Academy Fellow

Henry Reynolds is a pioneering historian whose exploration of the complex relationship between settlers and Indigenous Australians has reshaped the nation's historical narrative. After completing his Master’s degree at the University of Tasmania, he embarked on a distinguished academic career, teaching at secondary schools in Australia and England before joining the faculty of Townsville University College, and later, James Cook University. Reynolds' tenure as Associate Professor of History and Politics at the University of Tasmania spanned from 1982 to 1998, during which he authored more than ten influential books, including The Other Side of the Frontier and The Law of the Land, which challenged conventional historical perspectives. 

Reynolds' commitment to centring Indigenous perspectives and advocating for Aboriginal rights garnered him international acclaim and numerous accolades, including the Prime Minister's Prize for non-fiction and the Human Rights Commission Prize for Literature. His dedication to Reconciliation and his pivotal role in championing Aboriginal land rights, exemplified by his collaboration with Eddie Mabo and his ground-breaking oral history project, have left a lasting mark on Australian historiography. Beyond academia, Reynolds' work as a public intellectual has inspired generations of activists to pursue social justice and fostered a deeper understanding of Australia's past, pointing towards a more inclusive and equitable future. Reynolds was awarded an honorary D.Litt from the University of Tasmania in 1998 and James Cook University in 2012, appointed a National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1998 and appointed Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year in 2015.

1982 Ernest Scott Historical Prize for The Other Side of the Frontier

 1986 Harold White Fellowship, National Library of Australia

 1988 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Arts Award for The Law of the Land

 1996 Australian Book Council Award: Banjo Award for non-fiction

 1998 Doctor of Letters (honoris causa), University of Tasmania

 1999 Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) 

           Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA) 

           Human Rights Commission Arts Non-Fiction Award

 2000 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Literary Work

Advancing Public Debate –  the Harry Williams Award for Why Weren't We Told?

           Australian Humanist of the Year Award

2008 With Professor Marilyn Lake, Queensland Premier's Literary

Awards History Book Award for Drawing the Global Colour Line

 2009 With Marilyn Lake, the non-fiction category of the Prime Minister's

Literary Awards for Drawing the Global Colour Line

2012 Honorary Doctor of Letters from James Cook University

2015 Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year

Aborigines and Settlers: the Australian Experience, 1788–1939 (ed),1972 

The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia, 1981

Frontier; Aborigines, Settlers and Land, 1987

Dispossession; Black Australia and White Invaders, 1989 

With the White People, 1990 

Race Relations in North Queensland, (ed), 1993  

Aboriginal Sovereignty: Reflections on Race, State and Nation, 1996 

This Whispering in Our Hearts, 1998

Why Weren't We Told?, 2000  

Black Pioneers, 2000

An Indelible Stain? The Question of Genocide in Australia's History, 2001 

The Law Of The Land, 2003 

Fate of a Free People, 2004

Drawing the Global Colour Line: White Men's Countries and the International Challenge of Racial Equality, 2008

What’s Wrong with ANZAC? The Militarisation of Australian History, with Marilyn Lake (eds), 2010

A History of Tasmania, 2011  

Forgotten War, 2013

Unnecessary Wars, 2016

Truth Telling: History, sovereignty and the Uluru Statement, 2021

Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader & Tasmanian War Hero, with Nicholas Clements, 2021