Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science.
XXI 1932 Sydney 1200 Sir Hubert Murray
XXII 1935 Melbourne 1410 Sir Douglas Mawson
XXIII 1937 Auckland 1296 Sir David Rivett
XXIV 1939 Canberra 1200 Prof. Ernest Scott
XXV 1940 Adelaide 1400 Prof P. Marshall
XXVI 1947 Perth 1450 A.E.V. Richardson
XXVII 1949 Hobart 1650 A.B. Walkom
XXVIII 1951 Brisbane Sir Kerr Grant
XXIX 1952 Sydney 2620 Sir Doulas B. Copeland
XXX 1954 Canberra 1987 Sir Theodore Rigg
XXXI 1955 Melbourne 3500 Prof R.V.D.R. Wooley
XXXII 1957 Dunedin 2070 Prof. Sir Macfarlane Burnet
XXXIII 1958 Adelaide 2525 Prof M.L.E. Oliphant
XXXIV 1959 Perth 2000 H.C. Coombs
XXXV 1961 Brisbane 2800 Em. Prof. Sir Samuel Wadham
XXXVI 1962 Sydney 3600 Prof N.S. Bayliss
XXXVII 1963 Canberra 3860 Sir Frederick White
XXXVIII 1965 Hobart Prof. R.N. Robertson
XXXIX 1967 Melbourne Sir Fred Schonell
XL 1968 Christchurch 2760 Prof. Sir John Crawford
XLI 1969 Adelaide Dr Charles A Fleming
XLII 1970 Port Moresby Prof. S. Warren Carey
XLIII 1971 Brisbane Prof. Gustav J.V. Nossal
XLIV 1972 Sydney 2170 Dr R.G. Ward
XLV 1974 Perth 3600 Prof. Eric J. Underwood
XLVI 1975 Canberra 2200 The Hon. Mr Justice J.H. Wootten
XLVII 1976 Hobart 2750 Prof. W.D. Barrie
XLVIII 1977 Melbourne 2800 Dr Lloyd Eyans
XLIX 1979 Auckland 3500 Dr K.L. Sutherland
L 1980 Adelaide 2020 Prof Sir Geoffrey Badger
LI 1981 Brisbane 2930 Dr Graham W. Butler
LII 1982 Sydney 2816 Sir Zelman Cowen
LIII 1983 Perth 3800 Prof R.O. Slayter
LIV 1984 Canberra 2500 Sir Gustav J.V. Nossal
LV 1985 Melbourne 3500 Sir Edmund Hillary
LVI 1987 Palmerston 1750 Sir David Beattie
LVII 1987 Townsville 1300 Sir Bruce Watson
LVIII 1988 Sydney Prof. Geoffrey Blaimey
LIX 1990 Hobart Dr Brian Walker
LX 1991 Adelaide 500 Prof David Boyd
LXI 1992 Brisbane 350 Dr Robyn Williams AM
LXII 1993 Perth The Hon. Barry O. Jones
LXIII 1994 Geelong 400
LXIV 1995 Newcastle 600
ANZAAS Science Talk, Melbourne
All welcome, free, tell your friends! Free refreshments after the talk
Wednesday 19th August 2026, 6:30 pm
At Bio21 Institute, 30 Flemington Rd, near corner with Park Drive, Parkville
Professor Ian Gust AO
Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital
“Serendipity in Science”
Born in the lucky country and growing up in an era of peace, prosperity and expanding opportunities, I’ve been incredibly lucky.
Lucky in my mentors and choice of career, lucky to be involved in the birth of several new organisations and the response to some public health crises. This has led me to reflect on the nature of luck. Golfer Gary Player once remarked “the harder I practice, the luckier I get” – is there a similar recipe for the aspiring scientist?
Professor lan Gust is renowned for pioneering work in virology and the development of drugs and vaccines. He and collaborators were the first to isolate the hepatitis A virus and respiratory syncytial virus. He served as Australia’s Chief Medical and Scientific Adviser on AIDS from 1989 to 1992, and directed the National Hepatitis Reference Centre from 1979 to 1990. From 1985 to 1991, he was the inaugural director of the Burnet Institute, then research director at CSL. Post-retirement, he continues as consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and the World Bank.
Following his talk, Professor Gust will be presented with the 2026 ANZAAS Medal
—————
Forthcoming talk:
Wednesday 16th September Professor David Ashley CEO VCCC
————–
We are pleased to acknowledge the support by CSL and Bio21 for the ANZAAS Melbourne science talks series
Further Info: David Vaux davidlaurencevaux@gmail.com
Elizabeth Vincan May 2026
AIDS and COVID-19: a Tale of Two Pandemics
Desley Whisson April 2026
Out on a Limb: Koalas and Yellow-bellied Gliders in Victoria’s Changing Forests
Ella Finkel March 2026
Take nobody’s word for it
Michael Foley November 2025
Human therapies inspired by sharks
Ros Gleadow October 2025
The poisonous plate of climate change
David Mitchell September 2025
Cosmic Rays – Celestial Bullets
Christopher Fairley August 2025
Whose fault is it that Bob got syphilis?
Anette “Peko” Hosoi July 2025
Form, Function and Physics: How Fluid Mechanics Shapes Life
Ricky Johnstone June 2025
Are we really ready for research-driven personalised cancer care in Australia?
John Long May 2025
Secret Life of Sharks – Lessons in Evolution and Survival
Peter van Wijngaarden March 2025
Imaging the eye to see the brain
Tony Heyes November 2024
Disability, Innovation and Spin-offs
David Vaux August 2024
Cell death: Bench to Bedside
Peter Cowan July 2024
Xenotransplantation: Custom-Designing Pig Parts for People
Richard Olive May 2024
The West Gate Bridge Disaster – A Failure at the Engineering, Organisational and Personal Levels
Greg Moore November April 2024
Urban trees are vital for sustainable, liveable cities
Rachelle Buchbinder March 2024
Hippocrasy, how doctors are betraying their oath
Daniel Mathews November 2023
Topology and the shape of space
Beth Ebert October 2023
Improving early warnings of epidemic thunderstorm asthma
David Komander September 2023
Playing Tag with Ubiquitin
David Vaux August 2023
A short history of cancer genes
Chris Greening May 2023
The atmosphere as a hidden energy source for life
Jim Goding March 2023
Transistors, the Microchip & the Second Industrial Revolution
Paul Lasky November 2022
A new window on the Universe
Peter Currie October 2022
Regeneration: Myths and monsters and modern medicine
Heather Mack September 2022
Injecting eyes with antibodies to treat problems of the retina
Helen Green August 2022
Dating Australia’s rock art
Mahdi Jalali July 2022
Transport electrification and integration of EVs within the electricity grid
Grant McArthur June 2022
Science led inroads into melanoma – Australia and New Zealand’s disease
Alan Duffy May 2022
Darkness visible down-under
Timothy Clark April 2022
The importance of reproducibility and integrity in science: a fishy perspective
Tilman Ruff March 2022
Ending the nuclear weapons era evidence, challenges and pathways
Brian Abbey November 2021
The colour of cancer: could ‘smart’ microscope slides transform tissue diagnostics?
Cameron Simmons October 2021
Creating stop signs in mosquitoes; is this the end-game for Dengue?
Madhu Bhaskaran September 2021
Unbreakable sensors the future is here
Anne Marie Tosolini August 2021
Fossil Leaves from Cretaceous and Paleogene Polar Environments
Geoff Brooks July 2021
Green Steel: Can we decarburise steel production?
————–
Welcome to the ANZAAS Website
Almost every aspect of our life is touched by science. Without science our way of life would be almost unimaginable and sustainability of life in the future will be impossible. Despite this there is great public suspicion of science. Much of this is based on lack of understanding, but past failures of science to recognise public concerns about the nature and direction of progress contribute to distrust. The future is too important for such attitudes to continue. ANZAAS exists to promote dialogue and understanding between the public, science and government and to advance science and its utilisation for maximum benefit.
ANZAAS Science Talk,Melbourne
Wednesday 19th August 2026, 6:30 pm
At Bio21 Institute, 30 Flemington Rd, near corner with Park Drive, Parkville
Professor Ian Gust AO
Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital
“Serendipity in Science”
Born in the lucky country and growing up in an era of peace, prosperity and expanding opportunities, I’ve been incredibly lucky.
Lucky in my mentors and choice of career, lucky to be involved in the birth of several new organisations and the response to some public health crises.
This has led me to reflect on the nature of luck. Golfer Gary Player once remarked “the harder I practice, the luckier I get” – is there a similar recipe for the aspiring scientist?
Professor lan Gust is renowned for pioneering work in virology and the development of drugs and vaccines. He and collaborators were the first to isolate the hepatitis A virus and respiratory syncytial virus. He served as Australia’s Chief Medical and Scientific Adviser on AIDS from 1989 to 1992, and directed the National Hepatitis Reference Centre from 1979 to 1990. From 1985 to 1991, he was the inaugural director of the Burnet Institute, then research director at CSL. Post-retirement, he continues as consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and the World Bank.
Following his talk, Professor Gust will be presented with the 2026 ANZAAS Medal
—————
Forthcoming talk: Wednesday 16th September Prof David Ashley CEO VCCC
———-
We are pleased to acknowledge the support by CSL and Bio21 for the ANZAAS Melbourne science talks series
Further Info: David Vaux davidlaurencevaux@gmail.com
Message from Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall
I would like to congratulate ANZAAS on its reinvigoration and an exciting new website. ANZAAS was born to help launch scientific endeavour in Australia and New Zealand in the late 19th century and has since maintained a powerful advocate for public engagement with science. The new ANZAAS seeks to support and enliven a new phase of public involvement in science – we might call it mobilisation – in support of a sustainable culture for scientific literacy and a solid foundation for international competitiveness. The new path of action for ANZAAS is to stir the community at large into motivating more of our youth to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There are many issues facing our society as we move into the 21st century – new challenges and exciting opportunities in medicine and health, critical decisions to be made with respect to the planet and engineering innovations of which we can only dream in the present. ANZAAS seeks to engage you in vibrant and productive exchanges as together we tackle these future challenges.
I urge you all to join me in actively supporting ANZAAS in its new endeavours.
From the Archives
Douglas Mawson ANZAAS has a long, proud and prestigious history with many eminent scientists as its President. Here from the archives is the 1935 Presidential Address by the great Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.
We invite you to wonder at Mawson’s suggestions for Prospects for Economic Development on pages 36-37 – from whaling and fur-farming to “As a winter sports ground for diversion in summer, Antarctica would be a thrill to Australians… I see no reason to delay the despatch from our ports of modern liners for summer pleasure cruises amongst the pack-ice.” View PDF
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If you are interested in the pharmaceutical industry listen to ABC Radio National Background Briefing on “A Noble Cause”. A former industry insider gives a unique insight into the selling techniques of big pharma. Click here to listen: A noble cause
Douglas Mawson ANZAAS has a long, proud and prestigious history with many eminent scientists as its President. Here from the archives is the 1935 Presidential Address by the great Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.
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