Australian Market and Social Research Society

Australian Market and Social Research Society
Name	Australian Market and Social Research Society
Abbreviation	AMSRS
Founded	1963
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	Sydney
Region served	Australia
Membership	Market researchers

Australian Market and Social Research Society

The Australian Market and Social Research Society is a peak professional body representing practitioners in market research, social research, data analytics and insight across Australia. It provides governance, standards, accreditation and professional development to members drawn from corporate, academic and government-affiliated research organisations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other Australian cities. The Society interacts with international counterparts and standards bodies to align practices with those in London, New York, Ottawa and Wellington.

History

The Society traces its origins to early post-war professional associations formed in Sydney and Melbourne during the 1950s and 1960s alongside organisations such as Australian Bureau of Statistics, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, and commercial firms including McKinsey & Company, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young which shaped demand for standardised market inquiry. Influences included international bodies like the Market Research Society (UK), the American Association for Public Opinion Research, and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research, leading to formal incorporation in the 1960s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Society responded to regulatory developments involving entities such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and interacted with media organisations like Australian Broadcasting Corporation and News Corporation over audience measurement practices. In the 1990s and 2000s the Society engaged with technology firms exemplified by IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook on online research methodologies. Key milestones include collaboration with the Australian Communications and Media Authority on survey standards and alignment with international standards including ISO norms developed by International Organization for Standardization.

Structure and Governance

The Society operates through a national board and state committees anchored in metropolitan centres including Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, and Darwin and liaises with institutional stakeholders such as Australian National University and University of Queensland. Governance documents reference trustee models seen in organisations like Institute of Public Administration Australia and are overseen by elected officers and professional staff, some of whom have backgrounds with consulting groups such as Boston Consulting Group and Accenture. The board engages with regulatory agencies such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission where policy intersects with research practice. Strategic partnerships extend to international counterparts including the World Association for Public Opinion Research and regional bodies in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies.

Membership and Accreditation

Membership tiers reflect professional pathways analogous to accreditation systems at institutions like Chartered Institute of Marketing and Royal Statistical Society. The Society accredits practitioners and organisations, maintains registers of certified practitioners, and administers codes that align with accreditation frameworks used by bodies such as Australian Human Rights Commission for ethical compliance. Corporate members span market research firms, academic departments at Monash University and University of New South Wales, and commercial panels managed by companies like Nielsen and Ipsos. The Society recognises competencies across quantitative and qualitative streams, mirroring credential schemes employed by Project Management Institute and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Standards, Codes and Ethics

The Society promulgates codes of conduct and technical standards influenced by international instruments from International Federation of Surveyors and ISO committees, and intersects with privacy and data protection frameworks administered by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and comparable laws such as the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Ethical oversight draws on precedents set by university human research ethics committees at institutions like Griffith University and La Trobe University and professional guidance from forums including Australian Psychological Society and Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists where research involving human participants is regulated. Standards cover sampling, weighting, questionnaire design and digital tracking methodologies.

Research Activities and Services

Members provide a wide range of research services used by clients such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, Telstra, Qantas, and government departments including Department of Health. Activities include public opinion polling, customer experience measurement, brand tracking, social policy evaluation, and big data analytics integrating platforms from Amazon Web Services and Snowflake. Research outputs inform media coverage in outlets like The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, and The Guardian (Australia) and feed into public debates shaped by events such as federal elections contested by parties including the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia and by policy processes occurring in the Parliament of Australia.

Education, Training and Professional Development

The Society runs training programs, workshops and credentialing similar to continuing professional development offerings at Institute of Public Administration Australia and university short courses at RMIT University. Programs cover survey methodology, statistical analysis using tools from R (programming language), Python (programming language), and SPSS, qualitative techniques influenced by traditions at Deakin University and corporate training partners including LinkedIn Learning and Coursera. The Society organises conferences and seminars featuring speakers from international organisations such as Pew Research Center, Gallup, RAND Corporation, and academic researchers from Harvard University and Stanford University.

Awards and Publications

The Society administers awards recognising excellence in research practice, reporting and innovation, comparable to honours offered by Royal Society and prizes at the Australian Academy of Science. Its publications include newsletters, technical papers and best-practice guides produced in collaboration with publishers and platforms such as SAGE Publications and indexed discussions referencing standards from ISO/TC 225. Annual conferences publish proceedings that shape professional discourse alongside journals and working papers from partner institutions like University of Technology Sydney.

Category:Professional associations based in Australia Category:Market research organizations