Professor Adrian Barnett Affiliation: QUT (Queensland University of Technology)Discipline: Econometric and statistical methodsYear elected: 2021 What initially drew you to your field of study? Some bad luck. I wanted to study English, but only got a D in my A-level. My best A-level was a B in mathematics/statistics, so I decided to study statistics at…
I teach and research Indigenous knowledges, decolonisation, racism, anti-racism, cultural safety and related topics.
Submission to the 2026 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap Issues Paper Survey This submission responds to a survey on the 2026 National Research Infrastructure (NRI) Roadmap Issues Paper and the priority areas and the investments needed to safeguard Australia’s future sovereign research capabilities. The Academy’s submission focuses on the priorities identified in its Decadal Plan for…
In this issue, annual events shine in black and gold, congratulations to Fellows on end-of-year achievements, and new Strategic Plan ready for release. Click to read newsletter.
The length of the working day and the challenges of work-life balance are pressing issues for many Australians, as well as lively matters of public controversy. While the winning of the eight-hour day is celebrated as a past industrial achievement, contemporary discussions of working hours often overlook its rich history. Tracing 150 years of campaigns…
2025 Gala Dinner | Monday 17 November | 6.00 – 10.00pmThe Sydney Opera House, Sydney | Dress Code: Cocktail The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia warmly invites you to join us for our 2025 Gala Dinner. The dinner will be held in the Yallamundi Rooms at The Sydney Opera House in Sydney on…
2025 New Fellows Presentations | Monday 17 November | 1:30pm – 04.00pmFrancis Conference Room | Vibe Hotel Sydney Each year, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia elects the most distinguished social scientists in Australia as Fellows. These New Fellows will join the ranks of over 700 of Australia’s leading researchers and professionals across…
Academic, author and activist Professor Marcia Langton AO FASSA FTSE has been awarded the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia’s Rechnitz Memorial Award – a new award created to recognise excellence in research leadership and advancement of knowledge of Indigenous society, culture and language A descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara nations, Marcia has…
This book, extensively revised and updated in its second edition, presents a comprehensive overview of housing policy in Australia over the last quarter century. At a time of widespread concern about declining housing system performance, it investigates the many dimensions of housing affordability and housing wealth inequality, together with government actions affecting these outcomes. The…
Conceived in 1950, the Colombo Plan for Co-operative Development in South and Southeast Asia was a unique experiment in foreign relations. Meeting annually across what we now know as the ‘Indo-Pacific’, talented administrators facilitated foreign aid provision, and promoted development fuelled state-making, internationalism and experimental regionalism across postwar Asia. David Lowe argues that this new…
In this issue congratulations abound for Fellows, both new and established, achieving wonderful things, read policy and international updates, find registration details for our AGM, and introducing the new magazine for Fellows, Socium.
Professor Emeritus David Horner AM FASSA is one of Australia’s greatest military historians and its fifth official historian of war and military operations. Few who undertake research in the field can do so without consulting his prodigious, authoritative and definitive publications. Serving for 25 years in the Australian Army before joining The Australian National University,…
My work is about futures and I’m researching how we will live in 2030 and 2050
Professor Graeme Davison FASSABA, DipEd (Melbourne), BA (Oxford), PhD (ANU), FAHADiscipline: History, Heritage And ArchaeologyYear Elected: 1985 2025 Reflections I am grateful to be made a Jubilee Fellow of the Academy – recognition, perhaps, of longevity more than merit. Alan Woodland and I are the last survivors of a 1985 cohort that also included the…
30 Academy Fellows are among recipients of ARC Discovery Project funding, announced this week. The Fellows and their projects as follows. The Academy extends its warmest congratulations to these Fellows and to all other researchers awarded funding in this round.
Many social policy texts examine specific social policy debates at a point in time and offer mostly technical interpretations of why existing or amended policies and programs have worked or not worked. In contrast, this text presents a comprehensive historical and political analysis of four policy areas where reform was achieved after many years of…
Read the 2024-25 Annual Report and Financial Statements
Join leading experts as we unpack the dynamic complexities that Trump’s tariffs have had on global economic markets. Our speakers will discuss US legislative shifts, trade uncertainties, the deregulation of tech monopolies, and international market perspectives for both short- and long-term impacts. This Flash Forum will be moderated by ABC Finance presenter Alan Kohler AM and is…
The ASSA-CASS Joint Action Program awards grants to teams of social scientists from Australia and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). These grants are suited to early-career Australian researchers to collaborate with a researcher from CASS in areas of shared interest. The Academy would like to thank Fellows for their time and expertise in…
Academy President, Professor Kate Darian-Smith, said, ‘The appointment of all new Fellows to the Academy is a recognition of their remarkable contributions to the social sciences as researchers, policy leaders and public intellectuals. We are incredibly proud to welcome them to the Academy.’ ‘This year’s cohort exemplifies the Academy’s mission to support and amplify…
Professor Matthew HornseyAffiliation: The University of QueenslandDiscipline: PsychologyYear elected: 2018 What initially drew you to your field of study? Existential panic really. Since 2007, humans have emitted over a quarter of all the greenhouse gases ever emitted by our species, and last year global CO2 emissions hit a record high. In that context, overcoming polarisation, conspiracy…
Professor Erte Xiao Affiliation: Monash UniversityDiscipline: EconomicsYear elected: 2024 What initially drew you to your field of study? I’ve always been curious about how people make decisions—often in ways that differ from traditional economic predictions. Behavioural economics allows me to combine insights from psychology and economics to better understand human motivation and decision-making. It’s a field…
In this issue, keep up with upcoming announcements, preparations for Gala Dinner, and meet our Featured Fellow for October, Professor Matthew Hornsey.
As part of the Australian Government’s 2025 Strategic Examination of Research and Development, six issue papers were released and feedback requested about the impact of research, development and innovation (RD&I). The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia submitted a response to Paper 1: National coordination (National coordination for RD&I impact) on 25 September 2025.…