The mem­ber-soci­eties of the IARU par­tic­i­pate in its gov­er­nance in two ways: through atten­dance at the con­fer­ence of their region­al orga­ni­za­tion and through vot­ing on pro­pos­als cir­cu­lat­ed by elec­tron­ic mail by the Admin­is­tra­tive Council. 

In each of the three IARU regions the region­al con­fer­ence is the ulti­mate author­i­ty. At a region­al con­fer­ence, typ­i­cal­ly held every three years in each of the three regions on a rotat­ing basis, the dues are set, a bud­get is adopt­ed, and an exec­u­tive com­mit­tee is elect­ed to admin­is­ter the affairs of the region until the next con­fer­ence. The con­fer­ences also con­sid­er pro­pos­als and rec­om­men­da­tions from the mem­ber-soci­eties as well as from com­mit­tees and work­ing groups. 

Coor­di­na­tion among the three regions and adop­tion of over­all IARU pol­i­cy is done by the Admin­is­tra­tive Coun­cil, made up of the three glob­al IARU offi­cers (Pres­i­dent, Vice Pres­i­dent, and Sec­re­tary) and two rep­re­sen­ta­tives from each of the three region­al organizations. 

The day-to-day admin­is­tra­tion of IARU affairs is a respon­si­bil­i­ty of the Inter­na­tion­al Secretariat.