1995, 4 October 2002, 2 October 2009, 2 December 2011, 29 November 2013 and 26 November 2014.

The title of the Association shall be the African Studies Association of Australasia and The Pacific (AFSAAP).

The purposes of the Association shall be: to promote research and teaching of African Studies in Australia and The Pacific; to facilitate contact among scholars and students in the field of African Studies through conferences, regional meetings and publications; to coordinate African Studies programs and the acquisition of African materials by Australian and Pacific libraries; to contribute towards an understanding of Africa in the community at large; to serve as the professional body representing Africanist interests to governments and the community; and to establish contact with African universities and scholars, other overseas scholars and African Studies associations, and to promote interchanges between them.

Membership of the Association shall be open to all individuals or institutions / organisations interested in African Studies. There shall be five categories of members: regular members; organisational members; student members (the subscriptions for whom shall be lower than for full members); pensioners and concession card holders (the subscriptions for whom shall be lower than for full members); and honorary life members. Members of the association shall pay an annual subscription rate to be determined by the General Meeting.

The officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Journal Editor and a Postgraduate Representative. Those elected will preferably reside in Australasia and the Pacific.

The Executive Committee shall conduct all business of the Association between General Meetings. It shall consist of the Officers and Ordinary Members (and other paid-up members of the Association). The members of the Executive Committee shall be nominated and elected at the General Meeting and shall include adequate regional representation. Three members of the Executive Committee, including at least one officer, shall constitute a quorum.

A General Meeting of the Association shall be held at the time of the conference to discuss the affairs of the Association, all resolutions to be by a majority of members present, and voting to be binding on the officers and Executive Committee of the Association. The General Meeting shall also set the time and place of the next General Meeting and Conference, normally held annually but not less than biennially; nominate and elect the Officer and Executive Committee members to serve until the next General Meeting and Conference; and set the membership fees until the next General Meeting.

A bank account in the name of the Association shall be established, all cheques, including  Electronic Funds Transfers, drawn by the Association are to be approved by two Executive Officers, the Treasurer and President  or  the Treasurer and one other Executive Officer.  Once approval is documented, Cheques and Electronic Funds Transfers can be signed singly by either,

• the Treasurer or
• the President

The assets and income of the organisation shall be applied solely in furtherance of the above and no portion shall be distributed directly or indirectly to the members of the organisation except as bona fide compensation for services rendered or expenses incurred on behalf of the organisation.

In the event of the organisation being dissolved, the amount that remains after such dissolution and the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities shall be transferred to another organisation with similar purposes which is not carried on for the profit or gain of its individual members.

This constitution may be amended by a majority vote of those members present and voting at the General Meeting or by a majority of all members in a postal or online ballot, 21 days notice of the proposed amendment having been sent to all members.