The Conference Conveners, Donna Brett and Mark Ledbury, together with the AAANZ Executive, have reluctantly concluded that the 2021 AAANZ conference will now take place fully online, rather than as an in-person event. The dates (8-10 December 2021) will remain the same.
This shift is due, of course, to Sydney’s current Covid-19 outbreak, and accompanying concerns and restrictions around public gatherings. The news over the past week suggests that these are almost certain to continue in some form until late in the year, creating risk and uncertainty for both us as organisers, and you as attendees.
Moreover, on Friday, the University of Sydney, our conference venue, notified us that it had withdrawn its approval of the event, confirming that an in-person conference would be impossible.
We understand that many will be disappointed by this decision. We’re really disappointed too.
However, the excellent response to calls for panels and papers, the conference team’s commitment of time and resources to the organisation of the conference (which is now well advanced), and the fact that no conference was held last year, means that we are in a strong position to shift online. This will ensure that as many people as possible can participate in the conference, and will provide certainty for you when organising your plans.
Over the coming months, we will work hard to create an online platform that’s accessible and meaningful – and we’re excited to explore the new possibilities that this online format creates.
We will be in touch again soon to let you know more about the format and registration details for the new online format. In the meantime, we hope you are staying safe and well!
The Conference Organisers
Call for Papers Now Closed
Thanks to everyone who applied to give a paper at the conference, and to our Panel Convenors for providing such a terrific range of panels to apply to.
We’ll be liaising with Panel Convenors this week to gather their finalised panel abstracts and speaker lists.
Once we have this information, we’ll be in touch again to let you know if there are other ways to join the conference. Stay tuned!
Image: Tony Albert, You Wreck Me 9, 2020, printed photographs & vintage Captain Cook ephemera on archival paper, 24.5 x 24.5 cm. Image courtesy of the
artist.
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