Corporate Body
Institute of Australian Geographers (1959 - )
- From
- 1959
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia - Functions
- Geography, Learned society and Professional Association
- Website
- http://www.iag.org.au
- Location
- Adelaide, South Australia
Summary
The Institute of Australian Geographers was founded in 1959 after an initial meeting in August 1958 at which there was general agreement that a national geography society was needed (instead of only the few state-based organisations). A specialist society, it was seen as replacing the relevant Section of Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science as had happened in other disciplines. Affiliation with the International Geographical Union was a further incentive. The Institute is a professional organisation, members of which may be academics, teachers, geographers from both the public and private spheres, and other interested members of the public. Its aims include to: advocate for the study and practice of geography; advance Australian geography internationally; represent the interests of professional geographers; publish a research journal; and hold meetings and other events to disseminate geographical studies and research. The Institute publishes Geographical research, a refereed journal that promotes innovative and methodologically rigorous work demonstrating the strength and diversity of all parts of geography.
Details
Journals published by the Institute include:
Australian geographical record no. 1-5 (1959 - 1963; superceded by:
Australian geographical studies (ISSN 0004-9190) vol. 1-42 (1963 - 2004); continued by:
Geographical research (ISSN 1745-5863) vol. 43 (2005) -
Awards presented by the Institute include:
Griffith Taylor Medal - for distinguished contributions to geographical thought in Australia (from 1989):
Honorary Life Membership - for distinguished service to the Institute (from 1960):
Distinguished Fellowship - for distinguished service to Australian geography through furthering the aims of the Institute (named Fellowship 1989 - 2002; Distinguished Fellowship from 2008):
Fellowship - for sustained and significant contributions to the discipline made by practitioner and professional geographers (from 2008)
Australia-International Medal - for outstanding contributions by Australian or Australia-based geographers to the advancement of geography worldwide, or the geography of Australia by non-residents (from 1999):
The William Jonas Award - for significant contributions made to Indigenous geographies, and/or by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander geographers (from 2020).
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Harvey, Nick, 'The Importance of Adelaide in the Genesis of Academic Geography in Australia', South Australian Geological Journal, 102 (2004), 1-13. Details
Resources
- GT [Griffith Taylor] Medal, Institute of Australian Geographers, 2025. https://www.iag.org.au/gt-medal. Details
- Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-579282. Details
See also
Ailie Smith and Helen Cohn
Created: 17 January 2003, Last modified: 4 March 2025