The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia announces its 2026 Paul Bourke Awards: Christopher Hoy (Uni Melbourne), “people’s preferences in relation to fiscal policy, fairness and redistribution in lower-income setting;” Sarah Lawless (Australian Institute of Marine Science), “equity, rights and justice in fisheries, climate and conservation policy;” Luke Ney (QUT), “ a re-examination of how PTSD is conceptualised and treated;” and Jessica O’Leary (Monash U), who “has transformed early modern global history by establishing women as central agents in diplomacy, empire and cross-cultural knowledge production.”
The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science announces its First Nations Researcher Medallists: Gail Garvey (Uni Queensland) and Lisa Whop (ANU) for “advancing cancer prevention, care and health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
Robert Breunig (ANU) will be the Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Seoul National University for 2027.
William Confalonieri will start as CIO at ANU in November, after 11 months at UNE.
Susan Elliott becomes Acting VC at Deakin U. She replaces Matthew Clarke who became Caretaker VC following Iain Martin’s departure in June. Professor Elliott is a previous DVC and Provost at Monash U, where she was also IVC.
Lou Harms (chair of social work, Uni Melbourne) is president-elect of UoM’s Academic Board. She steps up from deputy.
Former Industry and Science Minister and present backbencher Ed Husic will chair a House of Reps committee inquiry into using technology to lift national productivity.
Sue Keay (Uni NSW) is now deputy chair of the Kingston AI Group (“Australian professors of artificial intelligence”).
Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court joins the board of the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Fabian Marrone starts as Senior VP-Sales and Marketing at Divi (“an Agentic AI SaaS product”). He moved after a decade in mainly marketing roles at the Monash U group.
Lauren Palmer steps up to ED of the Australian Council of Learned Academies. She was previously its policy director.
Harjit Rana becomes Associate Director for Defence, Aerospace and National Security at Uni Sydney, It’s additional to her other work there, “working towards delivering end user led capabilities for the RAAF).
Jessica Vanderlelie is the new VC of Griffith U. She was previously DVC A at Deakin U.
Steven Warburton starts November 2 as PVC Learning and Teaching at La Trobe U. He will move from PVC Education Innovation at Uni Newcastle.
Matt Wenham is now CEO of BioMelbourne Network, “the peak industry body for the Victorian biotech and life sciences sector.” He moved from CSL.