Australia and New Zealand Third Sector Research (ANZTSR) is a network of people interested in pursuing or encouraging research into the Third Sector in Australia and New Zealand, the hundreds and thousands of private not-for-profit, community or voluntary organisations and the activities of volunteering and philanthropy.



ANZTSR was launched in 1993. It arose out of the growing awareness of the importance of the Third Sector in Australia and New Zealand., the paucity of reliable information about it and the difficlty of working as isolated researchers.



ANZTSR is an Incorporated Association. ANZTSR joins similar organisations in the US (ARNOVA) and the UK (ARVAC) and the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR). Research networks have also formed in several European countries or regions, in Latin America and Japan. These all testify to growing interest in the Third Sector.



Anztsr is a registered incorporation and the objects for which the incorporation is established are:



1. To encourage interest in and support for the development of research into the Third Sector. The Third Sector being non-government, non-profit organisations, associations and clubs, and the associated phenomena of altruism, philanthropy, voluntary action and non-profit enterprise.



2. To promote research and scholarship of matters relating to the Third Sector including altruism, philanthropy, voluntary action, non-profit enterprise and associated issues.



3. To advocate the importance of the Third Sector and research and scholarship of it.



4. To serve as a centre for information in regard to all aspects of the Third Sector and to publish in the field.



5. To convene seminars and conferences involving the issues of the Third Sector.



6. To develop and maintain relations with other national and international organisations concerned with Third Sector issues.