History

The Institute of Retired Senior Educational Administrators had its genesis on 3 March 1923 when a group of retired Inspectors of Schools, referring to themselves as The Old Brigade, began to meet on a regular basis. These people had backgrounds in school teaching and educational administration. They had previously been employed within the Department of Education, the public education authority in New South Wales Australia. Their meetings continued until October 1930.

In 1949, after World War II, its original name The Old Brigade, changed to the Association of Ex-Inspectors of Schools and then to the Association of Retired Inspectors of Schools.

The membership included former directors general, deputy directors general, assistant directors general, directors, staff inspectors, district school inspectors and secondary school inspectors.  From 1982, the Department established and appointed an additional classification of officers, with the same status and similar backgrounds as school inspectors. These Chief Education Officers became eligible to join the association on retirement.

In April 1990, the Inspectorate was abolished and the Department introduced new employment titles. At about the same time, senior vocational education and training administrators previously employed by the Department of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) were invited to join the Association.

This meant that senior officers retiring from the public education and training systems and subsequently joining the Association had not necessarily been Inspectors of Schools during their careers.

In 1992, to reflect the changing membership more appropriately,  the words and Senior Educational Administrators were added to the title. That is, the organisation became the Association of Retired Inspectors of Schools and Senior Educational Administrators (ARISSEA).

The Association members continued their collegial activities including luncheon meetings, regular newsletters, support for their designated charity (Stewart House) and mutual welfare, through several organisational restructures, and changes of name of their previous employer and the job titles of potential members. While a strong backbone of ageing ex-Inspectors of Schools remains significant within the organisation, it became clear that making special reference to this specific group in the title could be seen as unduly anachronistic by potential new members.

In March 2016, Fair Trading NSW registered  ARISSEA under the new name of the Institute of Retired Senior Educational Administrators Incorporated (IRSEA). Whilst the name has changed the Institute’s objectives have fundamentally remained the same.