 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
With just three sleeps to go until early bird and presenter registrations close on 28 June, conference preparations are gathering pace. If you are planning to join us on Kabi Kabi Country, where TASA Vice-President Naomi Smith will host TASA 2026, now is the time to register.
Keep an eye on your inbox on Monday for the election email, which will include links to candidate and nominator forms for this year's TASA elections.
This week, we are delighted to congratulate the two recipients of the 2025 TASA Honours/Masters Award for outstanding Master of Research Sociology achievement at Macquarie University. We are also pleased to welcome 12 new members to the Association and look forward to supporting them throughout their sociological journeys.
Also note that the next time you log in to TASAweb, you may be asked to complete a quick "Are you human?" verification test, such as identifying images containing particular objects. This additional security measure has been introduced to help protect the website from automated bots and spam activity, ensuring the system remains secure and performs efficiently for members.
In this edition, we are seeking conveners for three of our Thematic Groups, and sharing access the latest issue of the Journal of Sociology, recent member publications and media contributions, as well as new job, scholarship and event listings. Highlights include an ABC video created in response to Pauline Hanson's call for a monocultural society, featuring fellow member Andrew Jakubowicz, whose title in the video is listed as Professor of Sociology:-)
We hope you enjoy the newsletter.
| TASA Key Dates at a glance
|
- 28 June - TASA 2026 Early Bird and Presenter registrations
- 29 June - TASA Election nominations open (you will receive an email on Monday)
- 1 July - Social Stratification Thematic Group one-day symposium abstract submissions
- 17 July - Gary Bouma Memorial Workshop Funding
- 17 July - Distinguished Service to Australian Sociology Award
- 17 July - Outstanding Service to TASA Award
- 17 July - Outstanding Service to the Teaching of Sociology Award
- 17 July - Sociology in Action Award
- 20 July - TASA Election nominations: close Midday (12pm) AEST
- 20/21st August - TASA Executive Meeting
- 28 August - Social Stratification Thematic Group one-day symposium: Perceptions and Indicators of Social Class in Australia
- 23rd-27th November - TASA 2026
| We warmly congratulate Erica Hatfield & Tsend-Ayush Ganbaatar, two Macquarie University Honours students who shared first place in Macquarie University's 2025 Master of Research, achieving the highest combined mark across thesis (90%) and coursework (10%). We look forward to welcoming Erica and Tsend-Ayush as new members soon (complimentary as part of their Award).
| TASA 2026 - Registrations open
| Registrations for TASA 2026 close on the 28th of June. Below is an image of the shell program. You can also access it on the program page here. Note, Post Grad Day, some workshops and the Welcome Reception will be held on the Monday. Concurrent sessions and other activities/events will be held from Tuesday to Friday.
This year's conference is in-person only.
The available registration categories and pricing are available on the conference website here.
If you plan on attending, and presenting, you will need to register by the 28th of June.
| TASA 2026 Pending Election
| 2026 is an election year for TASA's Executive Committee.
The Executive consists of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Postgraduate Portfolio Leader and up to four Portfolio Leaders as voting members, as well as the Immediate Past President and one representative from the editorial team of each of TASA’s publications as non-voting ex-officio members.
The following positions will be open for nominations:
- President
- Vice-President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Indigenous
- Public Sociology
- Equity, Inclusion and Advocacy
- TASA Groups (Thematic Groups and Career Stage Groups)
- Postgraduate
If you are interested in nominating for any of the above roles, you will need two TASA members to support your nomination by signing the nominator form (electronically or by hand).
Nominations will open on Monday 29 June. On that day, members will receive an email containing links to the candidate and nominator forms.
Please note that expressions of interest for the Digital Publications Editor role will be open at the same time.
| Welcome to this week's new TASA members Yueyue Cheng, Hien Fabiansson Huynh, Ali Hickling, Bhavna Middha, Xiaoran Qi, Thandi Simelane, Chelsea Van Deventer, Ching-Hsuan Wu, Shan Zhao, Scheherazade Bloul, J. R. Wilson and Christina Gowlett.We're so glad to have you with us, and we hope you are enjoying your first E-Newsletter. And welcome back to renewing members. If you are encountering any issues with the renewal process, please do email Ali at membership@tasa.org.au, any time.
| |
Journals
Townley, C., Chesterfield, K. & Leslie, R. Transformative change or status quo? An investigation of the Senate Inquiry recommendations on policy and practice regarding school refusal in Australia. Aust. Educ. Res. 53, 67 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-026-00989-8 [open access].
Op-ed / Commentary
Andrew Jakubowicz (June, 2026) Monocultural Society. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Also accessible below.
Adam Possamai (May, 2026) Feature Fellow. Socium, Academy of Social Sciences Australia.
| Funding
TASA's Gary Bouma Memorial Workshop Funding, for 2027 events, is open for applications. Successful workshops will advance research within sociology and showcase TASA as the face of sociological/interdisciplinary research in the region; engaging with issues of national concern; advancement of knowledge; support innovative ideas, and, the potential of feeding into policy and practice development.
Funding of AU$5,000 (per workshop) available for workshops to be held in Australia.
Applications close on 17 July.
For details, and the application form link, visit TASAweb here.
Awards
Distinguished Service to Australian Sociology Award
This award is made to a TASA member who has demonstrated outstanding, significant and sustained service to Australian sociology over many years. While not necessarily a lifetime achievement award, candidates for the Distinguished Service Award would usually be nearing the end of their careers.
In all cases the quality of the service is the determining criterion, rather than the quantity alone.
Outstanding Service to TASA Award
This honour is accorded to a TASA member who has demonstrated an outstanding level of participation in and promotion of TASA over a number of years. There are many ways in which this can occur, but in all cases the quality of the service is the determining criterion, rather than the quantity alone.
Outstanding Service to the Teaching of Sociology Award
This award celebrates outstanding contributions to enhancing the pedagogy, practice or outcomes of teaching and learning sociology in Australia. It recognises contributions at the disciplinary level (rather than acknowledging excellence in teaching within the classroom or institutions). Examples of disciplinary-level contributions include innovations in teaching that increase the impact of sociology teaching beyond university contexts, improve student access, experience and outcomes, or inform disciplinary approaches to learning and teaching. Evidence of these achievements may be demonstrated through feedback from students or peers, and/or through publications (peer-reviewed, policy or general), presentations, media, or other relevant indicators.
Sociology in Action Award
This award recognizes contributions to the practice of sociology outside of academic settings. It is conferred on a TASA member who has made an outstanding contribution to sociological practice in Australia.
In this context, outstanding contributions to sociology in action highlight the value and impact of sociological methods and theories to society. This includes both broad social issues, as well as more focused issues for industry, government, business or community sectors.
| TASA Gift Membership and your workplace | Are your colleagues yet to join TASA? Are you teaching or supervising students who would benefit from connecting with sociologists working in diverse settings?
Your institution, research centre or workplace may wish to use TASA's Gift Membership program to kickstart someone's TASA membership. Gift memberships are a great option for smaller amounts of unspent funds in your budget as we approach the end of the financial year.
TASA members can log into TASAweb and purchase gift memberships via their profile screen. Alternatively, email membership@tasa.org.au to learn more about membership fees and categories, and payment by invoice.
If you are having issues with your login, please do email Ali - membership@tasa.org.au - she can fix log in problems for you!
| Call for Conveners
We are including the call in today's newsletter in case you missed the recent emails that were sent directly to group members.
Sociology & Activism: One of the recently appointed conveners of the Sociology & Activism Thematic Group has unfortunately needed to step down due to other commitments. We are therefore seeking expressions of interest from members who may be able to co-convene the group alongside Vianca de la Cruz through to the 2027 TASA Annual General Meeting.
Sociology & Animals: Unfortunately, the two new conveners for this group have had to step down. We are therefore seeking expressions of interest from members who may be able to convene the group through to the 2027 TASA Annual General Meeting.
Critical Indigenous Studies: Joann Schmider, the Indigenous Portfolio Leader, has developed a strategic plan which outlines broader priorities for this area of TASA’s work and may offer helpful context for members considering this opportunity. We are seeking expressions of interest from members who may be able to convene the group through to the 2027 TASA Annual General Meeting.
| 2026 Monthly ‘Catch Up & Write’ Sessions
Hosted by the Sociology of Youth Thematic Group
TheSociology of Youth thematic group are excited to continue hosting virtual ‘Catch Up & Write’ sessions on the last Monday of every month from 1:00pm to 3:30pm to ensure you all have a dedicated space to write and connect.
If you are interested in joining them, please refer to the below 2026 schedule to register for the sessions you would like to attend. While the writing group is hosted by the Sociology of Youth thematic group, they welcome other TASA members whose research engages with youth in interesting ways. The more the merrier!
2026 SCHEDULE: ‘CATCH UP & WRITE’ SESSIONS
Register to receive Zoom links + save the dates in your calendar!
ONLINE 1:00PM TO 3:30PM AEST
MONDAY 29 JUNE | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 27 JULY | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 31 AUGUST | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER | REGISTER HERE*
MONDAY 26 OCTOBER | REGISTER HERE*
* Please note each month’s ‘Catch Up and Write’ session requires a separate registration as each session has a different Zoom link *
The Sociology of Youth team look forward to seeing you at an upcoming session!
If possible, please give the new TASA Sociology of Youth LinkedIn page a follow and share amongst your networks.
| The Social Stratification Thematic Group, convened by Jenny Chesters, invites abstracts for a one-day Symposium, Perceptions and Indicators of Social Class in Australia, to be held at the University of Melbourne on Friday 28 August.
This free event, with a keynote address by E/Professor, and long term TASA member, Mark Western, will explore contemporary debates around social class, inequality, education, housing, healthcare, and family background in Australia.
Travel bursaries available. Abstract submission deadline: 5pm, 1 July. For the full details, read on... | | | Leaving Religion and the Politics of Nonreligion
This symposium, hosted by the Sociology of Religion thematic group & held alongside the 50th anniversary of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, invites researchers to explore nonreligion as a subject in its own right. Papers are invited on themes including deconversion, religious trauma and recovery, ex-member communities, post-religious life, the politics of nonreligion, the “Mark No Religion” campaign, and the complexities of measuring nonreligion.
University of Sydney, Friday 23 October, hybrid.
Please send a 250-word abstract and short bio by TODAY 25 June to Katja Strehle at k.strehle@westernsydney.edu.au and Samantha Hauw at s.hauw@deakin.edu.au.
| | | | Theorising migration, settlement and diversity in unsettled times
Symposium Keynote: Amanda Wise
TASA’s Migration, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism and Social Theory Thematic Groups invite submissions for a half-day symposium exploring the theoretical foundations, current developments and future directions of migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism research.
23 November, University of the Sunshine Coast.
Some TASA member bursaries are available.
| | | New: Journal of Sociology, 62 (2)
Issue 62:2 includes a Special Issue on 'Platform Labour in the Global South and Global North', curated by guest editors Lutfun Nahar Lata, Andrew Copolov, and Aditya Ray. This issue includes an Introduction article, six research articles and three book reviews, all centred on digital platform work as this has developed across different geographical locations. In addition to the Special Issue articles, this issue also features four standard articles that all focus on migrants and migration. As usual, in this newsletter you find the abstracts for all articles and a link to each article.
All articles are available here.
| Health Sociology Review, Volume 35, Number 1 (March 2026).
A special issue on, ‘Healthy’ Food Practices: Moving Beyond Healthy Choices and Food Systems, is guest edited by Natalie Jovanovski and Bhavna Middha.
All articles in this special issue are available here.
| Scholarship Opportunities
| New: Legal needs, access to justice and intersecting inequalities
ICS, Western Sydney University
Part of an ARC DECRA project and in partnership with the Law & Justice Foundation of NSW, this PhD scholarship will research inequalities in people’s experiences of legal problems and identify opportunities for meaningful reforms that address intersectional disadvantages. The precise focus of the PhD is negotiable.
Application deadline: 31 July. Read on...
New: Violence and Social Repair
Victoria University
The are especially interested in projects geographically focused on Asia and the Pacific, and settler-colonial Australia.
New: Beyond Participation: Operationalising Theory of Change for Valid & Sustainable Impact Measurement in Community Sport for Development
This PhD looks at how community organisations can turn their Theory of Change (a map of how their work leads to specific outcomes) into a practical, trustworthy way of measuring impact that they can keep using over time.
Supervisors: Professor Camilla Brockett, and fellow member Professor Ramon Spaaij
Gender-based violence in the context of work: Reporting, help-seeking and access to justice
This is a interdisciplinary research project examining gender-based violence in the context of work, with a particular focus on how structurally disadvantaged workers experience reporting processes, help-seeking pathways and access to justice in NSW.
Wollongong University
Media Representation & Public Perception of RNA Vaccines and Therapeutics in Australia
PhD Scholarship
University of Newcastle
Working with fellow member Caragh Brosnan
Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia
This is part of an ARC Discovery project Creating Safer Sport Communities from Rural to Urban Australia
The PhD will be housed within Griffith University’s Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Arts, Education and Law group and the Department of Tourism and Marketing, Griffith Business School.
| |
New: Postdoctoral Research Associate
King’s College London
Full-time / fixed-term, 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029
Suitable for those working in political sociology, comparative sociology, political science, inequality, democratic support, survey research, experimental research, and/or social data science.
Application deadline: 12 July. Read on...
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong
Lecturer in Geography, Sociology and Political Science
Hong Kong Baptist University
The role includes teaching courses in human geography, physical geography, public administration, general sociology, statistics, research methods, and advanced topics in quantitative analysis across these disciplines.
| Other Events, News & Opportunities
| Award for Excellence in Research
The ISA Award for Excellence in Research and Practice is granted by the International Sociological Association to a sociologist whose outstanding contributions advance and promote sociological knowledge and practice, while strengthening the discipline, the profession, and the ISA.
| New: Nominations for College of Experts 2027
The Australian Research Council (ARC) is seeking nominations from suitably qualified and experienced individuals, including senior academics and end-users across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, with peer review and research leadership experience. Researchers with multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary expertise are strongly encouraged to apply. We especially welcome nominations from women, particularly those from the STEM disciplines, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Nominees should have strong institutional support to meet the commitment required of ARC College of Experts members.
| Workshops Program Funding
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy Workshops Program offers Australian social scientists financial assistance to host multidisciplinary workshops which aim to advance research and policy agendas on nationally important issues.
Up to AU$9,000.00 per workshop.
| Seminars
ANU School of Sociology Seminar Series
The program for the ANU School of Sociology Seminar Series is now online. All seminars are hybrid, with options to join via Zoom. Please visit the School’s Humanitix page, here, to view and register for upcoming seminars.
Newcastle Youth Studies Centre (NYSC) 2026 Online Seminar Series
The full 2026 program for the Newcastle Youth Studies Centre’s online seminar series is now out (see below), you can check out each seminar, and register for them, at the NYSC Eventbrite page here.
Note, you can watch the full 2025 recordings at the NYSC's YouTube playlist here.
Webinars
New: Human Rights in Focus: 20 Years of the Charter - Ensuring Our Human Rights Laws Are Fit for Modern Day Victoria
Online
Tuesday, 21 July, 2pm - 3pm AEST
For details, and to register, read on...
Building Gender Competency
DASSH
Online
Tuesday, 21 July, 11am - 12pm AEST
For details, and to register, read on...
Public Lectures
New: Rechnitz Memorial Lecture presented by Professor Marcia Langton
University of Melbourne
Tuesday, 14 Jul, 5:30pm - 6:45pm AEST
For details, and to register, read on... |  | Conferences
Global Sociology in Turbulent Times
International Sociological Association
XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology
4 to 10 July 2027, Gwangju, Korea
Note, the Call for Sessions deadline, for Research Committees, Thematic Groups & Working Groups is June 25th. Read on...
The deadline for Integrative Sessions is 28 September. Integrative Sessions are semi-plenaries that engage a debate on the Congress theme. Read on...
What is Transience?
Hybrid, Thursday, 11 February 2027
RMIT University
10th Biennial Social Science Methodology Conference
November 24-26, University of Sydney
| Call for Submissions
Indigenous Queer Studies in the Global South: Theory, Method and Lived Experience
Together with A/Prof Madi Day and Dr Kim Spurway, Corrinne Sullivan is co-editing a forthcoming collection, Indigenous Queer Studies in the Global South: Theory, Method and Lived Experience, under contract with Anthem Press. They are currently inviting contributions from scholars, practitioners, and contributors whose work and lived experience are shaping this field.
The volume seeks to foreground Indigenous queer lives, knowledge systems, and methodological innovation across the Global South, bringing together theoretical, empirical, and practice-based work. In line with this commitment, we are working towards a collection in which chapters are first-authored by Indigenous scholars.
So Fi Zine is once again open for your submissions of sociological flash fiction, poetry and visual art.
Submission deadline: 30 June. Read on...
Social Conditions, Clinical Logics: Rethinking Young People’s Engagement with Drug Treatment
International Journal of Drug Policy
This special issue invites submissions that explore or examine how the social conditions of young people’s substance use shape their engagement in drug treatment. Editors are looking for papers that critically explore, among other things, biomedical and psychologised approaches to AOD care, how contexts of crisis and social inequity shape treatment experience, and how treatment might be experienced differently by First Nations, LGBTQ+, refugee, migrant and racialized youth.
| For membership information, processes, and frequently used resources, visit the Members' Navigator. To contact a member of the team directly, see our TASA Staff page.
| Admin (Sally): admin@tasa.org.au
Events (Penny): events@tasa.org.au
Membership (Ali): membership@tasa.org.au
Indigenous (Morgan): indigenoussociology@tasa.org.au
Digital Publications Editor (Roger): digitalpe@tasa.org.au
Thematic Groups (Molly): thematicgroups@tasa.org.au
Postgraduates (Brooklyn): postgraduates@tasa.org.au | |