Asian Studies Association of Australia

The Asian Studies Association of Australia is the peak body of university experts and educators on Asian Studies in Australia.

The Oriental Society of Australia, founded in 1956, was Sydney-focused although in principle national in membership, and initiatives to make it more national in scope were explored without success. [1] Consequently, after an exploratory meeting of the 'Asian Scholars of Australia and New Zealand' during the International Congress of Orientalists in Canberra in 1971, the ASAA was established at a meeting held in Canberra during the ANZAAS Conference in January 1975 and adopted a constitution at its first National Conference in May 1976.[2] Membership is primarily drawn from the university sector and includes academics and students engaged in teaching or research on Asia across a wide range of disciplines, including language teaching.

The association is administered by the executive committee, which consists of the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and publications officer. The council comprises the members of the executive committee, one member each representing four regions of Asia as well as a postgraduate representative, library representative, Women's Forum representative, Conference representative and teacher's representative.

The association holds a biennial national conference. Since 1990, the ASAA has published the Asian Studies Review.[3] The ASAA publishes four monograph series through the National University of Singapore Press and Routledge. The ASAA makes submissions to governments and universities on matters relating to Asian studies, the professional interests of its members, tertiary and secondary education about Asia, and Asia-Australia relations.[4] A major report published in 2002, Maximizing Australia's Asia Knowledge, argued for increased government investment in Asian Studies.[5]

In 2022, the ASAA launched a new report 'Australia's Asia Education Imperative: Trends in the Study of Asia and Pathways for Reform', authored by Edward Aspinall and Melissa Crouch. The report focuses on trends in the promotion of Asia literacy in Australian universities from 2000 to 2022, outlining both achievements and challenges. The report identifies a decline in government and, in many cases, university support, pointing to growing challenges in Australia’s efforts to promote Asia literacy among Australian graduates at a time that Asia’s global prominence and influence is more obvious than ever. The report proposes a set of recommendations to the government and to universities in order to renew and strengthen national commitment to Asia literacy.

The ASAA offers a wide range of grants, prizes and awards to recognise and support scholarship on Asia.

The following have served as ASAA presidents: 1976-78 John Legge; 1979-80 Wang Gungwu; 1981-2 Anthony Low; 1983-4 Stephen FitzGerald; 1985-6Jamie Mackie; 1987-8 & 1989-90: Elaine McKay; 1991-92 John Ingleson; 1993-94 Colin Mackerras; 1995-96 Beverly Hooper; 1997-98 Anthony Reid; 1999-2000 Robert Elson; 2001-02 Tessa Morris-Suzuki; 2003-04 Robin Jeffrey; 2005-06 Robert Cribb; 2007-08 Michael Leigh, replaced by Robert Cribb; 2009-10 Kathryn Robinson; 2011-12 Purnendra Jain; 2013-14 Louise Edwards; 2017-18 Kent Anderson; 2019-20 Edward Aspinall; 2021-22 Kate McGregor; 2023- Melissa Crouch; [6]