Prominent oral historians Alistair Thomson and Heather Goodall have been honoured with lifetime achievement awards by the Australian Historical Association (AHA).
Past Oral History Australia (OHA) president Alistair Thomson and Professor Heather Goodall were two of three historians to be receive the honour in 2026.
Emeritus Professor Thomson received the award for ‘his critical, sustained, and substantial contributions to the theory and methodology of oral history in Australia and internationally, as well as in the histories of war, migration, gender, and family life, and for his ongoing commitment to exceptional teaching, mentorship, and supervision’.
The AHA also bestowed a posthumous award on oral historian Heather Goodall who died on 29 January 2026, aged 75.
The AHA recognised Professor Goodall for ‘her distinguished and transformative scholarship that reshaped understandings of Indigenous history, environmental change, and intercolonial networks around the Indian Ocean, her contributions to major public inquiries, her generous teaching and mentorship, and her ongoing commitment to activism and community’.
Find out more at: https://theaha.org.au/awards-and-prizes/aha-lifetime-achievement-award/previous-recipients-aha-lifetime-achievement-award/.
