Professor A.R. Davis who was then Head of Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney, founded the Oriental Society of Australia in 1956. The Society has been established to promote the knowledge of Asia in Australia and to provide a venue for scholars to present their work to their peers and to other people interested in Asia and things Asian. This was the first such organisation in Australia with an Asian focus and continues its leadership in Asian Studies up to the present day. Yearly peer-reviewed journal publications advance the societies long-standing tradition of collaboration and research in the twenty-first century. Membership includes both academic and non-academic people who were interested in the history and culture of Asia. In the early years of the Society, lectures attracted a large audience and lively discussion ensued. The annual dinner is held at restaurants in Sydney. During the academic year, monthly lectures given by Australian and overseas scholars are reported in a newsletter called the Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia, later abbreviated to JOSA. After JOSA was established, the papers started to be widely circulated to subscribers, both private and institutional, in America, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Executive Committee of the Oriental Society of Australia 2015-2019
| EC members | Nomination | Comments |
| President | Jon Eugene von Kowallis | |
| Vice President | Seiko Yasumoto | |
| Honorary Secretary | Meaghan Morris | Semester 1 2020 |
| Assistant Honorary Secretary | Shawna Tang | Semester 1 2020 |
| Honorary Secretary | Josh Stenberg | Semester 2 2020 |
| Assistant Honorary Secretary | Meaghan Morris | Semester 2 2020 |
| Honorary Treasurer | Eagle Zhang | |
| Assistant Treasurer | Sean Moores | |
| Editor of JOSA | Shirley Chan | |
| Associate editor of JOSA | Matt Shores | |
| Associate editor of JOSA | Josh Stenberg | |
| Assistant editor of JOSA | Roman Rosenbaum | |
| Review Editor of JOSA | Lim Wah Guan | |
| Review Editor of JOSA | Lynda Ng | |
| Seminars officer | Christen Cornell | |
| Social media officer | Shawna Tang | |
| Executive Committee | Michael Carter | |
| Executive Committee | Hugh Clarke | |
| Executive Committee | Hans Hendrischke | |
| Executive Committee | Olivier Krischer | |
| Executive Committee | Meaghan Morris | |
| Executive Committee | Leith Morton | |
| Executive Committee | Duk Soo Park | |
| Executive Committee | Lily Lee | Nominated by Shirley at the AGM-form has not been completed yet. |
| OSA/JOSA web site officer | Roman Rosenbaum | |
| New Honorary Fellows | Bonnie McDougall | |
| Barbara Hendrischke | ||
| Adrian Vickers | ||
| Current Honorary Fellows | Jocelyn Chey | |
| Mabel Lee | ||
| Soumyen Mukherjee |