History of the Federation
At the first national meeting of Australia-Japan Societies, held in Canberra in 1975, a representative of the Ambassador of Japan proposed the formation of a national body but no action was taken.
At the 5th national conference, held in Brisbane in 1997, delegates agreed to a draft constitution being sent to all societies to test interest in forming a national federation. At the following conference, in Canberra in 1999, a federation was created in principle. A working party was elected to redraft the Brisbane constitution and to show how a federation would work.
The newly drafted constitution was adopted, the creation of the federation was confirmed and a national committee was elected at Cowra, NSW in 2001.
A website for the federation was launched in March 2003 with the aim of promoting the activities of the federation and its member societies throughout Australia, also other events that assist Australia-Japan understanding.
At the Sydney conference of 2006, an agreement was signed by the national president of the federation, Adrian Ahern, and the Executive Director of the Australia-Japan Foundation, Elaine Ward, for the Federation to undertake grass-root activities that would be funded by the Foundation.
To give it better legal status, the federation was registered and incorporated under Australian Capital Territory legislation in (2006?) .
Shortly afterwards, the Australia-Japan National Federation Cultural Trust was formed and given Australian Government approval to receive tax deductible donations for specific cultural activities.
In 2007, the presidents of the National Federation of Australia-Japan Societies and the Federation of Japan-Australia Societies signed a cooperation agreement at the Japan federation’s national conference in Hamanako, Japan.