The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia acknowledges and pays its respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people of the Canberra region on whose traditional lands the Academy’s national office is located.

Our commitment to promoting recognition and involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is at the core of everything we do. We take pride in utilising the expertise of our diverse group of Fellows, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to facilitate and drive this important mission forward.

Through our collective efforts, we aim to bridge the gap between research and community, ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and perspectives are integral components of social science research and engagement activities.

Join us on this important journey towards advancing the recognition and involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and knowledge in social science research and engagement activities.

Reconciliation Action PlanAcademy of the Social Sciences in Australia Reconciliation Action Plan

The Academy’s inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan was endorsed by Reconciliation Australia in March 2021 and sets out the Academy’s priorities for action during the period February 2021 to May 2022.

Using respectful and inclusive language and terminology is an essential component of reconciliation. The ways we speak about reconciliation is just as important as the ways we act: language is itself active, and can impact on attitudes, understandings and relationships in a very real and active sense. While they are guidelines only, here are some recommendations for using respectful and inclusive language and terminology from Reconciliation Australia..

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week takes place between 27 May and 3 June each year. It is an opportunity to recognise some significant achievements in the pursuit of reconciliation and equity for our Indigenous peoples. It is also a reminder of how far there is still to go. It is 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, yet there are still appalling rates of incarceration and deaths. It is nearly 25 years since the report on the stolen generations ‘Bringing Them Home‘ and yet many of those recommendations have not yet been enacted. It was 2017 when the Uluru Statement from the Heart was published.

As outlined in our Reconciliation Action Plan, the Academy has made a commitment to leveraging our annual lectures and external communications platforms to recognise, champion and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and causes.

  • In November 2021 our Annual symposium featured Indigenous and non-Indigenous panellists discussing how Australia can achieve meaningful reconciliation with First Nations people (video below)
  • In February 2022, our Fay Gale lecture featured Indigenous Professor Chealsea Watego – ‘No room at the Inn’: Rethinking critical race studies and its place in the Australian academy (video below)
  • In February 2022, the Academy partnered with BBC StoryWorks and the International Science Council to publish an article ‘Giving new life to old languages‘ which outlines the renewal of First Nations languages in an audio-rich and dynamic way.