Governance
About the publisher
This journal is managed and owned by the Australian Political Economy Students' Association, an association of Political Economy students incorporated in NSW (and soon to be registered in all Commonwealth jurisdiction!)
The association has its own website which provides more information on its structure and activities. It is entirely run by (mostly student) volunteers who dedicate their time to sharing knowledge and skills which benefit Political Economy students across Australia, even if their university does not have a dedicated PE program or department.
The association is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Our stated objects and aims are laid out in s 2(1) of the Constitution:
The range of activities of this association are (a) to publish regularly a cross-institution, open-access academic journal for University students writing in political economy and related fields, and (b) to publicise and support public awareness of political economy as an academic discipline, especially among students of peripheral fields, and (c) to support the perception of political economy as a valuable analytical tool for contemporary debates in policy, law, human rights, income or wealth equality, international peace, ethical conduct of business, and other similar domains, and (d) to unify University students across disciplinary and institutional lines by the formation of partnerships, sharing of knowledge and facilitation of cooperation between student associations, faculties, committees or other bodies.
Journal management
In Resolution C2/2024 of the association's governing Committee, the Publishing Subcommittee was created with the purpose and powers of carrying out the associations publishing activities (s 2(1)(a) above). It composed variously of at least three members of the association and one of those individuals must be a Managing Editor. Members of this Subcommittee are listed on the Masthead of the journal. The Subcommittee is free to organise itself as it sees fit and the division of labour is up to the individuals involved. The minutes and decisions of the Subcommittee are, by the power of delegation, taken to the decisions of the Committee and are therefore recorded in the association's minute book.
Expert oversight
This journal—and APESA as a whole—was originally founded by staff and students in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The journals policies and actions are carried out with the consultation of qualified and experienced faculty members in the Department, including Professor Emeritus Frank Stilwell who has over five decades of activity in Australian Political Economy, is the Editor of the Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE) and played a central role in the establishment of the Political Economy department at the University. The current Chair of the discipline is Dr Gareth Bryant.
The publishing and management of the jounral is wholly funded by fees payable by members (including all key management personnel) or partners of the association. APESA and the journal receieves no funding from marketing, donations, or institutional support by any University.
The journal does not require any payment of fees by authors who attempt or are sucessful in submitting for publication.
Financial reports
As APESA is a charitable body, it submits a publicly accessible annual financial report in accordance with legislation, which includes information and disclosures relating to the finances of this journal and its publication activities.