 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
On 24 May, submissions closed for consultation on Australia’s renewed National Cultural Policy — the successor to Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. Across the humanities, arts, social sciences, and cultural sectors, organisations used the opportunity to reflect not only on the achievements of Revive, but on the structural challenges that continue to shape Australia’s cultural future.
CHASS was pleased to contribute a submission advocating for a stronger national commitment to the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) as essential cultural infrastructure. Our submission emphasised the importance of rebuilding educational and workforce pipelines, strengthening national cultural institutions, supporting local and regional storytelling, and ensuring that arts and culture remain central to civic and democratic life.
Many allied organisations also contributed important perspectives. The Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association (AWGSA), for example, highlighted the ongoing structural inequities affecting women and gender-diverse people across the cultural sector, arguing that gender equity must be treated as central to cultural sustainability, participation, leadership, and safety. Their submission called for stronger accountability mechanisms, recognition of care and precarious labour, protections against gender-based violence and online abuse, and ethical approaches to AI and digital technologies.
The Australian Historical Association (AHA) submission stressed the central role of history and historians in Australia’s cultural life, noting that historical research underpins much of the nation’s creative output across film, literature, museums, documentary, and the performing arts. The AHA raised concerns about the ongoing effects of the Job-ready Graduates scheme on humanities enrolments and the future of historical expertise, while also calling for sustained investment in galleries, libraries, archives and museums as institutions essential to truth-telling, preservation, and public access to Australia’s cultural memory.
Taken together, the submissions reflect a shared understanding that cultural policy cannot be separated from questions of education, equity, labour, infrastructure, and social cohesion. They also underscore a broader concern that Australia’s cultural ambitions require sustained investment, not only in artists and institutions, but also in the systems that enable participation, storytelling, research, teaching, and community connection.
You can access all submissions here.
As consultation moves into its next phase, CHASS looks forward to continuing to advocate for a cultural policy that recognises the humanities, arts and social sciences as foundational to Australia’s democratic, creative, and intellectual life.
The CHASS Team
| New: Australian Parliament House Artist-in-Residence
The Parliament of Australia is inviting Australian visual artists from across the country at any stage in their career to apply to become our Australian Parliament House Artist-in-Residence.
The Paul Bourke Awards for Early Career Research
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Four Paul Bourke Award recipients are selected each year by members of the Academy’s Panel Committees. The awards are presented to social science researchers within five years of receiving their doctorate (with allowances for career interruptions).
The William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize
Museum of Australian Photography
The Bowness Photography Prize invites entries from artists working with photography. Entries for the prize will be considered from still photo-based media including analogue and digital photography, produced within the last year.
Entries close 14 June.
For the full details, read on...
| SAVE THE DATES
2026 Social Sciences Week
Saturday 12 - Sunday 20 September 2026
Public Lecture
New: 2026 Ian Wark Lecture by Dr Tony Murphy
Thursday 11 June
Australian Museum
Registration deadline: 7 June. Read on...
Conferences
New: 2026 ALS Conference
Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy
University of Western Australia
1 and 4 December 2026
Papers on all aspects of linguistics are welcome
Abstract submission deadline: 26 June.
2026 ASCP Conference
Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy
Macquarie University
Tuesday 1 - Thursday 3 December 2026
More information to come.
2026 AAS Conference
Australian Anthropological Society
Mparntwe/Alice Springs
Wednesday 10 - Friday 12 June 2026
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:
Torfing, J., Randma-Liiv, T., & Sørensen, E. (2026). Robust governance in response to societal turbulence: The conditioning role of multilevel governance, hybrid governance, and societal intelligence. Public Policy and Administration, 0(0).https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767261453180
Rettberg, J. W. (2026). AI-generated podcasts: Synthetic intimacy and cultural mistranslation in audio overviews from Google’s NotebookLM. Media, Culture & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437261452160
Juniper, W. (2026). Mobile-first journalism and the new gatekeepers: Participatory news production in informal economies in South Africa. Media, Culture & Society, 0(0).https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437261446804
Nip, J. Y. M. (2026). From mainstream to the margins: Regime-driven delegitimisation of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy critical journalistic norms. Media, Culture & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437261452172
Wood, H., & Brennan, M. (2026). Regulating for care: Reality television participation, changes to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and protection for whom? Media, Culture & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437261442044
Hammerschmid, G., Nasi, G., Ongaro, E., Rykkja, L. H., van Gestel, N., & Verhoest, K. (2026). Strategizing and collaborating in the digital transformation of public administration. Public Policy and Administration, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767261446730
Nanz, A. (2026). Fear, Anger, and Mistrust: How Right-wing Alternative Media Influences Political Trust and Emotions about Politics. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612261446713
Heyder, A., van Hek, M. & Van Houtte, M. When Gender Stereotypes Get Male Adolescents into Trouble: A Longitudinal Study on Gender Conformity Pressure as a Predictor of School Misconduct. Sex Roles 84, 61–75 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01147-9
Rahmani, D., Crutcher Williams, J., Violanti, M. T., & Kelly, S. (2026). Teacher Clarity, Immediacy, and Self-Efficacy: An Ecological Approach to Student Burnout. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906261437400
| Professor Jacqui McDonald, Associate Professor Richard Fletcher, Emeritus Professor Alistair Thomson, Dr Johnny Bell, Professor Michelle Arrow (host), Professor Sean Scalmer & Emeritus Professor John Murphy (19 March, 2026)
| 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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- Call for Book Chapters
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- 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
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