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Objective: This paper aims to examine the development of personality research within Australia, from the emergence of Australian psychology to the current time. Method: The paper first identifies the central role of personality research in shaping early Australian psychology. The paper then addresses the emerging directions of Australian personality research in the post‐war years up to the end of the 20th Century. The paper then highlights the present contributions of personality research, noting both the world‐leading impact made by Australian researchers and real‐world applications of this field. Results: Australian personality research has a long history of providing important contributions to both Australian and international psychology. Future prospects and challenges related to attracting research funding for Australian research are also identified. Conclusions: Australian personality research was important for the successful emergence of Australian psychology. Present Australian personality researchers are making world‐leading impact and addressing a number of important social issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's comments on the changes undergone by the "Australian Journal of Psychology" in 2009. According to the author, the journal has moved from three issues to four issues per annum, and the first issue will be devoted to special issues. The author says that the special issue for 2010 will include papers by experts in their field based in Australia and other countries. The author says that the journal will include more overseas-based editors.

Histories of psychology traditionally link the discipline's scientific credentials to its Greco-Roman, Judaeo-Christian, western secular rationalist heritages. The grand narrative of the discipline's celebrated late nineteenth century infancy was interwoven with the triumphal march of industrialisation and colonisation. Psychology in Australia continues to be characterised by such discourses — it is difficult to identify a distinctive Australian psychology that reflects either the multicultural nature of post World War II Australian society or the ancient and living culture of its Indigenous people. This paper examines the role of community psychologists both as critical gadflies from the margins and as drivers of APS social policy development in the mainstream. At the start of the 21 st Century, new paradigms are opening up spaces for minority voices to claim legitimacy in an old/young discipline in an old/young land that still looks super-white. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]