History is a broad church that adopts many different perspectives and varied approaches to the past. It comprises over 100 individuals among its Fellowship of Ordinary, Honorary and Corresponding Fellows. As such, it sustains a robust and dynamic scholarly conversation with the field and with wider publics.

The breadth of Australia’s contribution to historical scholarship has been apparent from the Academy’s beginning. The founding Fellowship included leading historians of Australia such as Manning Clark, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, and Max Crawford. It also signalled Australian scholars’ engagement with Asia, with Asian specialists A. L. Basham, C. P. Fitzgerald and Otto B. Van der Srenkel. Marxist approaches were represented with the inclusion of historian of French Revolution, George Rudé, emphasising  ‘history from below’, in his work.

Another founding Fellow, Marnie Bassett, underpinned the Academy’s strong representation of women and gender history, with her work on Australia. She has since been joined in the fellowship by eminent feminist historians such Marilyn Lake, Pat Grimshaw, Ann Curthoys, Lyndall Ryan, Joy Damousi and Angela Woollacott. Other Fellows have cast their gaze to other continents and cultures to apply feminist and gender approaches such as Patricia Crawford and Alison Bashford.