Tony Staley has been the Independent Chair of the CRCA since the Association commenced in 1994.
The members of the CRCA Board are elected each year at the CRCA’s Annual General Meeting in May. The CRCs from each sector nominate a member to the Board, and an alternate to attend meetings should the primary member be unavailable. Only the Chief Executive Officers of member CRCs are eligible to be Directors on the CRCA Board. At the 2009 AGM the members elected the following Directors (and Alternates):
| Sector | Position | Person | CRC | Role |
| Deputy Chair | Peter Woodgate | Spatial Information | CEO | |
| Treasurer | Debbie Sweeney | Vision | CEO | |
| Information & Communication Technology | Committee | Joseph Mathew | CIEAM | CEO |
| Alternate Committee | Warren Bradey | Smart Services | CEO | |
| Manufacturing Technology | Committeee | George Collins | CAST | CEO |
| Alternate Committee |
Murray Scott | CEO | ||
| Mining & Energy | Committee | Mike Hood | CRCMining | CEO |
| Alternate Committee | Peter Cook | CO2CRC | CEO | |
| Agriculture & Rural Based Manufacturing | Committee | Philip Armytage | Cotton Catchment Communities | CEO |
| Alternate Committee | Heather Burrow | Beef | CEO | |
| Environment | Committee | Gary Morgan |
Bushfire | CEO |
| Alternate Committee | Tony Peacock | Invasive Animals | CEO | |
| Medical Science & Technology | Committee | Tony Evans | Cancer Therapeutics | CEO |
| Alternate Committee | Robert Cowan | Hearing | CEO |