Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is the peak national body representing town planning and the planning profession in Australia. PIA represents approximately 5000 members nationally and internationally. It is governed by a National Board of Directors and managed by a professional administration. It is a member-based organisation with its management complemented by volunteers, who support and contribute to its activities on various levels. PIA runs a number of events at both the National and State/Territory levels, including an annual

National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

, an Annual State Conference in most States/Territories, professional development seminars, and a number of social occasions. PIA also presents State and National Awards for Planning Excellence to recognise and publicise outstanding achievements in planning and design, and has a code of professional conduct to which all members are required to adhere. PIA is closely aligned with a global network of other planning professional bodies throughout the world including the

American Planning Association The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...

(APA) and Royal Town Planning Institute. PIA also publishes ''

Australian Planner Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

,'' a peer-reviewed journal for the planning profession in Australia and the Pacific Region. The Planning Institute of Australia holds an annual National Congress on a rotational basis between the capital cities.

Background

The origin of the Planning Institute was in early volunteer-based Australian town planning associations comprising a mixture of design professionals (architects, engineers and surveyors) and interested individuals. This included the Town Planning Association of NSW in 1913, and the Western Australian Town Planning Association in 1916. In the 1930s a growing desire on the part of the qualified professionals to create advocacy groups modelled after the British Town and Country Planning Institute led to the formation of various state and City-based institutes. In their early years there was sometimes conflict between the institutes and volunteer-based associations. The first of these bodies was the Town Planning Institute of Western Australia, formed by Harold Boas in 1931 and lasting only 4 years. By 1950, various Australian professional associations representing town planners had consolidated into the Town Planning Institute of Australia (representing Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania), the Town Planning Institute of South Australia and the NSW-based Town and Country Planning Institute of Australia. In January 1951, all three institutes met in Melbourne and formally agreed to amalgamate as the Regional and Town Planning Institute with

Arthur Winston Arthur Winston (March 22, 1906 – April 13, 2006) was a Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metro employee for 76 years. He is best known for being honored as the "Employee of the Centur ...

as the first president. This organisation became the only national organisation representing qualified urban and regional planners and other related disciplines in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It later became the Royal Australian Planning Institute until 2002, when the current name was adopted.

University affiliation

The institute works closely Australian universities providing accreditation to town planning courses and programs. The current list of accredited programs includes: ACT * University of Canberra (Bachelor of Planning Accreditation: to 2012) * University of Canberra (Master of Urban and Regional Planning Accreditation: to 2014) New South Wales * University of Sydney * University of New South Wales *

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...

* Charles Sturt University * University of Western Sydney Northern Territory * Northern Territory University Queensland * University of Queensland * Griffith University * Queensland University of Technology *

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

University of Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it was later renamed the University of the ...

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...

South Australia * University of Adelaide * University of South Australia – Master of Urban and Regional Planning *

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

Tasmania * University of Tasmania Western Australia *

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

* University of Western Australia Victoria * La Trobe University *

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

* University of Melbourne * Deakin University * Victoria University

References

{{reflist

External links

Planning Institute Australia
official website Professional associations based in Australia Professional planning institutes Urban planning in Australia