 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
The Council for the Humanities Arts and Social Sciences is among many individuals and institutions that have made submissions to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion; I was also involved in helping to prepare a submission from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. The Bondi tragedy in December has been the occasion for a great deal of necessary reflection on the forces in Australia that produce antisemitism and other forms of racism – and the extreme violence that can result from such bigotry and hatred – as well as the structural enablers of social cohesion. Not all scholars agree that social cohesion is a useful concept: in some contexts, it has been deployed as a weapon to shut down debate and suppress democratic rights, so it is appropriate that scholars reflect carefully on it.
As an organisation representing the humanities, arts and social sciences, CHASS has concerned itself mainly with issues of research and education on antisemitism, racism and social cohesion. Our view is that an old infrastructure of multiculturalism that encompassed government, academia and community has been allowed to decay since the 1980s and there has been an inadequate replacement for it. Our recommendations are largely concerned with reviving and renewing that infrastructure: that will require government investment as well as ‘buy-in’ from across the Australian community. You can read the full CHASS submission on our website.
It is hardly a propitious time for such a project. Pauline Hanson has just delivered an address at the National Press Club in Canberra in which she called for the abolition of multiculturalism and its replacement with ‘monoculturalism’. She complained the use of languages other than English as if this were a national frailty rather than an asset. She called for the abolition of the multicultural broadcaster, SBS. I discussed Hanson’s National Press Club address in Inside Story: it can be read here.
It will take courage for governments to meet this kind of challenge head-on, at a time when opinion polls tell us that One Nation has the support of 30 per cent of voters. It is, however, a challenge that will need to be met if Australia is to take full advantage of opportunities available to us in our region, but also in the wider world – at a time when the Australian Government has finally signed us up to Horizon Europe, the European Union’s key research and innovation program. I recall hearing about the possibilities of this program for Australia – it was then Horizon 2020 – when I visited the United Kingdom, which was then still inside the EU, with a small Academy of Humanities delegation in 2013. It took another 13 years, but we are in, even if the government’s commitment has unfortunately not involved new additional investment in university research. It is nevertheless an opportunity for a sector that badly needs a boost: Australian R&D is in a perilous state. It would be a tragedy if we allowed our politics to prevent the nation from making the most of the chance that the opening of Horizon Europe to Australian researchers gives research and innovation in this country.
Frank Bongiorno AM
(CHASS President)
| We extend our warm congratulations to CHASS Board Member Associate Professor Matthew Champion on winning the 2026 Dan David Prize. Matthew was recognised for his research into how medieval and early modern societies experienced, perceived and structured time. Read on...
| New: Human Rights Awards
Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Awards recognise and honour people and organisations who make a real difference by promoting and protecting human rights across Australia.
Categories include:
- Human Rights Medal
- Young People (under 25 years)
- Law
- Community
- Media and Creative Industries
New: The UniSQ Biennial Art Award 2026
The Award was designed to celebrate artistic excellence, create meaningful connections between artists and audiences, and contribute to the cultural life of communities throughout Queensland and beyond.
Launched in 2024, the award has already established itself as a significant platform for contemporary artists, offering a generous prize pool of $24,000, two acquisitive awards, and a significant exhibition opportunity.
Entry deadline: 20 July. Read on....
New: New: Australian Research Council College of Experts 2027
Call for Nominations
The ARC is seeking nominations from suitably qualified and experienced individuals, including senior academics and end-users across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, with peer review and research leadership experience. Researchers with multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary expertise are strongly encouraged to apply. We especially welcome nominations from women, particularly those from the STEM disciplines, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Nominees should have strong institutional support to meet the commitment required of ARC College of Experts members.
Nomination deadline: 9 July. Read on...
New: Hornsby Art Prize 2026
Hornsby Art Prize has an overall prize pool value of $23,000, with the major prize $10,000. Categories include Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Photography and Sculpture. The non-acquisitive prize celebrates Australian Contemporary Art.
Entry deadline: 20 August. Read on... | New: Cultures of Repair
University of Melbourne
Research proposals are sought from highly motivated prospective graduate researchers with a strong academic background and a demonstrated interest in the thematic focus of Cultures of Repair.
The program will recruit a cohort 12 PhD graduate researchers across the two partner universities. Six candidates will enrol at The University of Melbourne as their home institution with a further six candidates recruited through the University of Potsdam.
Expression of Interest deadline: 12 July. Read on...
New: Legal needs, access to justice and intersecting inequalities
ICS, Western Sydney University
Part of an ARC DECRA project and in partnership with the Law & Justice Foundation of NSW, this PhD scholarship will research inequalities in people’s experiences of legal problems and identify opportunities for meaningful reforms that address intersectional disadvantages. The precise focus of the PhD is negotiable.
New: Violence and Social Repair
Victoria University
The are especially interested in projects geographically focused on Asia and the Pacific, and settler-colonial Australia.
New: Beyond Participation: Operationalising Theory of Change for Valid & Sustainable Impact Measurement in Community Sport for Development
Victoria University
This PhD looks at how community organisations can turn their Theory of Change (a map of how their work leads to specific outcomes) into a practical, trustworthy way of measuring impact that they can keep using over time.
New: Cultures of the Cryosphere
Australian National University
Applications are invited for two PhD scholarships that will work on the Cultures of the Cryosphere: Infrastructures, Politics and Futures of Artificial Cooling project, funded by the ERC Synergy Grant Nr 101118625 (2024–2030) (see the Cryocultures page), and hosted at the School of Sociology at the Australian National University (ANU).
Application deadline: 7 August. Read on... (date on webpage was incorrect as at 1:30pm 29/6 - the true deadline is 7 August).
| New: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor (Teaching and Research)
Law School
University of Sydney
New: Prof/Assoc. Professor or Prof/Assoc. Professor of Practice - Health Policy and Systems
School of Public Health
University of Sydney
Application deadline: 31 July. Read on...
New: Director, School of Regulation and Global Governance
School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet).
Australian National University
| SAVE THE DATES
2026 Social Sciences Week
Saturday 12 - Sunday 20 September 2026
Webinars
New: Building Gender Competency through Curriculum
DASSH
ONLINE
Tuesday 21 July, 11am – 12pm (AEST)
For details, and to register, read on...
Conferences
2026 ALS Conference
Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy
University of Western Australia
1 and 4 December 2026
2026 ASCP Conference
Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy
Macquarie University
Tuesday 1 - Thursday 3 December 2026
More information to come.
2026 AAP Conference
Australasian Association of Philosophy
Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, Aotearoa
Sunday 5 - Thursday 9 July 2026
The Australian Sociological Association
Revolution & Resistance
University of the Sunshine Coast
Monday 23 - Friday 27 November 2026
| All of the below articles are available on open access:
Townley, C., Chesterfield, K. & Leslie, R. Transformative change or status quo? An investigation of the Senate Inquiry recommendations on policy and practice regarding school refusal in Australia. Aust. Educ. Res. 53, 67 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-026-00989-8
| We encourage you to support the HASS sector by sharing details about your discipline/department via this newsletter. No news is too small of too big. Any mention of HASS is of value to our sector and we plan on continuing to extend the reach of our newsletter overtime. Please submit all content to CHASS Digital Publications via digitalpublications@chass.org.au . Suggested content includes, but is not limited to:
- Awards and Prizes
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