The establishment of the group was announced in an article which appeared in the Advertiser of October 26, 1927.

IPA TO RIPA
In 1954 the Queen bestowed the title ‘Royal’ on the Institute and it became the Royal Institute of Public Administration.

RIPA TO AIPA
The regional groups remained as sub-groups of the British Royal Institute of Public Administration until January 1, 1980 when the Australian Institute of Public Administration came into existence as a separate entity.

The then National President of AIPA, D R Steele-Craik, CB, OBE, made the following statement that was published in Vol. XXXIX, No. 1 March 1980 of the AJPA.

PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT
In opening the Annual Conference of the Australian Regional Groups last November I was honoured to be able to make the announcement that the Australian Institute of Public Administration as a separate entity would come into existence as from the beginning of January 1980.  This issue of the Journal is therefore notable in being the first tangible public manifestation of the Australian Institute.

Although we are now independent of the United Kingdom Royal Institute of Public Administration which was founded in 1922, I must record the National Council’s deep appreciation of the assistance given over the years to the Australian groups, and its resolve to develop new and even stronger working relationships with the United Kingdom.  This has already been demonstrated in the acceptance by William Plowden, the United Kingdom Director-General, of the National Council’s invitation to be the key-note speaker at the 1980 Conference. In response to the plebiscite of members the National Council has already taken action to seek approval to use the title Royal.  This honour was bestowed on the United Kingdom Institute in 1954 by Her Majesty the Queen.

Progress towards the creation of a National Council has been gradual over the past fifty years and has only been achieved after considerable discussion as to the most appropriate means by which to create a national body without interfering with the independence of the State and ACT Groups.  The first State group was inaugurated in South Australia on 23 March 1928.  Victoria followed on 20 June 1929, and began publishing occasional papers and proceedings.  In 1937 the NSW Group, which had been established in 1935, commenced publication of this Journal.  With the advent of an Annual National Conference in 1958, regular informal meetings of representatives of the Regional Groups within Australia began.  The increasing formalisation of these meetings and the creation of a National Council led to the ratification of a constitution for an Australian Institute of Public Administration on 12 July 1979.

The Institute is and will continue to be a positive force in forwarding the study, understanding and practice of public administration, thereby assisting the promotion of efficiency in the public sector and contributing to the effectiveness of the machinery of government.  In the final analysis, however, this will depend upon the interest and activities of the members of the Regional Groups.  I am confident that the creation of the Australian Institute will stimulate new interest and endeavour which will ensure our central place in public administration within Australia as we enter the 1980s.

AIPA TO RAIPA
The Queen granted permission for the Institute to use the prefix Royal on November 23, 1982.

AJPA Vol. XLII, No. 1, March 1983

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
On 23 November last year Her Majesty the Queen granted use of the prefix ‘Royal’ to the National Council of the Australian Institute of Public Administration.

Before the establishment of the Australian Institute, all Regional Groups were branches of the Royal Institute of Public Administration and as such were entitled to use the prefix ‘Royal’ in their titles.  This ceased with the creation of the Australian Institute in 1980, but a plebiscite of members showed that a majority of both voters and Groups preferred the title ‘Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration’.

The Institute is honoured that Her Majesty has seen fit to accede to the National Council’s request.

R. Else-Mitchell
President, National Council

On October 23, 1986 The Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, South Australian Division was incorporated in this State under the Associations Incorporation Act 1985.

RAIPA TO RIPAA
December 1991 saw the next genesis when the acronym RAIPA was changed by rearranging the letters to form the more politically correct RIPAA.

RIPAA TO IPAA - NO LONGER ‘ROYAL’
The title ‘Royal’ was dropped from the name of the Institute following a survey and voting of members in each Division and at the National Council Annual General Meeting in 1995.

RIP RIPAA
As from March 1, 1996 the name of the Institute has changed.  It will now be known nationally as the Institute of Public Administration Australia

THE DEMISE OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (UK)

Unfortunately the British Royal Institute of Public Administration was placed in receivership on July 13, 1992 after 70 years.

In an article that appeared in Vol. 51 No. 4 December 1992 edition of the AJPA Professor Richard Chapman, Professor of Politics at the University of Durham noted:

… any analysis of what happened to the RIPA will have to consider the relevance of an administrative culture, especially in the British civil service, that has never really believed that public administration is a respectable subject for study, or that it can make valuable contributions to good practice.  Most important of all, at a time when all public sector activity has to be assessed for its value for money, questions may need to be asked about the value placed by society on enhancing the quality of public administration, and perhaps even the value of liberal democracy as a system of government.  It is, indeed, a sad reflection on contemporary values that an educational charity, with a Royal Charter, founded in 1922, can cease to exist without even the quality newspapers using the press statements they had received.