The Centre’s mission is to encourage a confident democratic ownership of modern science nationally and internationally by increasing science awareness in the community, fostering public dialogue about science, and improving the communication skills of scientists.

The roots of CPAS started to grow in the 1980s, when two ANU academics - physicist Dr Mike Gore (now Professor), the founder of Australia's National Science and Technology Centre, Questacon, and biologist Professor Chris Bryant, then ANU Dean of Science - started up a Graduate Certificate in Science Communication program.