Academy Newsletter June 2026

This month, the Academy is on the hunt for a new CEO, congratulations are in order for many Fellows, mark your calendars with upcoming events and consider a tax-time donation to support the Academy’s work.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear Fellows and friends,

I hope are enjoying the May issue of the Academy’s bi-annual magazine Socium, published online last week and emailed to all Fellows and subscribers. In case you missed it, you can view Socium Edition 2 here.

CEO Dr Chris Hatherly finishes up with the Academy on 24 June. Thank you Chris for your leadership and dedication—you have made an enormous contribution to the Academy over the past seven years and we wish you all the best for your new role as CEO at Palliative Care Australia. Dr Tina Parolin, who some will know from her time as Executive Director of the Academy of Humanities, will join the Academy as Acting CEO for a few months, starting on 15 June. Recruitment is underway for a new CEO and the details of the position are listed below.

Congratulations to the successful recipients of the Academy’s Australia France Social Science Collaborative Workshops (AFSSCW) grants, run in partnership with The Embassy of France in Australia. You can read more about the successful AFSSCW projects here.

In other international news, the Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC), hosted by the Academy, convened its Program Showcase: Boosting Social Sciences and their Contribution to Better Lives across the Indo-Pacific on 6 and 7 May 2026. The online event highlighted achievements from the multi-year initiative funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which has recently concluded.

A recent partnership between the Academy and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) has produced a series of reports for Safe Work Australia, mapping the national work health and safety (WHS) and workers’ compensation research landscape. View the Safe Work Australia final reports here.

And please do share details of the Academy’s Spark Grants for activities during Social Sciences Week, Workshop Grants and Paul Bourke Awards for Early Career Researchers with your networks. All are currently open for applications - see below for links and closing dates.

LATEST NEWS

Academy on the hunt for a new CEO

Recruitment is underway for a new CEO to fill the shoes of Dr Chris Hatherly, whose tenure will end on 24 June. An outline of the role description and details on how to apply are supplied at the link below. Applications close 21 June.

Academy CEO application information.

Support the Academy: Elevate Social Science for the Benefit of Australia

As tax time approaches, have you considered making a tax-deductible donation to support the Academy?

With our exceptional Fellows and small and dedicated staff team, the Academy achieves an enormous amount, but there is always more that needs to be done.

View our new giving guide to see the various high-impact programs and activities that need your support today.

VIEW ALL LATEST NEWS »

CELEBRATING FELLOWS

Professor Stephen Garton AM has been admitted to the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) by the University of Sydney, in recognition of his visionary leadership, scholarship and service.

Professor Stephen Duckett has been appointed a statuary Commissioner of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC).

Professor Christina Twomey has been appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Researcher Development) at Monash University, commencing Monday 29 June.

Professor Andrew May leads a research team who have been awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage grant ($1.5 million) to develop the first comprehensive history of cancer and its control in Australia, 1925-2025. Early discussion on this project was supported by an Academy Workshop in 2025.

Professor Lisa Given is the new Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the Association of Information Science & Technology, a leading international forum for peer-reviewed research in information science.

VIEW ALL FELLOWS NEWS »

OPPORTUNITIES

Spark Grants - two days left to apply!

The Spark Grants program provides grants of up to $1,000 to help spark new ideas and inspire diverse Social Sciences Week events, enabling organisers to reach broader audiences across Australia.

Applications close on 19 June 2026.

Apply for a Spark Grant now.

Workshops Program open now for applications

The Academy’s Workshops Program offers Australian social scientists financial assistance to host multidisciplinary workshops which aim to advance research and policy agendas on nationally important issues. The Academy supports up to eight workshops each year with funding to a maximum of $10,000.

Applications close 23 August 2026.

Find application details for the Workshops Program.

Paul Bourke Award closes 12 June

The Paul Bourke Awards for Early Career Research honour Australians in the early part of their career who have achieved excellence in scholarship in one or more fields of the social sciences.

Nominations are open until Friday 12 June.

Find Paul Bourke Award nomination details here.

VIEW ALL OPPORTUNITIES »

UPCOMING EVENTS

Upcoming State Branch events

ACT: Monday 22 June. Midnight Hotel, Braddon.

NSW: Wednesday 29 July. University of Sydney.

VIC: Tuesday 14 July. Melbourne University.

Flash Forum: The Cost-of-Living Crisis

10 June, Melbourne and Online

This Flash Forum will bring together experts from academia and business to discuss monetary and fiscal policy options, supply chain disruptions to oil and gas markets and how this will affect vulnerable sections of society.

This event is presented by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research in partnership with the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and will feature Fellows Professor Allan Fels AO, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Melbourne; Professor Roger Wilkins, Melbourne Institute, the University of Melbourne and Professor Beth Webster (moderator), Melbourne Institute, the University of Melbourne

Professor Marcia Langton speaks in front of a lectern with the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia banner.

Rechnitz Memorial Lecture

The next Victorian Fellows event has been timed to coincide with the Rechnitz Memorial Lecture on Tuesday 14 July, featuring a presentation and Q&A with Professor Marcia Langton AO.

Fellows: book for the lecture and/or post-lecture canapes by Tuesday 7 July.

Non Fellows: book tickets here.

Above: Professor Marcia Langton AO speaks at the Academy annual dinner in 2025.

VIEW ALL NEWS »

FEATURED FELLOW

Matthew Flinders Professor Penny Edmonds

Meet Fellow Professor Penny Edmonds and read her experiences of Reconciliation through the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

An image of Professor Kate McGregor. She has white skin, shoulder length red hair, and is wearing a green blouse and glasses. A quote reads: " 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.”.

VIEW PREVIOUS FEATURED FELLOWS »

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Emerita Professor Barbara Comber is co-editor of a new book, A Research Agenda for Critical Literacies: Challenges and Possibilities in Troubling Times

This cutting-edge Research Agenda offers a way forward for critical literacies that takes into account current conditions of possibility. Expert contributing authors showcase innovative research that emphasises the importance of language, multimodality, place and suppressed knowledges.

Cover of Retiring in a New Age book. The background features abstract lines and colours in shades of blue, pink, yellow and purple

Professor Linda Botterill has published Juggling Values and Talking Politics:A Values-Persuasive Perspective on Democracy, which presents a fresh approach to debate and decision making in liberal democracies.

Have news to share?

Reminder to all Fellows: if we don’t know about it, we can’t share it!
Fellows are encouraged to send information about events, publications and news articles to info@socialsciences.org.au for inclusion in upcoming newsletters!