Annual General Meeting
T HE AUSTR ALI AN HI STORI CAL A S S OCIATION
T HURSDAY, 9 JULY 2 0 1 5
U N I V ERSITY OF SYDN EY
Apologies
Received from
◦Alex Cook
◦Phillip Deery
◦Madonna Grehan
◦Dolly MacKinnon
◦Marilyn Lake
◦Paul Sendziuk
Minutes of the 2014 AGM
Hard copies available on request.
President’s report: Angela Woollacott
1. History Australia editorship
Dr Tomoko Akami, Associate Professor Frank Bongiorno and Dr Alex Cook at the ANU will
complete their term as editors at the end of the year – though they will be in charge of the April
2016 issue. We are enormously indebted to Frank, Alex and Tomoko for their stellar work as
editors: for maintaining the high standards of the journal; increasing its international coverage;
and for the intellectual creativity they have brought to their joint editorship. They will be passing
the journal on in excellent shape. They have also put a great deal of time and energy into the
question of moving the journal to an international publisher.
I am delighted to report that next year the journal will move to Adelaide, under
the joint editorship of Professor Melanie Oppenheimer and Associate Professor
Matthew Fitzpatrick at Flinders University.
President’s report: Angela Woollacott
2. Future conferences
The 2017 AHA conference will be held at the University of Newcastle and will be convened by
Professor Philip Dwyer.
Vice-president’s report: Lynette Russell
1.
Funding for the ARC in Federal Budget announcements:
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Only 50 ARC Future Fellowships in final round: this process will be highly competitive and over subscribed
Federal government White Paper on Developing Northern Australia: possible significant resources put into
Northern Australia over the next decade which may have implications for research and teaching funding
applications.
New round of Centres of Excellence opened by the ARC: the number of Centres funded in the original
round which will be coming up for renewal means this process is expected to be a heavily oversubscribed
and competitive round.
New Executive Director for the Humanities and Creative Arts (ARC): Professor Dennis Del Favero is
currently Director of The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Arts, Engineering and Science iCinema
Centre for Interactive Cinema Research and Deputy-Director of the UNSW’s Art and Design’s
National Institute for Experimental Arts.
2.
Nothing new to report on impact measures and discussions around journal rankings.
3.
Excellence in Research Australia assessments underway, results likely to be released
later this year.
Secretary’s report
Alison Holland
Treasurer’s report: Paul Sendziuk
Funds available as of 1 July 2015
◦ Business Transaction Account (general operating expenses) = $39,598.57
◦ Business Online Saver (includes $5,000 Jill Roe fund) = $33,540.46
◦ Total net position (saving accounts) = $73,139.03
Term deposits for awards and prizes
◦ Westpac Term Deposit (16-3799; Hancock Award funds) = $31,363.91
◦ earning 3.3% p.a. interest for 21 months, expiring 13 December 2015
◦ Westpac Term Deposit (16-3780; Kay Daniels Award funds) = $27,388.68
◦ earning 3.3% interest for 21 months, expiring 13 December 2015
◦ UBS Property Securities Fund (Searle Award) = $23,460
◦ Allen Martin Award held in an ANU controlled account. ANU Endowment Office
advises principal sum = $50,000.00; total assets as of February = $95,822.48
Treasurer’s report: Paul Sendziuk
In the 2014-15 FY, AHA subscriptions and journal sales brought in $10,680
more than the previous financial year, and savings were made in most areas
(website, office supplies, bank and accountancy fees, etc.).
As the financial report and the current balances indicate, we remain in a
strong financial position.
Hard copies of the Treasurer’s Report available on request.
Prizes and awards report: Tim Rowse
Entries for the following biennial AHA prizes are now open for award in July 2016.
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Allan Martin Award – applications close 1 December 2015
Kay Daniels Ward – applications close 31 January 2016
Magarey Medal – applications close 31 January 2016
Serle Award – applications close 31 January 2016
W. K. Hancock Prize – applications 31 January 2016
Please the AHA website for full application guidelines: theaha.org.au
The outcome of the annual Jill Roe Prize and Ernest Scott Prize will be announced at
the conference dinner tonight.
Membership report:
Joy Damousi and Michael Ondaatje
Current financial members at 30 June 2014
Life members
807
6
Financial members by membership category
Individual/household
Unwaged/retired/casual
Student
Teacher
Affiliate
342
186
252
9
18
History Australia Editors’ report:
Frank Bongiorno
Postgraduate student
representatives’ report
Robyn Curtis
Petra Mosmann
Bethany Phillips-Peddlesden
ECR representatives’ report: Cath Bishop
1.
Post-PhD writing groups in Melbourne and Sydney going well. None established in other cities – requires locallybased person to coordinate them.
2.
Casual academic ECRs were added to student/unwaged category for AHA membership and conferences. The
necessity of casual academic ECRs to be given benefits like those extended to PhD students has been consistently
emphasised.
3.
2015 AHA Conference ECR/PhD session: First Book Panel: coordinated by University of Sydney’s Philippa
Hetherington, who is on the AHA Conference committee. She has also organised the ECR/Postgrad social event.
4.
AHA Facebook Page: Membership of the AHA facebook page has grown, extending beyond ECRs and Postgrads to
include a range of academics and non-AHA members. This is a valuable forum for advertising jobs and sharing
information about forthcoming conferences etc, as well as ideas about sources and teaching.
5.
Identifying and Connecting with ECRs. This remains an ongoing issue, particularly in the case of those ECRs who are
in casual employment.
6.
The support and encouragement offered to people to enrol in and complete PhD programs is
commendable. Unfortunately, there is no comparable support available once they have graduated into
an environment in which academic jobs are few and far between. This is particularly so when
universities seem to be fostering the increased casualisation of employment in academic teaching
along with demanding workloads for tenured academics.
New AHA website launch
Karen Downing
Initiatives during 2014–2015
not otherwise covered
Co-opted committee member Rosalie Triolo,
History Teachers’ Association of Australia (HTAA)
The AHA and HTAA enjoy a positive and mutually beneficial relationship through:
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shared promotion of each others’ major events
shared promotion of membership opportunities and benefits
AHA being regularly updated on Australian and State/Territory History curriculum developments
HTAA being regularly updated on the latest historical research, including which researchers may
be possibilities for keynotes and papers at HTA conferences or at Year 11-12 senior
student history lectures
◦ each being able to seek information from the other as needs arise
AHA Conference 2016:
Federation University Australia
Jolanta Nowak for Keir Reeves
Other business