Professor Joseph Lo Bianco is a specialist in language policy studies, the relations between language and social cohesion, bi and multilingualism and contemporary literacy studies. Professor Lo Bianco was the first educator elected as President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and has held senior advisory positions in language education and planning in many parts of the world. Between 2011 and 2018 he directed and implemented a multicounty research and intervention project for UNICEF in Southeast Asia and conducted regular Asia-wide seminars for senior public officials on integration of indigenous and immigrant children into mainstream schools for UNESCO. He is author of Australia’s National Policy on Languages, in 1987, adopted by the Australian government as a comprehensive plan to address the communication needs of the entire society, an approach widely cited today for the rational basis of documenting communication needs and devising responsive policy. He is the author of more than 120 refereed articles and 25 books and major reports.