Australian universities are in a governance crisis. VC pay blowouts, scandals, mission drift — these aren’t random, they’re structural. This new working paper with @marijataflaga.bsky.social & Keith Dowding digs into why the system is broken, and how to fix it. doi.org/10.25911/MWW... A thread:

This is the big one. Anyone is welcome to sign, you don't have to be at ANU, you just have to care about higher ed. www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/pe...

ANU and the Search Foundation are offering a PhD with $100,000 top up to complete the final (1970-91) volume of the history of the Communist Party of Australia. 👇

Chancel Culture, David Pope

Courage @drdemography.com www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

It is massive. Thanks to Peter Deppeler on Twitter for the footage. #GazaGenocide #MarchForHumanity

A shoutout to all the academics who are also working 9 to 9, 24/7 👩‍💻

Do you have some great work on religious history, but need financial support to get to a conference? The Religious History Association has a new Conference Bursary Scheme! therha.com.au/bursary-sche...

Your support is needed - sign the petition opposing the Job-ready Graduates Scheme www.openpetition.org/au/petition/... @austhistassoc.bsky.social

Job-Ready Graduates attacks the arts and humanities and presents an often insurmountable obstacle for those looking to undertake further study study. Follow the link for an Open Letter to @albomp.bsky.social calling for the repeal of JRG, and sign our petition. linktr.ee/aushistorica...

‘If Labor won’t act to defend equity in education, what is the point of them – I mean, what do they really stand for?’ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

"cultural vandalism on a breathtaking scale"

"These are just highly talented and idealistic young people... These are the kind of people the country needs, now and in the future."

"A threat to the health of Australia’s humanities sector" historycouncilnsw.org.au/anu-restruct...

Never mind that they're the top ranked anthropologists in Australia, and in the top ten in the world. This is how they're treated

"Let the people who built this place do their work" #ourANU

The Wild Australia Show, now out as a free download! Congratulations to the authors! doi.org/10.22459/WAS... doi.org/10.22459/WAS...

NAIDOC Week 2025 marks a powerful milestone: 50 years of honouring and elevating Indigenous voices, culture and resilience. Explore over 50 titles on Indigenous culture in our list, available in multiple formats: press.anu.edu.au

Kids four minutes into the first day of school holidays: "I'm boooooorreedd"

With a million thanks to @stplbrk.bsky.social for the best collegiality ever, I had two incredible days but a bazillion heartbreaking conversations in North Queensland hannahforsyth.substack.com/p/the-world-...

Great new article by Carolyn Collins & Paul Sendziuk www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Brisbane friends!

Look what's arrived!

Historicising industriousness… Hannah Forsyth and Matthew Bailey set the scene. Read open access at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #history #australia

‘Redundancies are being pushed through at many universities even as their accounts attest to relatively robust financial health.’ ANU the nation’s number one…in cutting jobs.

This is an incredible graph from @grogsgamut.bsky.social that shows how cooked our tax system is. The Federal Govt gives over $33 bn in tax concessions to the richest 10% through CGTD + super. That's more than 2x the total spend on all govt schools. It's 2x the cost of putting dental in Medicare.

Open letter: The ANU executive is planning a new round of unnecessary and damaging cuts and forced redundancies. We are asking staff to sign this open letter calling on the executive to cancel planned CMPs and to be transparent about ANU’s finances. ANU colleagues please sign and share widely.

What is the role of historians in genocidal times? 'To respond to the call that is being screamed from Gaza and from Palestine for just action and truth-telling'. From Zora Simic, Jordy Silverstein and Ben Silverstein www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Look out! Coming soon from Aboriginal History Monographs - THE WILD AUSTRALIA SHOW - how public performance could be a means for cultural survival and resurgence.

From the first page alone: executive travel at ANU over one-year would pay for NINETY FIVE entry-level lecturers.

"Across 2022 and 2023, the ANU spent more than $71.6 million on travel, over $11 million on advertising and over $107 million on consultants. That $190 million, if saved, would have negated entirely the $100 million cuts to jobs" @joshuablackjb.bsky.social

Protest consigned to history departments? Better get busy then www.abc.net.au/religion/aus...

They won! www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Here's a different kind of toolkit with a softer tone, to use when asked in better faith by students, parents, and school teachers about how and why Australians should study history: theaha.org.au/advocacy/adv...

So much in this toolkit, not just for historians. But what a sorry state of affairs that it needs to exist.

A new issue of History Australia is out now! 22(1) March 2025. Thank you to the contributors and peer reviewers. Most content is available open access. www.tandfonline.com/toc/raha20/c... #historyaustralia #openaccess

History Australia new issue 22(1) about to drop... March 2025 #openaccess

@historyaustralia.bsky.social Forum on truth telling and Australian universities is being published open access online now. First up, this important essay from Marcia Langton on Indigenous exclusion and the academy

Full version along with others coming out in History Australia in the new year. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It actually exists now!

An outstanding defence of the value of humanities research by NZ Historical Association president Miranda Johnson: www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3605...

Statement from the Religious History Association condemning the Marsden fund cuts in Aotearoa New Zealand #humanities #highered #history

Foolish and short-sighted decision from NZ govt to cut humanities funding. "Long-term prosperity depends on social cohesion. How do we build and reinforce such cohesion?" www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3605...

December issue of History Australia out now! www.tandfonline.com/toc/raha20/c...

The Religious History Association is looking for a new co-editor for the Journal of Religious History. If this sounds like you, or someone you know, contact me or Prof Megan Cassidy-Welch

Open Access History Australia forum on the future of academic history out now! (hint: it's bleak but not hopeless) www.tandfonline.com/journals/rah... @austhistassoc.bsky.social