Academy News June

As I write this message Anthony Albanese is being sworn in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister. Irrespective of one’s political viewpoint, a new government provides the Academy with an opportunity to make the case anew for structural changes to the research ecosystem. This includes ensuring that university funding is matched to the demands on the sector and that research grants are determined by peer review assessment without political interference. We also need to ensure universities can help drive national productivity growth and provide opportunity and social mobility for young Australians. I will be making this a focus of my efforts over the coming weeks and months.

It’s only a few months until Social Sciences Week 2022 (5-11 September), and I’d encourage you to get your university or organisation behind this important event. SSW gives us an opportunity to showcase the breadth of the social sciences to a wide range of audiences including university students, secondary school teachers and the public. Organisations can get involved by becoming a partner (free or paid options are available), or by registering your event.

Richard Holden

The theme of this year's National Reconciliation Week is Be Brave. Make Change. The Academy has commenced this process with its Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan, and with a central focus in our State of the Social Sciences Report on the need for reckoning and truth-telling about the historical and, in some cases, continuing harm that our disciplines have inflicted on Australia's First Nations. We thank and celebrate the Indigenous Fellows and colleagues who have patiently supported the Academy on this journey, and the many non-Indigenous Fellows who are helping us along the way.

Coinciding with this newsletter, the Academy’s Executive Committee is meeting in Canberra for a two-day strategy meeting. This is the first stage in reviewing and renewing our strategic plan, with the new plan to take effect at the end of 2022. On the agenda is a meeting with the Australian Research Council (ARC) CEO Judi Zielke where there’ll be an opportunity for committee members to discuss the many challenges associated with previous Minister Stuart Robert’s Letter of Expectations to the Council, as well as the place and standing of social sciences in the Council’s structures (there hasn’t been a dedicated social science Executive Director role for several years, for example).

Beyond that, it’s a busy time for the Academy. We’ve recently welcomed a new Program and Administration Officer Zoe Perry (see her interview further below), we’re gearing up for Social Sciences Week (5-11 September) and our Annual Symposium (28-29 November, in Melbourne). We’re finalising budgets and work plans and we’re also working to engage with the new government, including re-convening the successful Parliamentary Friends of Social Sciences group.

Chris Hatherly

Lenore Manderson wins global award

Congratulations also go to Fellow Lenore Manderson, who recently became the first Australian to receive the Bronislaw Malinowski Award from the Global Society for Applied Anthropology. The award is presented annually to an outstanding social scientist in recognition of efforts to understand and serve the needs of the world's societies, and whose career has been devoted to solving human problems using the concepts and tools of social science.

Although Lenore doesn’t get to physically hold the award until a formal ceremony held in 2023, we’re allowed to start spreading the news. Well done Lenore – a huge honour well earned.

READ

The election may be over, but as we all know, great campaign speeches can live forever. We’re not claiming that the 2022 campaign was filled with speeches we’ll look back on in decades to come – but we have been very interested in what makes a good campaign speech here lately. Guardian journalist Paul Daley agreed, in his opinion piece bouncing off our Seriously Social podcast episode Rise of the Campaign Speech with Fellow Sean Scalmer published just before election day. Hundreds of comments from readers!

Plenty more reading last month - Fellows Fran Baum and Warwick Anderson were two of the co-authors on a piece in Pearls and Irritations, explaining why the climate crisis is indeed also a health crisis.

Are you a Fellow and releasing a new report, book or lecture? Let our communication team know and we can include it in this newsletter and on our Fellows featured books and articles webpage.

WATCH
A great watch here - our Paul Bourke Award recipient 2020 Dylan Lino in UQ’s Law Matters Series lecture: Are Indigenous Rights Inconsistent with Australian Political Traditions? Particularly relevant following the Election now that Indigenous Constitutional recognition is firmly back on the policy agenda.

You can also catch up on video footage of two of the workshops we supported last year. Settle back with a cuppa for viewing Transforming Business in the 21st Century or On Capitalism and Freedom: The Social Responsibility of Business. (Although given Fellow Ken Henry kicks off the latter with an apology: "This is going to be a bit heavy" maybe you’ll want something stronger than tea. Or at least, ditch the decaf.)

Zoe has joined the Academy team as our Program and Administration Officer, working on our Fellowship, International and Awards Programs.

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?
I don’t know if it is necessarily weird, but when I had just finished Year 12, I went cherry picking in rural NSW with some friends. Very sore shoulders, but endless free cherries straight from the tree! Great memories made with a bunch of global backpackers round the campfire with a guitar and a beer or two every night. My close second job, although more interesting than weird, would be my two years spent as a probation and parole officer - human behaviour is so intriguing!

What can you be found doing outside of work?
Enjoying family activities like shooting hoops with my son, heading out on overnight backpacking hikes with my partner, and walking my three Aussie terriers. My personal hobbies include pottering around in my garden, painting and drawing, attending yoga retreats, reading, tasting unusual wines and dancing.

What is the one thing you cannot resist?
Book stores – I cannot walk by one without going inside!

Favourite joke?
I only know one joke! "Who can drink 5 litres of petrol without getting sick? … Jerry can!".