About

The Society is interested in all aspects of Australian Catholic Church history and encourages research, discussion and documentation on what Catholics (clergy, religious, lay persons and groups) have done over the years in Australia and also issues and events related to Catholic history.

The Society is interested in all aspects of Australian Catholic Church history and encourages research, discussion and documentation on what Catholics (clergy, religious, lay persons and groups) have done over the years in Australia and also issues and events related to Catholic history.

Monthly meetings of the Society have been held since 1940 at which papers representing a wide spectrum of interest have been presented. The ACHS Journal publishes papers presented to the Society, book reviews and other matters of interest. A quarterly Newsletter is also published. Recent digital copies of these documents, the current speakers program, and other materials, are located on the ACHS website. The Society sponsors the ACHS MacGinley Award to encourage serious study of Australian Catholic history.

The Society’s activities and financial position are summarised on the ACNC page. More on the Society’s history can be found in the Wikipedia article on the Society.

The Society receives many requests for assistance on wide range of topics. Where possible and appropriate we do offer some information and advice, but are limited in what we can do as the Society has no paid officers and is not in a position to undertake research tasks or archival searches as sometimes requested.

The Society also receives requests for past copies of Journals and newsletters. The Society no longer keeps copies of these for sale as the Journal is available through many libraries via APAIS/Informit.

The Society is under the patronage of the Archbishop of Sydney and is affiliated with the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Membership of the Society is open to all. To become a member click here.

Fr later Archbishop Eris OBrien one of the society founders
Fr later Archbishop Eris OBrien one of the society founders
Pope Paul VI with Prime Minister John Gorton on first papal visit to Australia 1970
Pope Paul VI with Prime Minister John Gorton on first papal visit to Australia 1970