The APF was established in humble circumstances in 1996 when four national human rights institutions met in Darwin, Australia.

This first regional meeting brought together the national human rights commissions of Australia, India, Indonesia and New Zealand, along with a number of regional governments and non-governmental organisations.

The Larrakia Declaration, adopted at the conclusion of that meeting, outlined two primary objectives for the new organisation:
- to provide support to governments in the region to establish and develop national human rights institutions, and
- to expand mutual support, cooperation and joint activity among member institutions.

The APF is a regional, member-based organisation made up of national human rights institutions from across the Asia Pacific. It currently has 15 full members and six associate members. The full members are the national human rights institutions that comply with the international standards set out in the Paris Principles. The Associate members are the national human rights institutions which currently do not comply with the Paris Principles. NHRCT is one of the full members.

For more information:
- http://www.asiapacificforum.net/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Pacific_Forum