When the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, HE Mr Anutin Charnvirakul, made a three-day official visit to Australia from 17th-20th August 2026, it provided an opportunity for Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, to reflect on the history of good relations between the two countries dating back to the beginning of diplomatic relations in
Thailand, Australia, China: then & now Read More »
Languages connect us, to each other and to the world. But Australia’s capacity to make those connections is being eroded by the long-term decline of languages education. In one of the world’s most culturally diverse nations, language learning builds understanding across communities while giving Australians deeper access to the cultures, histories and societies of our
“Computer says no.” This phrase, voiced with devastating effect by David Walliams in the role of a dead-pan petty bureaucrat in the BBC TV Sitcom, Little Britain (2003), is now mimicked by the algorithm granted authority by the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to establish who is worthy of receiving taxpayer-funded inhouse aged
Computer says no: Artificial Intelligence, healthcare & sacred stories Read More »
Having supported hundreds of scholars over more than five decades, the Publication Subsidy Scheme is one of the Australian Academy of the Humanities’ longest-running awards programs. The Academy is pleased to announce 9 successful projects will receive support of up to $3,000 toward the publication of scholarly work that advances knowledge in the humanities. The publication subsidies come at
2026 Publication Subsidy Scheme Read More »
The Australian Academy of the Humanities has welcomed proposed reforms to make Australia’s higher education system more equitable and better able to respond to national needs. In a submission on the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026, the Academy supports the move towards a managed-growth funding system and additional assistance for students from low socioeconomic, regional and remote backgrounds.
Opening the Doors Bill held back by Job-ready Graduates, Academy says Read More »
Imagine you’re sitting around a fire 10,000 years ago. You’re preparing a meal with your family. You might be peeling a yam that has just finished cooking. Some of the peeled skin falls in. Your sister might have just spat the pip from a fruit she was eating into the fire. Those scraps are consumed by
Archaeobotanist Dr Anna Florin wins 2026 Max Crawford Medal Read More »
Japanese war crimes are rightly notorious. But many people who have not investigated them closely make the mistake of seeing scattered terrible atrocities as typical rather than exceptional. Most examinations of Japanese war crimes focus on half a dozen or so infamous events. But our latest co-authored book Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who
Shedding light on what drove Japanese war criminals Read More »
I confess that, when I was approached to share my thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, drawing on my research expertise, I was a bit hesitant at first. Does the world really need another Classicist’s take on what must, by now, be one of the most discussed and commented upon media sensations in recent years?
The best argument for the humanities is playing at your local cinema Read More »
A man is kept away from his home for many years; Poseidon is watching him with a jealous eye, and he is alone. The state of affairs at home is that his wealth is being squandered by his wife’s suitors, and plots are being laid against his son’s life. After being buffeted by many storms
Why the Odyssey endures—even now Read More »
The Final Report of the review of the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP) defines the program’s core mission as funding the best early-stage research and recognises that this work grows knowledge and provides the foundation for later research, development, translation and commercialisation. The Academy welcomes the proposed reduction from 15 schemes to seven, increased support
New ARC grants model welcomed, but research career gap must be addressed Read More »
The Australian Academy of the Humanities has announced the eight recipients of its prestigious 2026 Humanities Travelling Fellowships, which supports international research projects on issues of national and global significance. The Fellowships will enable the humanities researchers to undertake critical projects which will generate new insights, and forge global connections. “The strength of the applications
2026 Humanities Travelling Fellowships Read More »
The story of Australia’s experience of polio is a sobering one. It is not so long ago that the ‘vicious virus’ was quietly ‘stalking’ children and young people, in the dominant public health imagery of the period, and leaving a lifetime of ill-health, pain and rehabilitation for thousands of survivors into the present. Many of
The personal legacies of polio & the power of oral histories Read More »
The Australian Academy of the Humanities recognises Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of this land, and their continuous connection to country, community and culture.