The General Assembly is the supreme governing and decision-making body of the Association. It is composed of all the Members and it works on the basis of a one country one vote principle. The General Assembly has the power to do anything instrumental in achieving the purpose of the Association.

More specifically it is competent to:

• plan the strategy and determine the policy of the Association;
• receive and approve the AAL  Programme business report, closing account and the budget;
• supervise the implementation of the AAL Joint Programme, including the approval of annual work programmes and allocation of national funding to projects;
• appoint, dismiss, suspend, and accept the resignation of the members of the Executive Board at any time;
• admit, exclude or suspend Members;
• appoint auditors;
• amend the statutes/by-laws;
• dissolve the Association.

In the AAL General Assembly, national funding authorities (either ministries or funding agencies) are members (info on accession to the AAL Association). Each country has one vote in the General Assembly; countries with more than one member organisation nominate one single voting person.