 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
CHASS recently contributed a submission to the Senate Education and Employment Committee’s ‘Inquiry into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers’. This inquiry is a timely one. There has been much discussion about Australian universities’ loss of ‘social license’ – a term borrowed from the business world and associated with corporate responsibility.
It is an interesting phenomenon that we now talk about universities in such a way. Before the 1980s we would simply have taken for granted that universities were public institutions committed to the public good: providing a liberal education, the training of the professionals of the future, undertaking research that advances human understanding and betterment, contributing to the richness of public culture. Universities had their critics, it is true: one thinks of the acerbic remarks of Donald Horne in The Lucky Country in 1964 in which he suggested many were more preoccupied with their salaries than with intellectual endeavour. Still, universities have a recognisable place in culture and civil society.
Now, when I encounter academics who’ve been around a while, the term they will most commonly use is ‘broken’. It is a fair comment. Much attention has focussed on the gargantuan salaries of vice-chancellors and university executives and rightly so. Put bluntly, they are being paid too much. Universities also spend too much on corporate travel and consultants. But these particular problems are symptoms rather than a causes. Universities moved from the legitimate idea that they needed to be efficient and ‘businesslike’ to imagining that they were businesses in the manner of large public companies. Yet their councils and senates are not accountable in the manner of such businesses. They do not have to report to shareholders. They cannot be ‘voted out’ by anyone. They operate in semi-secrecy: try getting your hands on meeting minutes, for instance.
All of this has been deeply damaging to the humanities, arts and social sciences disciplines, with few exceptions. That is because the corporate version of the Australian university organises, however well or ineffectively, its internal resources and management in accordance with what it imagines as business principles. If the number one quest is for international students, HASS will usually lose out because such students only enter a narrow range of the HASS disciplines in significant numbers – mainly those associated with business and economics. In any case, our political masters have compulsorily limited our ability to continue recruiting international students to pay for other aspects of university operations.
HASS graduates, in general, do well in the post-graduation labour market, but the defence of what we do will never predominantly be about economic returns. Too much would be lost by couching our case in these terms. It has to be about the enrichment of culture, the intrinsic value of advancing human understanding, and – perhaps especially in our times – the strengthening of democracy and citizenship. Our ‘end-users’ are as wide as humanity.
That is a big agenda for HASS, but a critical one in a world that needs our expertise and our efforts more than ever.
The full CHASS submission to the inquiry can be found here. It is Submission No. 48. It is also available on the CHASS website.
Frank Bongiorno AM
CHASS President
| | HASS Scholarships & Fellowships | In keeping with Professor Mulvaney’s deep commitment to Indigenous people and cultures, the John Mulvaney Fellowship is an award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early career researchers and PhD students working in any area of the humanities. The recipient of the John Mulvaney Fellowship will receive $4000 towards undertaking research or fieldwork in Australia or overseas, including accessing archives and other research materials and connecting with researchers and networks.
The Australian Academy of Humanities will again be offering the John Mulvaney fellowship in 2025 to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early career researchers and PhD students working in any area of the humanities. The recipient will receive $4000 towards their research or fieldwork.
Nominations for the 2025 round close this Friday 28th March. Read on...
| Entries are now open for the NSW History Awards!
All works must have been first published, broadcast or screened and made publicly and commercially available between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
The total prize money in 2025 is $85,000.
Entries close next Thursday 3rd April. Read on...
| Congress
2025 Congress of HASS
CHASS
The University of Melbourne
Monday 24 - Friday 28 November 2025
SAVE THE DATE
Conferences
Sociology in Action! Wellbeing, Policy, and Activism in Times of Crises and Change
TASA
The University of Melbourne
Monday 24 - Thursday 27 November 2025
NEW: CSAA Conference 2025
Cultural Studies Association of Australia
The University of Melbourne
Wednesday 26 - Friday 28 November 2025
The ANZAMEMS 15th Biennial Conference: ‘Possibilities’
ANZAMEMS
The University of Melbourne
Wednesday 3 - Friday 5 December 2025
Expert Panels
NEW: In Focus: Priced Out. Locked Out - Housing and Hope
Australian Catholic University
Tomorrow Thursday 27 March, 12:30PM - 4PM
Seminars
NEW: Disaster Nationalism with Richard Seymour and Jeff Sparrow
The University of Melbourne
Tomorrow Thursday 27 March, 7PM - 8PM
Webinars
NEW: Essential Insights: Psychosocial Safety and Wellbeing
DASSH
Wednesday 16 April, 12PM - 1PM
Expert Panels
NEW: Influencers and Gender Politics in South East Asia
IERLab & Asian Cultural Research Hub
Friday 9 May, 11AM - 4PM
| All of the below articles are available on open access:
Jade Boyd, “Basically every safety protocol we have in place to protect against overdose, parents can't access”: Mothers who use unregulated drugs’ experiences of dual public health emergencies, International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 137, 2025, 104719, ISSN 0955-3959, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104719
Pavlidis, A., Obrien, W., & Fullagar, S. (2025). Exploring the discomfort of gender difference through feminist theories of affect: creative conversations with coaches about working with women athletes. Sport in Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2025.2453845
Townley, C., & Ullman, J. (2024). Hypervisibility and erasure: parents’ accounts of transgender children in early childhood education and care and primary schools. Gender and Education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2024.2442955
Phillips, T., Couch, D., Vargas, C., Graham, M., & Gleeson, D. (2025). Stockpiling moral panics: The politics of anxiety and the securitization of ‘panic buyers’ in news media reporting of Covid-19. Crime, Media, Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/17416590241312155
Anthony K J. Smith, Loren Brener, Timothy R. Broady, Bernard Saliba, Phillip Keen, Bianca Prain, Carla Treloar,
Stigma and patient work: Understanding cumulative inequities for gay and bisexual men in accessing HIV healthcare services, Social Science & Medicine, Volume 367, 2025, 117729, ISSN 0277-9536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117729
Banarjee, S., Sadik, N. & Sharmin, S. Unveiling the Nexus of trafficking: Socio-economic determinants, victimization forms, and psychological impacts on women in Bangladesh. Crime Law Soc Change 83, 8 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-025-10199-5
Ongaro, E., Rubalcaba, L., & Solano, E. (2025). The ideational bases of public value co-creation and the philosophy of personalism: Why a relational conception of person matters for solving public problems. Public Policy and Administration. https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767251318127
van den Berg, C., Steinhilper, E., & Sommer, M. (2025). Against the Odds: On the Arduous Production of Linking Social Capital in Local Refugee Reception. Administration & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997251314509
Uwalaka, T. (2025). ‘Just a Vile Behaviour’: Appraising Networked Responses to the Physical Assault of 7News Reporter in Melbourne, Australia. Journal of Creative Communications. https://doi.org/10.1177/09732586251314228
Dan, V. (2025). Deepfakes as a Democratic Threat: Experimental Evidence Shows Noxious Effects That Are Reducible Through Journalistic Fact Checks. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612251317766
Guo, Y., & Lei, Y. (2025). The Media Trust Gap and Its Political Explanations: How Individual and Sociopolitical Factors Differentiate News Trust Preferences in Asian Societies. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612251315597
Banarjee, S. A Critical Analysis of How Victims of Sexual Assault Face Violence in the Medical Process of Bangladesh Through Foucault’s Concept of Medical Gaze. Int Criminol (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43576-025-00154-8
Jalil, F., Bahfiarti, T., & Fatimah, J. M. (2025). Book Review: Organizational Reputation Management: A Strategic Public Relations Perspective. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906251319626
Andrich, A. (2025). Beyond Neutrality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Gender, Party, and Media Visibility in the Tone of US Political Coverage. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612251318187
Römhild, Juliane and Sara James. "Restorative Play: Shared Reading and the Recovery from the Pandemic." Literature and Medicine, vol. 42 no. 2, 2024, p. 346-370. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lm.2024.a951023
Farrugia, A., Pienaar, K., & Dennis, F. (2025). Narcofeminist affects: Gender, harm and fun in young women and gender diverse people’s experiences of alcohol and other drug consumption. The Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261251317318
Kurt Sengul, “View profiles without pronouns”: The politics and discourse of ‘anti-woke’ right-wing dating app, The Right Stuff, Discourse, Context & Media, Volume 65, 2025, 100876, ISSN 2211-6958, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2025.100876
| ‘Grim’: number of Australians facing long-term homelessness surges 25% in five years
An article summarising the Productivity Commission's report that found nearly 38'000 people stuck in persistent homelessness in 2023 and 2024. The report also found that prevention programs exhibitied high success rates.
Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee 2025 report
A report by the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee providing 10 recommendations to enhance economic inclusion and to inform the Government’s decision-making for the 2025-26 Federal Budget.
| Chapter Four: Bodies
A podcast hosted by Hannah Kinder, called The Ladies' Book of Etiquette recently had an episode about society's focus on appearance and body dissatisfaction with a focus on how these things impact women, and with other Australian women sharing their thoughts about the matter as well.
The podcast can be found here.
| | HASS Employment Opportunities |
NEW: Director of Education
Full Time
St. Andrew's College
NEW: Associate Professor in Creative Industries and Cultural Policy (Level D)
Full Time
University of South Australia
NEW: Lecturer (Industrial Design) (Teaching Academic Level A)
Full Time
University of South Australia
NEW: Lecturer (Level B), Creative Arts, Design or Humanities
Full Time
University of South Australia
NEW: Assistant / Associate Professor of Education (M.Ed)
Full Time
Abu Dhabi University
NEW: Lecturer (Level B), Creative Arts, Design or Humanities
Full Time
University of South Australia
NEW: Lecturer, Interior Design
Full Time
RMIT University
NEW: Lecturer, English & Creative Writing
Full Time
La Trobe University
NEW: Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sociology
Part Time
University of Sydney
| The Wawu Study survey is now open for submissions. The Wawu First Nations Connection Project seeks to explore and document the experiences of connection, disconnection, isolation, exclusion, and disenfranchisement among First Nations peoples. Our aim is to understand how those who feel marginalised or disconnected perceive their wellbeing and explore the often overlooked or unrecognised practices that contribute to a sense of connection, particularly spiritual connection and connection to culture.
| 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
- Call for Papers (journals/conferences)
- Call for Book Chapters
- Competitions
- Discipline/Department news
- Industry connections
- Funding Opportunities
- Job and/or scholarship opportunities (these will also be listed on our publicly searchable website directory)
- Publications, especially those with free full access
- Social sciences week events
- Other upcoming events
- Submissions
- Social gatherings
| | Increasing our Newsletter Reach | You can help increase our newsletter's reach by sharing the below link with your friends and colleagues. The link will enable them to be added to the mailing list for our newsletter.
| Supporting CHASS 2025 Congress of HASS: | Contact CHASS Digital Publications:
digitalpublications@chass.org.au | |