Policy Committee
The Policy Committee is a standing Committee of Council, chaired by the Academy’s Policy Lead. It advises on the Academy’s policy strategy, and supports the Academy’s policy work.
The Policy Committee advises on the Academy’s policy strategy and supports the Academy’s policy work. It is the central way in which the Fellowship advises Council on relevant Higher Education, Research and Culture policy.
Committee members meet four or more times each year, and work inter-sessionally to:
- provide guidance and advice to the Academy’s Policy Lead on policy priorities and opportunities
- support the development of the Academy’s strategic policy agenda
- review and provide feedback on significant policy inputs and major research reports
- collaborate to develop policy positions
- advise on and connect the Academy with key stakeholders
- establish ad hoc working groups in support of policy and research initiatives.
Committee
Policy Lead
Professor Emerita Susan Dodds FAHA
Susan is Professor Emerita in Philosophy at La Trobe University, where she was Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Industry Engagement) from 2019-2025. Susan’s research focusses on issues in applied ethics and political philosophy. She is recognised nationally and internationally for her leadership in research ethics and public policy development related to emerging medical technologies. She served as President of the Australasian Associate of Philosophy, Chair of the Board of the Australasian Association of Philosophy, and Chair of the Universities Australia Deputy Vice Chancellors (Research) Committee.
Susan is Deputy Chair of the Australian Research Council Board. In 2021 she was elected to the Australian Academy of the Humanities and joined the Academy’s Council in 2023. She was a member of the panel that reviewed the ARC Act and has been a member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Committee.
She is Deputy Chair of the Australian Research Council Board. In 2021 she was elected to the Australian Academy of the Humanities and joined the Academy’s Council in 2023. She was a member of the panel that reviewed the ARC Act (2022-2023) and has been a member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Committee.
The humanities afford various ways of informing policy and of interacting with power. One of these is the Academy’s partnership with the Department of Education, which funds our Secretariat to promote humanities research and provide advice to the Australian Government. A defining advantage of our policy team is its access to the Fellowship’s expertise and wider humanities networks. Another is our close links to counterparts in the other four Learned Academies.
Committee members
Katherine Bode FAHA is Professor of Literary and Textual Studies at the Australian National University. Her research explores the capacity of data and digital methods to expand our access to and understanding of Australian literary history and culture. Her interest in the critical potential and limitations of computational methods for literary studies has led to a focus on the nature of archives and future of the humanities.
Katherine has led a number of public-facing digital humanities projects in Australian literary studies, including the “To be continued” database of Australian newspaper fiction. Her ARC Future Fellowship used massively expanded digital evidence of reception to offer new insights into cultures of Australian literature as well as new ways to approach and interpret Australian literary works. She has served on the ARC’s College of Experts and had advised the National Library of Australia. She was elected to the Academy of the Humanities in 2019.
Gerard Goggin FAHA is Professor in the Institute for Culture & Society at Western Sydney University, is an internationally renowned scholar whose research focuses on social, cultural, and political aspects of digital technologies, especially the internet and mobile media and communication. He currently chairs the Global Media Policy Working Group of the International Association of Media and Communication Research. He is the Founding Editor of Internet Histories, and the founding board member of the peak body Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.
Craig Ritchie FAHA is an Aboriginal man of the Dhunghutti and Biripi nations. He is Adjunct Professor in the portfolio of the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Innovation, at the University of New South Wales. He is an independent advisor and researcher. Until August 2023, he was the Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Prior to AIATSIS, Craig worked in other senior roles in the Department of Education and Training heading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education, higher education access and participation for people from low-SES backgrounds, and international student mobility. He was founding Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, in the ACT Government.
Mathew Trinca AM FAHA is Professor of Museum Practice at the Australian National University, a Commissioner for Culture and Olympic Heritage for the International Olympic Committee, and from 2014 to 2024 was the Director of the National Museum of Australia. He is the Chair of Blue Shield Australia, which is devoted to heritage preservation, and sits on several arts and cultural sector boards and advisory bodies. He has served as co-chair of the Australia Singapore Arts Group, Chair of ICOM Australia, and as National Secretary of Museums Australia (now the Australian Museum and Galleries Association).
Kate Fullagar FAHA is professor of history in the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University. She is also co-editor of the Australian Historical Association’s journal, History Australia. Her most recent book is Bennelong & Phillip: A History Unravelled (Simon & Schuster, 2023). Kate specializes in the history of the eighteenth-century world, particularly the British Empire and the many indigenous societies it encountered.
Alice Gorman FAHA is a leader in space archaeology. Her research focuses on space exploration, including space junk, planetary landing sites, off-earth mining, and space habitats. In 2022, she co-directed (with Justin Walsh) a survey on the International Space Station, the first archaeological fieldwork to take place outside Earth.
Alice is an Associate Professor at Flinders University in Adelaide and a heritage consultant with over 30 years’ experience working with Indigenous communities in Australia. She contributes regularly to national and international space policy, notably on issues of equity, social justice and rights of nature. She contributed to the first Declaration of the Rights of the Moon in 2021, and to the Vancouver Recommendations on Space Mining. “Asteroid 551014 Gorman” is named in recognition of her work in establishing space archaeology as a field.
Greg Hainge FAHA is a leading expert in cultural studies – French literature, film and philosophy, the films of David Lynch, sound and noise studies, the music of Radiohead. His analysis of difficult texts is the connecting thread that links a diverse range of topics. He believes that we need to learn how to engage with things and people who are not like us if our societies are going to be healthy and thrive.
As Professor of French and Head of the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Queensland, Greg is also passionate about the importance of languages and knowledge of other cultures in education. He is driving a large-scale program of work that promotes languages, which he sees as a critical skill for the future, especially given the rise of generative AI.
Stuart Cunningham AM FAHA is Distinguished Professor of Media and Communications, Queensland University of Technology, and Professor of News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra. He is internationally recognised for his contributions to media, communication, and cultural studies and for exemplifying their relevance to industry practice and government policy. He is author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books, twenty-five reports, over 200 chapters and articles, and a wide range of general articles and public communications. He has served in several leadership roles in advocacy, advice and governance in research and higher education, and in the screen and library sectors. His most recent honours include admission into the UK-based Academy of Social Sciences in 2013, the award of a Fulbright Senior Scholarship for 2014-15, and the award of Member of the Order of Australia in 2015.
Past committee members
- Professor Graeme Turner AO FAHA FQA
- Distinguished Professor Ingrid Piller FAHA
- Professor Catharine Coleborne FAHA