Academy Lectures

Upcoming Event October 1, 2026

Let’s talk about flex: How ‘Good Flex’ builds sustainable careers and better workplaces

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Fellow Professor Rae Cooper presents the 2026 Hancock Lecture Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney, Rae Cooper AO argues that better workplaces and stronger careers depend on getting flexibility right. Flexible work has become a defining feature of modern working life, but…

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Upcoming Event August 21, 2026

Why science needs the ‘social’: Solving complex problems with interdisciplinary thinking

A National Science Week event Finally, a social science themed event for National Science Week! From climate change and AI to health, energy and inequality, the challenges facing Australia today are not just technical – they are deeply social. For our panel of researchers creative and effective innovation starts with an understanding of people, systems…

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Past Event • July 14, 2026

Rechnitz Memorial Lecture: Being and Knowing – Professor Marcia Langton AO

The Academy of the Social Sciences welcomes you to join Professor Marcia Langton AO for the inaugural Rechnitz Memorial Lecture. As an Indigenous woman and anthropologist entangled in Australian life and scholarship, I have examined the challenges to distinctive Aboriginal ways of being and knowing. In a world turning to nativist fundamentalism and racism in the…

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Past Event • April 3, 2025

Head Health and Healing – Listening to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women about traumatic brain injury from violence

2025 Fay Gale Lecture: Presented by Dr Michelle Fitts ‘Head Health and Healing – Listening to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women about traumatic brain injury from violence’ Michelle is a Senior Research Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, who lives and works in Mparntwe Alice Springs. She has been working…

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Past Event • October 1, 2024

Indigenous language landscapes: Why a fuller understanding of Indigenous peoples’ language contexts is important

Indigenous language landscapes. Why a fuller understanding of Indigenous peoples’ language contexts is important 2024 Paul Bourke Award Lecture | Dr Denise Angelo with Indigenous language researchers:Tara Bonney, Marmingee Hand, Corina Norman, Carmel Ryan, Jasmine Seymour, Bernadine Yeatman Date: Tuesday 1 OctoberTime: 6.30 – 8.00pm, followed by light refreshmentsVenue: Hedley Bull Lecture Theatre 1, Australian…

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Past Event • September 12, 2024

Making ‘sustainable finance’ more sustainable

As we count down to COP29 in Azerbaijan in November 2024, global policymakers are dubbing it the ‘finance COP’. Funding climate action, domestically and internationally, is one of the critical challenges in the campaign against climate change. There has never been a more crucial moment to optimise the sustainable finance movement, scaling up green investment…

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Past Event • September 10, 2024

Using social science to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in prisons

Using social science to inform hepatitis C elimination efforts in prisons 2024 Paul Bourke Award Lecture given by Dr Lise Lafferty. In this address Dr Lafferty reflected on a decade of social science research to understand key enablers and barriers to hepatitis C risk, prevention, testing and treatment in the prison setting. People who use drugs…

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Past Event • October 31, 2024

Tax reform: laying the foundations | 2024 Keith Hancock Lecture and Panel Discussion

CEDA in partnership with the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, is pleased to invite you to participate in a discussion on tax reform with leading commentators. Tax reform has consistently been a contentious topic, with successive governments hesitant to address it significantly, and experts involved in the discourse often at odds over the…

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Past Event • May 10, 2024

Youth, Masculinity and the Far Right in Australia

2024 Fay Gale Lecture: Presented by Professor Pam Nilan ‘Youth, Masculinity and the Far Right in Australia’ This lecture considered the nexus of youthful masculinity and far right discourse in Australia. It constituted a gendered reflection on data collected from a range of men for an Australian Research Council Discovery-funded research project titled Far Right…

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Past Event • November 23, 2023

Risks and opportunities: Building social contexts for young children’s digital interactions

2023 Cunningham Lecture | Distinguished Professor Susan Danby FASSA Risks and opportunities: Building social contexts for young children’s digital interactions Exploring the complex intersection between young children and digital technologies begins with understanding children’s participation within social contexts involving their digital interactions. With the rapid advancement of technology, young children are increasingly engaging with digital…

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Past Event • October 12, 2023

Gender Gaps: Causes and Origins

Keith Hancock Lecture 2023: Presented by Emeritus Professor Alison Booth Gender Gaps: Causes and Origins Recent research in experimental and behavioural economics has focused on the role that preferences might play in explaining economic outcomes. These preferences include attitudes to risk and willingness to compete, which can shape gender differences. In the 2023 Keith Hancock…

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Past Event • August 25, 2023

Battle of the Sex Differences: Where to begin?

2023 Fay Gale Lecture: Presented by Professor Cordelia Fine Battle of the Sex Differences: Where to begin? Date: Friday 25 August Time: 5.30 – 7.00pm AEST Location: Ingkarni Wardli, The University of Adelaide Livestream available When it comes to the question of why there are gender differences in behaviour – where to begin? According to…

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Past Event • August 30, 2023

Unravelling the Thrills and Trials of Mixed Feelings in Consumer Behaviour

Unravelling the Thrills and Trials of Mixed Feelings in Consumer Behaviour Dr Felix Septianto 2023 Paul Bourke Lecture Positive emotions can inspire people to take action. But life can be complicated, and people often experience significant events that bring up mixed feelings. Presented by Dr Felix Septianto, this lecture explored the idea of mixed feelings, looking…

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Past Event • September 5, 2023

Climate finance: taking a position on climate futures

Climate finance: taking a position on climate futuresDr Sophie Webber2023 Paul Bourke Award Lecture Date: Tuesday 5 September 2023Time: 6pm – 8pm Venue: The University of Sydney  

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Past Event • September 6, 2023

Treaty! Promise, potential and pitfalls

This special event featured the Paul Bourke Award Winner for Early Career Research, Dr Harry Hobbs as he explored modern treaty-making between Indigenous peoples and governments in Australia. This event added context prior to the Voice referendum, and allowed the audience to question whether Australia should go down the treaty path; a path that could…

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Past Event • September 7, 2023

It’s Time for Change – New Perspectives on Body Image

It’s Time for Change – New Perspectives on Body ImageAssociate Professor Gemma Sharp2023 Paul Bourke Lecture About the Lecture Body image concerns are unfortunately very common. More than 43 percent of people in Australia are dissatisfied with their physical appearance. Negative body image can lead to extreme dieting, excessive exercise, the pursuit of risky cosmetic…

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Past Event • February 28, 2023

Everywhen: Australia and the Language of Deep History Launch & Panel Event

To celebrate Laura Rademaker’s Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the launch of Everywhen: Australia and the Language of Deep History, co-edited by Ann McGrath, Laura Rademaker and Jakelin Troy, please join us for a panel discussion featuring contributors Dr Laura Rademaker, Professor Jaky Troy…

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Past Event • November 29, 2022

2022 Cunningham Lecture: ‘What Makes Democracies Work?’

The Cunningham Lecture is the Academy’s flagship annual public lecture. It is named after Dr Kenneth Stewart Cunningham, the first chairman of the Social Science Research Committee (the Academy’s predecessor organisation). The Cunningham Lecture is presented each by an eminent social scientist. The 2022 Cunningham Lecture will be delivered by Dr Elizabeth Reid AO on…

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Past Event • October 4, 2022

Staggered Starting Blocks: Intergenerational Disadvantage in Australia

2022 Keith Hancock Lecture Staggered Starting Blocks: Intergenerational Disadvantage in Australia Presented by Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark Increasing social and economic opportunity is one of the defining challenges of our time. In the 2022 Keith Hancock Lecture, Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark discusses the pathways linking entrenched socio-economic disadvantage across generations in Australia. She argues that the intergenerational…

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Past Event • September 9, 2022

Narratives for violence and their persistence over time

Collective violence against marginalised groups is a tragic phenomenon in many societies. Often such acts are accompanied by specific narratives that justify the necessity for systematic persecution. How do these narratives become prevalent and why do they persist? In this talk, Dr. Walker addresses these questions first through a broad discussion of what narratives are…

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Past Event • September 9, 2022

What are the economic implications of a changing climate?

Given the warnings from scientists of potentially catastrophic changes to our climate from greenhouse gas emissions, it might surprise you to learn that we know very little about the potential economic implications of these unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate. This lecture, directed at a general audience, will explore the potential channels through which climate…

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Past Event • April 28, 2022

Are Indigenous Rights Inconsistent with Australian Political Traditions?

Critics often argue in public debate that Indigenous rights conflict with Australian political traditions over the claims of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to land, culture and sovereignty. One argument is that Indigenous rights constitute race-based forms of discrimination against non-Indigenous peoples that violate Australia’s liberal norms of equality. And when Indigenous rights promise…

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Past Event • February 23, 2022

‘No room at the Inn’: Rethinking critical race studies and its place in the Australian academy

2022 Fay Gale Lecture: Presented by Professor Chelsea Watego ‘No room at the Inn’: Rethinking critical race studies and its place in the Australian academy Date: Wed 23 Feb Time: 4:00pm ACDT / 4:30pm AEDT / 1.30PM AWST Location: Ingkarni Wardli (top floor), The University of Adelaide This public lecture is a reflection on the…

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Defining Australia in Asia: 1995 Cunningham Lecture

Delivered by Professor Anthony Milner FASSA

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