The Heron Island Conferences were inaugurated in 1991 and have grown to become highly regarded international events with participants from over 20 countries. The conferences are now part of the ISRIUM series (international Symposia on Reactive Intermediates and Unusual Molecules), which itself started with the Euchem Conference on Electron-Deficient Reactive Intermediates in Geneva in 1978. This, together with the 1987 carbene workshop in Fefor, Norway, were the inspirations for the Heron Island Conferences.

The conferences are not-for-profit, self-funding events, but limited sponsorship by inter alia The University of Queensland, The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (Organic Division), Chemistrry Europe, and Thieme Verlag is gratefully acknowledged.