RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
The RST Clive Lord Memorial Medal was established in 1934 and first awarded in 1938. The medal was awarded to scholars distinguished for research in Tasmanian science or Tasmanian history.
In February 2021, the RST offered an Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people (available here), taking responsibility for and apologising for past damaging actions by the RST and people allied with the RST, specifically citing the exhumation of Aboriginal ancestral remains.
Further, the Society committed to (1) having the Apology “influence all aspects of the Society’s undertakings in seeking the advancement of knowledge” and (2) seeking “a truthful and full account of the actions of the Society and its members”.
In December 2025, the Council of the RST became aware of three publications (1918, 1923, 1924; listed below) that reported the involvement of Clive Lord in the exhumation of Tasmanian Aboriginal ancestral remains and the depositing of those remains in the Tasmanian Museum.
Having an RST medal named after a person known to have exhumed Aboriginal ancestral remains is incompatible with the commitments made by the Society in the 2021 Apology. In April 2026, the Council therefore resolved to discontinue offering the Clive Lord Memorial Medal. The RST Honours and Awards Committee is now considering the possibility of an alternative award.
Discontinuing the Clive Lord Memorial Medal does not diminish the career achievements of past recipients of the award. The Society endorses its public recognition of these scholars and their contributions to advancing knowledge of Tasmanian science and history.
Lord CE 1918 Preliminary note upon the discovery of a number of Tasmanian Aboriginal remains at Eaglehawk Neck. Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 118-119.
Lord CE 1923 A note on the burial customs of the Tasmanian aborigines. Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 45-46.
Lord CE and Scott HH 2024 A synopsis of the vertebrate animals of Tasmania. Oldham, Beddome and Meredith, Hobart, 340 pp.
Clive Errol Lord (1889-1933) was born in Hobart, trained as an architect and developed an interest in natural history. He was the State’s leading ornithologist and from 1923-33 he was the Director of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Lord served as Secretary of the RST from 1918-33. Lord wrote numerous papers on the Tasmanian natural environment and its history.
2022 Emeritus Prof Stefan Petrow
2019 Prof Jamie Kirkpatrick
2016 H Reynolds
2013 Prof Bradley Potts
2010 Don Kay
2007 A J Crawford
2004 T D Sprod
2001 Prof R Menary
1996 Dr Alison Alexander
1993 Mr D R Gregg
1989 Dr Lloyd Robson
1986 Mr RGH Green
1983 Mr N J Brian Plomley
1977 Dr E R Guiler
1973 Dr W Bryden
1966 Dr W M Curtis
1960 Em Prof Vernon Victor Hickman
1958 Mr P G Law
1951 Prof J Burke
1947 Dr H Thompson
1939 Prof B Cleland
1938 Prof L F Giblin
The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.
On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.