The Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia was established in 1885 as the Anthropological Society of Australasia by the Australian physician Alan Carroll. The prefix 'Royal' was added in 1901.^[1] The society published the journal Science of Man.

According to a 2003 article published by the National Library of Australia, the society is "nowadays seen as forming part of the ‘lunatic fringe’."[1]^{[clarification needed]}