The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) was established in 1971, replacing its parent body the Social Science Research Council of Australia, itself founded in 1942. It is an autonomous, non-governmental organisation, devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the various social sciences. Its objectives are:

• to promote excellence in and encourage the advancement of the social sciences in Australia;
• to act as a coordinating group for the promotion of research and teaching in the social sciences;
• to foster excellence in research and encourage the publication of studies in the social sciences;
• to encourage and assist in the formation of other national associations or institutions for the promotion of the social sciences;
• to promote international scholarly cooperation and to act as an Australian national member of international organisations concerned with the social sciences;
• to consult and advise;
• to comment where appropriate on national needs and priorities from the perspective of the social sciences;
• To collaborate with other national bodies for the purposes of research and the production of knowledge.

The membership of the Academy comprises scholars who have achieved sufficient scholarly distinction to be elected an ASSA Fellow.There are more than four hundred Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

There are three other learned Academies in Australia, the Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH), Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and Australian Academy of the Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). The four Academies cooperate through the National Academies Forum, formed in 1995.

Photo: Home of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia on the Australian National University Campus, 28 Balmain Crescent, Acton ACT.