UPDATE – 1 July 2020

We appreciate everyone’s patience as the conference organising committee for the International Australian Studies Association (InASA) conference has continued to monitor the Covid-19 situation. We are pleased to announce that the InASA biennial conference will still go ahead, but on the revised dates of 8-10 February 2021. This delay will hopefully provide more opportunities for travel and more certainty for the conference. We are also happy to announce that all three of our keynotes – Irene Watson, Tim Soutphommasane and Richard White – are available on the revised dates and will still be presenting.

Given the pandemic is still unfolding, we will continue to monitor the situation. We still advise interested participants not to make any travel arrangements because there is the possibility that we will have to cancel the conference altogether. However, we are hopeful that the February dates will be able to go ahead.

With the new conference dates, we have reopened the call for papers with the new abstract deadline of 31 August. We also invite applicants for the postgraduate bursary scheme by 30 August. Details about abstracts and the postgraduate bursaries are available on the conference website.

We know that even with the changed date there is no guarantee that Australia’s borders will be reopened. However, we strongly encourage international participants to put in abstracts. If borders remain closed, we will explore alternative options for international participation.

Finally, for those who already submitted abstracts: We will be in touch in the next week advising the outcome of your abstract. If you will not be able to attend the revised dates and wish to withdraw your abstract, we would appreciate if you can notify us on InASA2020@acu.edu.au.

Everyone please take care – look after yourselves and each other.

Noah Riseman
InASA President


We welcome papers on topics relating to Australian Studies broadly defined, including those which relate Australia to connected global histories, movements, trends, international relations and ideas. Some possible themes include:

  • Australian and transnational histories
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Indigenous Studies
  • Literature
  • Cinema Studies
  • Cultural Studies
  • Art, music and creative practices
  • Law
  • Sociology
  • Race
  • Immigration
  • Gender
  • Sexuality
  • Class
  • Multiculturalism
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Indo-Pacific
  • Memory and Heritage

Abstracts of 150 words and a short biography of 75 words should be submitted by 31 August 2020. Please ensure that your submission is in Times New Roman, single-spaced, font size 12. Please submit abstracts here.

More details about the conference including the keynote speakers, postgraduate travel bursaries, the venue and conference events are available from the conference website. You may also direct any queries to InASA2020@acu.edu.au