Professor Emerita Joan Beaumont Affiliation: Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University Discipline: History, heritage and archaeology Year elected: 1997 How would you describe your work at a dinner party? Historians of the two world wars and Australia’s role in these. What role do the social sciences play in your work? I draw…
In this issue, find updates from leadership, opportunities to get involved, upcoming events, featured stories, and a selection of things to read, watch, and listen to. View the May 2026 newsletter.
This insightful book presents a fresh approach to debate and decision making in liberal democracies. Linda Courtenay Botterill explores the significance of personal values and value trade-offs in politics and policy, underlining the importance of more civil and constructive democratic processes.
What are the social sciences? What do they cover? And who’s involved – as students, teachers, scholars and professionals? How do the social sciences contribute to society? How are they funded? What are their strengths and weaknesses, within disciplines and across sectors? What are the success stories? And what are the ‘grand societal challenges’ that…
Affiliation: University of MelbourneDiscipline: History, heritage and archaeologyYear elected: 2023 How would you describe your work at a dinner party? I am interested in memory activism or how different actors mobilise the past for different ends especially for the purposes of challenging harmful historical discourses and achieving meaningful social change. What initially drew you to your field…
*Distinguished Professor Bessant is pictured above with her dog, Frankie. Frankie’s social science qualifications are not listed here, but can be supplied upon request. Affiliation: RMIT School of Global, Urban and Social StudiesDiscipline: SociologyYear elected: 2024 What initially drew you to your field of study? I was first drawn to youth studies and to related…
Affiliation: UNSW Law & JusticeDiscipline: Law and Legal StudiesYear elected: 2023 How would you describe your work at a dinner party? If I was at a dinner party right now, I’d tell people that I focus on the law of the sea and that’s concerned with laws between different countries over maritime issues. So I look at the closing of the Strait of…
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia will soon farewell CEO Dr Chris Hatherly, as he moves to a new leadership role in the health sector. Chris joined the Academy in mid-2019, and has worked with the Board, Fellows and the National Office team to drive significant growth and change in the Academy’s initiatives…
Four researchers have secured funds for collaborative research projects under the Indo-Pacific Strategic Environmental Grants program through the Academy of the Social Sciences of Australia. As part of the DFAT-funded 2024–2027 AFIPS Program, the Indo-Pacific Strategic Grants provide up to AUD 10,000 for academic exchange, projects, and public outreach on the Indo-Pacific strategic and economic…
Affiliation: Monash UniversityDiscipline: Health SciencesYear elected: 2023 How would you describe your work at a dinner party? I help systems put evidence into action with communities, especially those most impacted by disadvantage, by centring lived experience and moving beyond Western, Eurocentric, and colonised assumptions to achieve fair and equitable health and wellbeing across the lifespan. What role do the…
A collection of writings over the past half-century from the acclaimed professor of politics and gay rights activist. From the inauguration of Richard Nixon to Trump’s America, from Gay Liberation to the AIDS crisis and beyond, Dennis Altman has been both a participant in the changing times and an acute observer. The publication of Homosexual: Oppression…
Monday 13 April 2026 | Canberra This invitation-only policy roundtable connected the Department of Education team developing the First Nations Education Policy with a multidisciplinary group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social sciences researchers in an evidence-based conversation around whole of system transformation grounded in rights and options for enduring policy implementation. The purpose…
In this issue, the Academy in the news, state dinner wrap ups, and upcoming grants and opportunities View the April newsletter here.
Affiliation: Monash UniversityDiscipline: Social WorkYear elected: 2023 What initially drew you to your field of study? Since 1999, I have specialized in examining the experiences of young adults who grew up in forms of out-of-home care (i.e. foster, kinship or residential group home care) often called care leavers or care experienced young people. My initial…
A new report prepared by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia for Australia’s Chief Scientist and the National Science and Technology Council has been released. The report was commissioned by Government and overseen by an Expert Working Group of Fellows and other leading scholars. It found that cultural and community institutions and structures,…
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2026 Paul Bourke Awards for Early Career Research in the social sciences are now open. Named in honour of distinguished past-President Paul Francis Bourke, these prestigious awards celebrate outstanding contributions from early career researchers within the social sciences. Each…
Above: Professor Ford (left) pictured with a Cambodian labour activist. Professor Michele Ford Affiliation: Arts and Social Sciences – University of SydneyDiscipline: SociologyYear elected: 2022 What initially drew you to your field of study? Serendipity. I didn’t want to do Law or Medicine, so took on an Engineering/Arts double degree, which brought me from regional Queensland to…
Professor Nicola ReavleyAffiliation: The Centre for Mental Health, University of MelbourneDiscipline: Public HealthYear elected: 2024 How would you describe your work at a dinner party? I study public knowledge and attitudes to mental health and illness and how we can shift those in beneficial ways. What initially drew you to your field of study?My field…
The Social Survey in Global Perspective traces the evolution of social surveys beyond celebrated metropolitan examples, exploring their worldwide impact across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Contributors examine surveys in diverse contexts—from colonial territories to grassroots women’s organizations—to reveal methodological challenges and profound social influence. The collection illuminates how surveys shaped state power, social movements, and…
Professor Kalpana Ram Affiliation: Australian National UniversityDiscipline: AnthropologyYear elected: 2021 What initially drew you to your field of study? Many of my answers about intellectual trajectory have their roots in my life journeys between India and Australia. I arrived in Sydney in 1971 from Delhi at the age of fourteen because of my father’s government…
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has joined with Australia’s other Learned Academies in welcoming the release of the Strategic Examination of R&D (SERD) chaired by Robyn Denholm. Speaking to media on the morning of release, Academy President Professor Kate Darian-Smith congratulated the Australian Government and the expert panel members for their work…
What could be more important than understanding the social world? Every plan, every policy, every technical solution ultimately has to operate within society. For me, social sciences are everything.
50 years of public health research and advocacy One of Australia’s most influential public health thinkers, Emeritus Professor Simon Chapman AO has released a new book that reflects on a career spent reshaping how Australians understand health and responsibility. Better to be looked over, than overlooked: 50 years of public health research and advocacy, is part memoir,…
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia was proud to officially launch Australia’s War History, the latest educational resource from the Seriously Social school program, at the historic Anzac Memorial in Sydney on Monday 9 March. This new resource has been designed to support teaching and learning about Australia’s wartime experiences and their ongoing…