Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine

Welcome

The aim of the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine is to promote the academic study of the history of health sciences within the Australian, New Zealand and the wider Pacific region. The Society was founded in 1986 and is incorporated in Victoria. Membership of the society is open to anyone with an interest in the history of health and illness.

 

The Society's biannual journal, Health & History, is a peer reviewed publication of original papers and research. There is also a quarterly newsletter and a major conference is held at exciting venues every two years. The most recent conference was held in Adelaide, Australia, in July 2023. The 2025 conference will be held in Sydney.

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The Society also awards a biennial prize for the best book written on the history of health and medicine in Australia, New Zealand and the wider Oceania region.

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Branches of the ANZSHM and the Society's members have been active in responding to the COVID-19 crisis, particularly in placing it in historical context. A selection of these events, papers, videos and programs can be found here.

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About the Society

The ANZSHM is a learned Society whose terms of reference include the sharing of all aspects of the history of health – including the professions of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacology – and health themes within history itself. ANZSHM members are both amateur and professional historians, clinicians with an interest in the history of their disciplines and those with a general interest in health practice through the centuries. There is an emphasis on medicine and health in the Australian, New Zealand and Pacific region, but many members have major interests in European, Oriental, Middle Eastern and Classical Medicine as well. A brief organisational history of the ANZSHM can be found here.

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