Italian programmes can now be taken in fteen of Australia's thirty-nine universities-a contraction from their offer in twenty-six universities in 1990. In order to promote collaboration among Italianists and Italian scholars in both Australia and New Zealand, the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies (ACIS) was established in 2000, under a management representing seven universities. ACIS’ work includes the organization of conferences (the next to be held at the University of Western Australia in July 2003), sponsorship of collaborative research projects and the award of annual scholarships for Honours and postgraduate students to work in Italy.