Sociology in Australia was battered and bruised by the injuries it sustained in the first half of the twentieth century. Most of these were self-inflicted. Through arrogance and overreach its early advocates ruined its chances, such that by the 1930s sociology had been rejected as a distinctive discipline by the only two universities which were prepared to give it a chance, Melbourne and Sydney. But since 1950 the discipline has fought its way back into the academic mainstream and now has a place in most of the nation's universities. This has not been easy; its fortunes seem forever mixed. It has never flourished in all states and territories at the same time and even while it is now on the rise in places like the University of Sydney it is relatively weak at some of its former strongholds in the second tier universities. Despite these mixed fortunes, the discipline has proved itself a survivor.