Membership of AAI is corporate, with each member company nominating one or two individuals to represent them within AAI.
The organisation is governed by a Council consisting of not less than 12 and not more than 21 elected member company representatives. Council meets on a quarterly basis.
Day to day running of the organisation is the responsibility of the Management Committee. This consists of five individuals - the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Chief Executive. The Chief Executive and Administrative staff are the only AAI employees.
AAI operates mainly through a number of working groups who are established to focus on particular issues or areas of interest, e.g. advertising to children, alcohol advertising, sponsorship, media, seminars/educational issues etc. The organisation is funded by membership subscriptions. Member companies pay an annual subscription which is based on their marketing expenditure in the preceding year.