Our History

Evidence-based Interdisciplinary Advice

The Australian Council of Learned Academies (ABN 18 625 939 540) is an independent organisation that supports evidence-based interdisciplinary research.

ACOLA is the forum whereby Australia’s independent Learned Academies – Australian Academy of the Humanities, Australian Academy of Science, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering – and our Associate member, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, come together to contribute expert advice to inform national policy; and to develop innovative solutions to complex global problems and emerging national needs.

The four founding member academies of ACOLA established the unincorporated association National Academies Forum in 1995. The Forum produced reports, contributed at symposia and workshops, and provided policy reviews.  Prior to this, the Learned Academies came together through an organisation originally established in the 1970’s, the Consultative Committee of the Australian Academies (CCAA).

In 2010, the organisation had a name change to Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA Council), and established a Secretariat (ACOLA Secretariat Ltd) to support its operations.

In 2017, ACOLA Council embarked on a significant governance review, this has led to the establishment in May 2018 of the current entity: Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).  ACOLA is an established Australian Research Institute as approved by the Australian Department of Education and Training; is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission; and holds Deductible Gift Recipient status with the Australian Taxation Office.

More than 3,000 of the nation’s most eminent scientists, researchers, scholars and practitioners contribute to this rich source of expert knowledge.