supports humanities research through conferences, grants and awards;
supports the diffusion of humanities research findings through publication subsidies and media promotion;
provides advice to government, industry, the media, and the community on matters concerning the humanities;
maintains collaborations with bodies concerned with national cultural prosperity; and
maintains relations and exchanges with international bodies.
History
The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969. Its antecedent was the Australian Humanities Research Council , which was convened informally in 1954 through the combined efforts of Dr 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 and one Honorary Fellow 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'.
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.
Council in 2020
President: Professor Joy Damousi FASSA FAHA Vice-President & Honorary Secretary:Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Minchin FAHA Vice-President & International Secretary: Professor Louise Edwards FHKHA FAHA Honorary Treasurer: Emeritus Professor Richard Waterhouse FRSN FASSA FAHA Editor: Emeritus Professor Graham Tulloch FAHA Immediate Past President: Professor John Fitzgerald FAHA Ordinary Members: Professor Duncan Ivison FRSN FAHA, Professor Jennifer Milam FAHA, Professor Bronwen Neil FAHA, Professor Julian Thomas FAHA and Professor Sean Ulm FSA MAACAI FAHA.
Fellowship
The Academy comprises a Fellowship of over 600 of the most influential humanities researchers and practitioners in, or associated, with Australia. The post-nominal abbreviation for a Fellow of the Academy isFAHA. The following eleven 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.
