On Friday 1 May this year, members of the ADB Editorial Board had a constructive meeting with the Interim Vice-Chancellor of ANU, Professor Rebekah Brown. The previous Vice-Chancellor, Professor Genevieve Bell, had declined requests for a meeting throughout 2025, so we were pleased that Professor Brown agreed to meet our delegation.  

Our aims were simple. First, to seek renewed recognition from the ANU Chancelry (following last year’s crisis) that the ADB is a significant asset to the university and no ordinary academic department, as it is funded by the National Institutes Grant to be national and distinct. The ADB, we suggested, is the best answer to the question about what ANU is doing with the National Institutes Grant. Secondly, we sought reassurance that the July 2025 status quo funding will be restored and maintained, i.e. the position of Managing Editor (vacated in July 2025) will be advertised and other current staffing maintained. These initiatives, we argued, would give the vast ADB community the confidence to continue to invest in ANU, build Endowment, and maintain research excellence. Finally, we asked that the annual $10,000 travel budget to support Editorial Board meetings be restored (it has existed for seven decades and was removed last year). 

Professor Rebekah Brown welcomed us warmly, listened carefully and sympathetically, and gave us more time than was scheduled. We found it a very encouraging discussion and appreciated that the IVC expressed strong personal support for the ADB and understood its national stature.  

Professor Brown suggested that she could provide a statement of support for the ADB to help allay concerns across our national community of volunteer experts. She has since done so – and her words are reproduced below.  

Secondly, the IVC indicated a willingness to ultimately address the budgetary issues we outlined at the meeting. However, given the University’s current review of long-term budgetary processes, she explained that she was not yet in a position to make commitments regarding future funding or staffing beyond existing arrangements at this time. We replied that the Board is committed to working with the IVC to ensure that the ADB budgetary situation eventually aligns with the public comments of the university regarding withdrawal of the 2025 proposed cuts.

Finally, Professor Brown said that she is happy to support our request for modest additional funding of $10,000 to enable Board members from across Australia to attend annual Board meetings at ANU. In the words of the IVC, this recognises ‘the importance of maintaining the collaborative national network that underpins the ADB’s success.’ 

I would like to thank Professor Brown for our discussion, Kate Fullagar, Rae Frances and Melanie Nolan for joining me in the meeting, Stephen Garton for advising us in preparation, and all members of the Editorial Board for endorsing our direct approach to the Interim Vice-Chancellor. We believe that a promising communication channel has been re-established following the ruptures of 2025, and look forward to further clarification of future ADB funding.

Tom Griffiths AO FAHA, Emeritus Professor of History, ANU

Chair, Editorial Board, Australian Dictionary of Biography