Annual General MeetingTHE AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

THURSDAY, 9 JULY 2015

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

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:◦ 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.◦ 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 2014807 Life members 6

Financial members by membership category Individual/household 342 Unwaged/retired/casual 186 Student 252 Teacher 9 Affiliate 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 locally-based 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:◦ 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