by Professor Greg Lehman
Co-Chair, RST Aboriginal Engagement Committee

On Wednesday, 4 December 2019, the University of Tasmania became the first learned institution in Tasmania to offer a formal apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people.​ ​

Vice Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black, marked the day as one on which “… we reflect on the parts of our past we are not proud of …a moment for humility, truth-telling, pain and accountability.” Broadly welcomed by Aboriginal people and positively reflected on across Tasmanian media, the University’s apology was offered in response to over a century of disrespectful treatment of Aboriginal people by the academy. “For too long the histories we taught hid the true story of war and genocidal behaviour. For too long the wisdom of Aboriginal people was not thought worthy of our academy,” Prof Black said.​

During 2019, the Royal Society of Tasmania has made substantial progress toward the development of its own Apology. Like the University of Tasmania, the Society was also involved in research and treatment of Aboriginal ancestral remains that is now recognised as disrespectful and has contributed to ongoing hurt being felt by today’s Aboriginal people. The development of the Society’s Apology has been a painstaking one, involving independent commissioned research and close examination of Society​ records to ensure that an accurate and objective assessment could be made of a range of activities that impacted on Aboriginal people. The Society’s approach has been to thoroughly account for the decisions and actions that it should take responsibility for and to better understand the context of those actions.​

An Aboriginal Engagement Committee jointly chaired by Prof Matt King and Prof Greg Lehman worked under close direction of the RST Council to produce two discussion papers and reports to Members during 2019, outlining key issues considered by the Apology process, and identifying a number of recommended actions to accompany a formal Statement of Apology.​

Following a special meeting of the Council on 19 December 2019, a draft Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people has now been produced. This was recently presented for confidential consideration by the Aboriginal Advisory Council of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, which is also developing its own apology. It was agreed that the RST and TMAG would work cooperatively to plan an event at which both institutions would present their respective statements. Similar consultation will also be held with the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery’s Aboriginal Reference Group to ensure that sensitive matters involved in the Apology are dealt with appropriately and respectfully. Further information will be provided to Members of the Society when the Apology is finalised and a date for its announcement is set.

Reproduced from the April, 2020 RST Newsletter.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Nominations close 31 August 2020.

Call for nominations for the 2020 Peter Smith Medal

Nominations are now open for the Royal Society of Tasmania Peter Smith Medal. This medal is awarded biennially to an outstanding early career researcher in any field. The recipient receives a medal and will be invited to deliver “The Peter Smith Lecture” to the Society.

For the purpose of the medal, “early career” means within the first seven years since the award of a PhD, at the time of the nomination deadline. Extensions to the seven years post-PhD eligibility requirement will be offered to applicants whose career has been interrupted to accommodate carer responsibilities, illness or other circumstances.

Further conditions of the award are:

• The research should have been largely carried out in Tasmania or under the aegis of a Tasmanian-based organisation and within the Society’s purview; and
• Nominations may be made by anyone although no self-nominations will be accepted.
• Nominations must be received before COB, August 31, 2020.

Nomination guidelines

On the first page of the nomination, give (1) the name of the candidate, contact address and email, and (2) the name of the nominator, contact address and email.

On the second page, provide a concise description of the nominee’s achievements relevant to the Peter Smith Medal in language that is widely understood outside the nominee’s field of research. The nominee’s research or other scholarly contributions to science, history or other field of learning, industry or society should be clearly stated.

Provide the nominee’s curriculum vitae in full. Include the nominee’s education history, the date/s of receipt of degrees and a list of published works. The most significant publications should be highlighted (e.g. with an asterisk). For co-authored papers, provide a percentage estimate of the nominee’s contribution. The Honours, Medals and Awards Committee has limited ability to seek additional information and therefore depends entirely on the nomination submission.

All matters pertaining to the Society awards are confidential until the public announcement of the awards at the Society’s Annual General Meeting each year. Confidentiality must also be observed by both the nominator and nominee.

Please send nominations as a single Word or pdf file by email to the Secretary royal.society@tmag.tas.gov.au before COB, August 31, 2020. Please enter “Honours Committee” in the subject line of the email message.

Professor Jocelyn McPhie (Chair) on behalf of the RST Honours and Awards Committee

June 2020