About ANZSHM Inc.
ANZSHM Inc. promotes the study of the history of health sciences within the Australian, New Zealand and the wider Pacific region. ANZSHM is a federated organisation, incorporated in Victoria, with two branches in Australia.
Members come from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, and other parts of the world. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the history of health and illness.
Affairs of the Society
A Council of Management, comprising 18 volunteer members, governs the business of the Society. Day-to-day operations are conducted by an Executive of four Office Bearers who are elected.
All ANZSHM members are entitled to, and encouraged to, vote at the AGMs/SGMs (see ANZSHM Inc. Rules) and at branch meetings if they hold membership of a branch. The branches are:
ANZSHM NSW Branch
Medical History Society of Victoria
Members who live in either of these states automatically hold membership of the respective state branch.
Publications
ANZSHM publishes a scholarly journal Health and History biannually, a newsletter quarterly and a calendar of events periodically.
Conferences
ANZSHM holds a conference biennially. Grants are available to assist eligible higher degree students and early career researchers who wish to present a paper at a conference.
Biennially, ANZSHM offers a prize for the best member-authored book published on Australian, New Zealand or Pacific medical and health history.
| Previous Biennial Conferences | ||
|---|---|---|
| TBA | Melbourne | 2027 |
| Health History in the Making | Sydney | 2025 |
| Second Opinions | Adelaide | 2023 |
| Innovation and Health in Medicine | Newcastle | 2021 |
| Beyond Borders: Health and Medicine in Historical Context | Auckland, NZ | 2019 |
| Health, Medicine and Society: Challenge and Change | Melbourne | 2017 |
| Missions, Methods and Management | Sydney | 2015 |
| Antipodean Health: People, Places, Perceptions | Darwin | 2013 |
| Public Health, Private Healers | Brisbane | 2011 |
| Health and History at the Frontier | Perth | 2009 |
| Medicine in Context | Canberra | 2007 |
| Health and History: International Perspectives | Auckland, NZ | 2005 |
| Exploring the Boundaries of Medicine | Melbourne | 2003 |
| Now and Then | Adelaide | 2001 |
| Individuals and Institutions in the History of Medicine | Sydney | 1999 |
| Migration to Mining | Darwin | 1997 |
| History, Heritage and Health | Norfolk Island | 1995 |
| Outpost Medicine: Australian Studies on the History of Medicine | Hobart | 1993 |
| Impact of the Past upon the Present | Perth | 1991 |
| New Perspectives on the History of Medicine | Sydney | 1989 |
| Other Conferences involving ANZSHM | ||
| Launceston Bicentenary | Launceston | 2006 |
| A Potted History of ANZSHM | |
|---|---|
| 1953 Oct | The British Medical Association’s Victorian Branch (VBMA) had a Section of Medical History, with membership restricted to VBMA members. The Medical History Section aimed to 1) further the study of medical history, 2) support the collection of historical material, and 3) establish a museum. |
| 1960s | An ‘Associate’ membership category, capped at 10 per cent of the total membership of the Medical History Section, enabled people without medical qualifications to join. |
| 1962 | The Australian Medical Association (AMA) replaced the BMA and the Medical History Section continued within the AMA’s Victorian Branch. |
| 1982 | The Medical History Section was renamed the Medical History Society, AMA (Victoria). |
| 1980 Feb | 1st National Symposium on the History of Medicine and Health in Australia, Sydney Selected papers were published under the title Australia’s Quest for Colonial Health. Dr Frank Forster (MHS AMA Vic President 1980-1982) felt that a national organisation of medical history was warranted. |
| 1981 Aug | The Medical History Society initiated a regular bulletin, Medical History Australia (MHA). |
| 1984 Nov | 2nd National Conference on the History of Medicine and Health in Australia, Melbourne Conference proceedings were published as Occasional Papers on Medical History Australia. This conference resolved to form a national society of the history of medicine, appointing Professor Harold Attwood to chair a planning committee. |
| 1986 Nov | 3rd National Conference on the History of Medicine and Health in Australia, Adelaide This meeting established the Australian Society of the History of Medicine (ASHM),incorporated in Victoria. |
| 1989 | NSW Society of the History of Medicine established 1st Biennial Conference of the ASHM, Sydney |
| 1994 Jul | The AMA’s Victorian Branch restructured, with a prerequisite that any academic affiliated organisation required an AMA membership of 40. Unable to meet this requirement, the Section of Medical History explored options. |
| 1997 | Medical Society of Victoria (MHSV) was established as an incorporated body, with no restrictions on eligibility for membership. |
| 2005 | At the ASHM's AGM in Auckland, a unanimous vote supported the inclusion of New Zealand and approved the Society’s new name - the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine (ANZSHM). |
| 2009 | ANZSHM federated, creating two branches from what were standalone organisations - MHSV and the ANZSHM NSW Branch. The branches transferred responsibility for membership, including member fees, to the parent body. By way of compensation, each branch qualifies for capitation payments annually. Otherwise, the branches retain internal autonomy. |
ANZSHM/ASHM has held biennial conferences since 1989. A list of the conferences is available here. | |
Previous Biennial Conferences
1st National Symposium: the History of Medicine and Health in Australia, Sydney, 1980
Early presidents of the ASHM/ANZSHM: Professor Harold Attwood (left) and Dr Geoffrey Kenny (right).
Presidents
| 2025-2027 | Neville Yeomans |
|---|---|
| 2023-2025 | Linda Bryder |
| 2021-2023 | James Dunk |
| 2019-2021 | Catharine Coleborne |
| 2017-2019 | Madonna Grehan |
| 2015-2017 | Charles George |
| 2013-2015 | Brian Reid |
| 2011-2013 | Louella McCarthy |
| 2009-2011 | Linda Bryder |
| 2007-2009 | Anthea Hyslop |
| 2005-2007 | Judith Godden |
| 2002-2005 | Di Tibbits |
| 2001-2002 | Ben Haneman |
| 1997-2001 | Peter Winterton |
| 1995-1997 | John Pearn |
| 1993-1995 | Geoff Kenny |
| 1991-1993 | Randall Albury |
| 1989-1991 | Harold Attwood |
| 1986-1989 | Bryan Gandevia |