The Academy’s 19 National Committees for Science bring together around 200 volunteer experts from across scientific fields. The National Committees offer leadership and advice that shapes and provides direction to scientific disciplines in Australia. They also serve as a strategic link between Australian and overseas scientists in the same field, and assist in ensuring Australian science is represented in international scientific unions, multidisciplinary bodies of the International Science Council (ISC) and other international scientific bodies.
The National Committees for Science were reviewed in 2023–24 and implementation of the review’s recommendations is underway. The review implementation is seeing the number of committees reduced from 22 to 19, and the newly restructured committees are below (the new National Committee for Medical Sciences is under development).
You can see reports, decadal plans and guidelines relevant to all the committees, or browse the listings below to find out more about what each of them do, their members, and recent activities.
May 2022
The Chairs of the Academy’s National Committees for Science issued a joint statement expressing deep concern about the further contraction of Australia’s national scientific capacity as a direct consequence of COVID-19 pandemic-caused economic restrictions.
Read the statement here
The statement is supported by Australian societies and organisations. Contact the National Committees for Science office to support this statement.
The National Committees for Science regularly develop 10-year strategic plans for scientific disciplines and other relevant reports. Published reports and details about reports under development may be found here.
The National Committees for Science provides regular electronic updates from international scientific unions and committees, in addition to news from the local scientific community, relevant funding opportunities, conferences and awards.
Science Policy and Diplomacy newsletter
Space Science News and Opportunities
Newsletter of the National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science
Australian organisations routinely bid to hold congresses and scientific meetings of international scientific unions in Australia. The Academy’s guidelines set out the policy on holding international meetings in Australia for the information of the relevant scientific communities, convention bureaus and other interested organisations and may be found here.
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
