Welcome to the Open Access Australasia website

About Us

Our goal is to make Australasian research outputs open for all.

The group was founded in 2013 as the Australian Open Access Support Group, AOASG. In 2015, with the addition of members from New Zealand and a change of focus, it became the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group.

In 2021, we became Open Access Australasia.

We support all models of open access, and in particular we endorse the principles of the  F.A.I.R. Access Policy Statement  for research outputs to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, ensuring they can be part of the global research ecosystem. 

We are committed to advocating for and raising awareness of open access in Australia and New Zealand through collaboration regionally and internationally and building capacity and expertise within this region.

This website aims to be an authoritative source of information on all aspects of open access in Australia and New Zealand.

Our major focus is on open access to research publications – preprints, peer reviewed scholarly manuscripts, books, monographs and theses. We also contribute to initiatives in open research practices, data, software, open educational resources, reform of research assessment and copyright and open licenses.

The Patron of Open Access Australasia is Emeritus Professor Tom Cochrane, Faculty of Law at QUT.

 

Open Access Australasia Strategy 2021-2022

Principles

2020 was a tumultuous year globally and one that reinforced the key role of open access to academic research to combat global threats, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In late March 2021, Open Access Australasia (then known as AOASG) members met to review last year’s work and to provide input on priorities for 2021-2022.

The principles that underpin the work of Open Access Australasia are:

  • Equity in scholarly communications, to both access and publish research
  • Support for a diverse ecosystem of open access approaches
  • Support for integrity and quality in research
  • Maximisation of the impact of research
  • Appropriate and respectful use of Indigenous knowledges
  • Retention of rights by authors or their institutions

Our strategic priorities for 2021-2022

  • Advise on national, regional and international strategies for open research
  • Establish Open Access Australasia as the authoritative regional resource for open access 
  • Support thriving communities of practice for open access in Australasia

Related initiatives

Though our work for 2021-2022 will continue to focus primarily on open access, we are mindful of the need to ensure that it aligns with work regionally and globally on open research initiatives more widely. We will continue to monitor developments across the entire research lifecycle and will participate as appropriate.  

Rationale and activities associated with strategic priorities

Advise on national, regional and international strategies for open research

Rationale

Work by CAUL and Open Access Australasia in 2020 cemented the interest and opportunity for a national approach in Australia. International work also coalesced around support for open research more generally as evidenced by UNESCO and APEC work.

Specific Activities
  • Liaison with CAUL to support work of Australia’s Chief Scientist
  • Support for UNESCO consultation
  • Discussion of relevant policies and initiative with national funders and peak bodies 
  • Provide support to CONZUL as requested to support open access in New Zealand

Establish Open Access Australasia as the authoritative regional resource for open access 

Rationale

Research on the use of our website in 2020 showed that there was large use of specific, regional content especially directories of unique Australasian content and resources tailored to this region.

Specific Activities
  • Complete the project to renew the website and transfer relevant content across
  • Develop new resources, especially aimed at providing rapid, accurate updates
  • Develop online courses and other resources on open access

Support thriving communities of practice for open access in Australasia

Rationale

As open access uptake increases across the region, there is an associated increase in the need for a healthy community of practice to support practitioners. We have  long-standing experience in coordinating communities of practice for New Zealand and Australia through monthly online meetings. 

Specific Activities
  • Provide opportunity for  our Australian group to  support particular aspects of open access
  • Continue our webinar series to promote awareness of the diversity of open access approaches
  • Engage with our membership through practitioner working groups

Download Open Access Australasia Strategy 2021-22

 

 

ON THIS PAGE:

Executive Commitee Terms of Reference

Meet Members

The Open Access Australasia membership is made up of 31 universities across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, Creative Commons Australian chapter, Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons, ALIA, Australian Digital Alliance, Wikimedia Australia, Australian Citizen Science Association and National and State Libraries Australasia.
Queensland University of Technology University of Sunshine Coast James Cook University Griffith University University of Southern Queensland Charles Sturt University University of New England Southern Cross University University of Newcastle University of New South Wales Macquarie University Victoria University The University of Melbourne La Trobe University Flinders University Curtin University The University of Western Australia University of Notre Dame Australia Charles Darwin University Council of New Zealand University Librarians Edith Cowan University University of Technology Sydney Deakin University Bond University ALIA Creative Commons Australian chapter Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons Australian Digital Alliance Wikimedia Australia Australian Citizen Science Association National and State Libraries Australasia
Queensland University of Technology
University of Sunshine Coast
James Cook University
Griffith University
University of Southern Queensland
Charles Sturt University
University of New England
Southern Cross University
University of Newcastle
University of New South Wales
Macquarie University
Victoria University
The University of Melbourne
La Trobe University
Flinders University
Curtin University
The University of Western Australia
University of Notre Dame Australia
Charles Darwin University
Council of New Zealand University Librarians
Edith Cowan University
University of Technology Sydney
Deakin University
Bond University
ALIA
Creative Commons Australian chapter
Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons
Australian Digital Alliance
Wikimedia Australia
Australian Citizen Science Association
National and State Libraries Australasia
Queensland University of Technology
University of Sunshine Coast
James Cook University
Griffith University
University of Southern Queensland
Charles Sturt University
University of New England
Southern Cross University
University of Newcastle
University of New South Wales
Macquarie University
Victoria University
The University of Melbourne
La Trobe University
Flinders University
Curtin University
The University of Western Australia
University of Notre Dame Australia
Charles Darwin University
Council of New Zealand University Librarians
Edith Cowan University
University of Technology Sydney
Deakin University
Bond University
ALIA
Creative Commons Australian chapter
Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons
Australian Digital Alliance
Wikimedia Australia
Australian Citizen Science Association
National and State Libraries Australasia

Meet Open Access Australasia Executive Committee and Staff

The Open Access Australasia Executive Committee (2022-2024) are:
Kim Tairi, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau (Chair)

Ko Maungatautari te maunga; Ko Waikato te awa; Ko Waikato te iwi; Ko Kim Tairi tōku ingoa. He Kaitoha Puku ahau ki Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau e mahi ana.

Kim Tairi is an indigenous, intersectional feminist and librarian. Her career spans more than 25 years in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The Kaitoha Puka (University Librarian) at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau (AUT) she is Aotearoa’s first Māori University Librarian and proud to be a wahine Māori in higher education senior leadership. AUT is a values-based institution and Kim is pleased to work for a University that aims to enhance the mana of others.  Her commitment to the work of OAA steams from a deep-seated belief that bibliodiversity and open research benefits not only the research community but society more widely.

Dimity Flanagan, University of Melbourne (Deputy Chair)

Dimity Flanagan is the Manager, Scholarly Communications at the University of Melbourne where she is responsible for Open Scholarship and research outputs management. In this role, Dimity leads on training and advocacy of Open Research practices, drives service improvements and technical enhancements in the University’s repository ecosystem, and supports the University in its response to emerging opportunities in scholarly publishing.

This work builds on her significant experience working on Open Access in the UK where she was the Scholarly Communications Lead at the British Library and the Repository Manager at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Latrobe University
David Groenewegen

David Groenewegen is the University Librarian at Latrobe University.

Michelle Blake, University of Waikato

Michelle Blake is the University Librarian at the University of Waikato. She recently returned to NZ after 15 years in the UK where her most recent role was Director of Library & Archives (Interim) at the University of York. She has also held management positions at LSE.

Michelle is passionate about the value and impact of libraries and their transformative power for public good and works to challenge traditional notions of what a library is.

She is a champion of UX (user experience) methodologies to engage with communities to place them at the heart of what we do. She is skilled in harnessing digital technologies to enhance innovation and instill an ethos of continuous improvement.

Having just returned from the UK she is excited to utilise her knowledge and experience to address the challenges and opportunities within the Australasian research OA landscape.

Fiona Bradley, UNSW Sydney

Fiona has worked at the institutional, national, and global levels to advance open access and access to information. She currently leads scholarly communications and repositories, digital and physical infrastructure, and corporate services at UNSW Sydney and has previously held roles with national and international organisations representing libraries and their users.

Her experience includes open infrastructure, policy reform, the UN SDGs, capacity building, and equitable access. Fiona’s other appointments include the Trove Strategic Advisory Committee, co-lead of the IFLA Open Access working party, IFLA Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression committee (IFLA FAIFE), and Chair of the SCOSS Advisory Committee. Her presentations and papers are available via ORCID.

Clare Thorpe, Southern Cross University (interim Deputy Chair)

Clare Thorpe is an award-winning library leader, evidence-based research-practitioner, and board director. She has worked in academic and state libraries since 2001. Clare is the Director, Library Services at Southern Cross University where she is providing strategic direction, innovation and leadership by enacting transformative cultural change.

She is passionate about building the evidence-base of library and information science through scholarly and informal communication channels. Clare is committed to empowering a culture of openness in education and research to enable equitable and perpetual access to knowledge for our communities.

Ginny Barbour, Director

Dr Virginia (Ginny) Barbour is Director of Open Access Australasia and is Co-Lead, Office for Scholarly Communications, Queensland University of Technology (QUT). In 2004, she was one of the three founding editors of PLOS Medicine. She was Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics from 2012-2017. She has been involved over the years with many Open Access, publishing, and ethics initiatives including the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) the Cochrane Library Oversight Committee, and as a Plan S Ambassador. She writes for the Conversation. She is on the NHMRC’s Research Quality Steering Committee.

Her ORCID profile is here http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2358-2440

Sandra Fry, Project Officer

Sandra works one day per week for Open Access Australasia and is mostly responsible for compiling the newsletter, logistics for webinars and maintaining our website.   Four days a week she is a Librarian at QUT working directly with academic staff and higher degree research students and provides advice & assistance on scholarly publishing, referencing systems, publication metrics, demonstrating research impact, locating and managing information and research data.  She’s also involved in the ongoing development of the QUT Library collection of databases, books and resources. She is a former sessional academic in broadcast journalism at QUT, and was previously a journalist for the ABC.

Terms of reference

  1. Advocacy
  • To advocate for open access outcomes from publicly funded research
  • To provide leadership through providing information to government funding bodies, researchers and policy makers
  1. Collaboration
  • To collaborate and develop relationships with organisations of researchers and scholarly communications (for example the Australia Digital Alliance http://digital.org.au, Council of Australian University Librarians https://www.caul.edu.au/) to support open access
  • To maximise the collective knowledge of Open Access Australasia (previously AOASG) membership by collaborating with each other to support open access objectives
  1. Raising awareness
  • To provide a voice within the region on open access and to contribute to international discussions around the world
  • To ensure that the research community and the community more broadly has access to accurate information on open access, actively identifying and addressing misinformation.
  • To remain abreast of, and engage in, current debates including providing arguments for open access
  • To identify potential issues for the future including their complexities and possible impacts
  1. Lead and build capacity
  • To remain nimble and flexible and evolve to ensure the organisation is sustainable.
  • To develop capabilities in Australian and New Zealand research organisations to advance open access.

UNSW Library, Sydney provides administrative support for Open Access Australasia. The staff are physically based at QUT in Brisbane.

Newsletter Sign Up

Sign up

Get Involved

Find out more

Social Media