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The Australian Academy of the Humanities
Founded	1969
Type	Incorporated by Royal Charter
Location	Canberra, Australia;
Origins	The Australian Humanities Research Council
Area served	Humanities
President	Stephen Garton
Treasurer	Chris Hilliard
Honorary Secretary	Elizabeth Minchin
Executive Director	Inga Davis
Website	http://www.humanities.org.au

The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australian Government.^[1]

History

The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969. Its antecedent was the Australian Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which was convened informally in 1954 through the combined efforts of Brian R. Elliott and Professor A. N. Jeffares, who organised preliminary meetings in Melbourne of delegates drawn from the Faculties of Arts in Australian universities. The AHRC was a positive force in education and scholarship, and its activities gradually evolved, especially in its support for national projects in the humanities. Recognition among the AHRC executive of the changing functions of the Council led in 1967 to the proposal of establishing an Academy. Royal consent was granted to the petition on 25 June 1969, and Letters Patent issued, constituting the Academy from that date. The Academy's Foundation Fellows were the members the AHRC.

The highest distinction in scholarship in the humanities was required of candidates for election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. The first intake comprising sixteen Fellows (including Geoffrey Blainey, Kenneth Inglis, John Mulvaney, David Monro, Franz Philipp, Saiyid Rizvi, Oskar Spate and Judith Wright) and one Honorary Fellow (J. C. Beaglehole) were elected by the fifty-one Foundation Fellows at a Special General Meeting on 20–21 September 1969. Annual elections have taken place since that time.

For an account of the debates and efforts that led to the establishment of the Academy, see Graeme Davison FAHA's article in the inaugural edition of Humanities Australia: 'Phoenix Rising: The Academy and the Humanities in 1969'.^[2]

Governance

The Academy is governed by a Council of leaders in the humanities, elected from among its Fellows, who provide strategic direction, policy guidance, and management oversight. The Council meets four times a year. A Canberra-based Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Academy. In February 2023 Inga Davis succeeded Christina Parolin as executive director.^[3]

Council in 2024

President: Professor Stephen Garton AM FAHA FRAHS FASSA FRSN (elected November 2020)

Vice-President & Honorary Secretary: Professor Emerita Elizabeth Minchin FAHA

International Secretary: Professor Emeritus Joseph Lo Bianco AM FAHA

Treasurer: Professor Chris Hilliard FAHA

Editor: Professor Louise Edwards FAHA FASSA FHKAH

Immediate Past President: Professor Lesley Head FAHA FASSA

Members: Emeritus Professor Fred D'Agostino FAHA, Professor Susan Dodds FAHA, Professor Victoria Haskins FAHA, Professor Joanne Tompkins FAHA, Associate Professor Sarah Collins FAHA

Fellowship

The Academy comprises a Fellowship of over 730 of the most influential humanities researchers and practitioners in, or associated, with Australia. The post-nominal abbreviation for a Fellow of the Academy is FAHA.

The following twelve disciplines serve as the Fellowship's electoral sections:

Election to the Academy takes place at the Annual general meeting, following nomination by Council on the advice of the eleven electoral sections.

Foundation Fellows

At the date of the grant of the Royal Charter establishing the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1969, there were 51 Members of the AHRC who became the Foundation Fellows of the new Academy.

An asterisk denotes a Fellow who was also a Foundation Member of the AHRC.