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• Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society

This program defends and promotes the traditional values and principles of a free and liberal democratic society and open economy in Australia.

In a related area of research we investigate the place of religion in society.

Why the Next Wave of Feminism is Conservative
Louise Perry, Claire Lehmann, Tom SwitzerJanuary 17, 2025
Join us in Melbourne on March 11 for a discussion on feminism’s future with Louise...
Cancer warning labels on wine? Put a cork in it
Steven SchwartzJanuary 14, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN

The US Surgeon General’s proposal to slap cancer warnings on wine bottles is the latest...

Voice to parliament
Citizenship based on rights won’t restore nation’s civil society
Peter KurtiJanuary 2, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN

As the new year opens, discussion heats up about contenders for Australian of the Year....

State-sanctioned ‘truth’ is still a danger under the Greens and teals
Tom Switzer, Emilie DyeDecember 30, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

Australia dodged a bullet this year when the federal government withdrew its contentious legislation to...

Warning Australia: wrong way, go back
Peter KurtiDecember 27, 2024DAILY TELEGRAPH

As we approach year’s end, there is growing fear that Australia is foundering. Cost of...

The Darkest Path: The Puzzling Resilience of Antisemitism
Doctor Benjamin Elton , Peter KurtiDecember 19, 2024
Join Rabbi Benjamin Elton and Peter Kurti on 19 March in Sydney for an event...
Policies and Prescriptions: Current Directions in Health Policy
Cotton M. Lindsay, Michael A. Walker, John Logan, John Goodman, Andrew Doman, J. RichardsonMay 1, 1986PF4

As Professor Cotton Lindsay reminds us in his first contribution to this volume, health economics...

Ideas about Freedom
Kenneth MinogueApril 6, 1986OP15

Ideas about Freedom: A Discussion delves into the mysterious regions of liberal and conservative philosophy....

Affirmative Action: The New Discrimination
Gabrielle MoensDecember 18, 1985PM8

Gabriel Moens finds that the philosophical and practical ramifications of such 'affirmative action' may be...

The Anti-Capitalist Mentality: Post Mortem for an Ideology
R.M. HartwellAugust 15, 1985OP14

In the 2nd John Bonython Lecture Professor Hartwell traces the history of the anti-capitalist mentality...

Hayek’s ‘Serfdom’ Revisited
Norman BarryJune 1, 1985R7

Champions of a cause have always been easy victims of the authoritarian tendency to worship...

Chaining Australia: Church Bureaucracies and Political Economy
Geoffrey BrennanAugust 1, 1984R6

If we lived in a perfect world, church bodies would not have gotten together to...

CIS Nanny State Awards for 2025
Peter KurtiDecember 11, 2025SPECTATOR FLAT WHITE
Each year, CIS gathers the most ridiculous examples of intrusioninto our lives, to find the...
Hanson’s burqa antics dodges hard questions on multiculturalism
Peter KurtiNovember 27, 2025AFR

Eight years after her first burqa stunt, Pauline Hanson pulled it out of the wardrobe...

Tolerance ends where darkest hatred begins
Peter KurtiNovember 12, 2025DAILY TELEGRAPH

Tolerance is often treated as an unqualified virtue. But even virtues have limits. When men...

Sir Frank Lowy reflects on anti-semitism
Michael StutchburyOctober 14, 2025

Last weekend I was honoured to catch up again with Frank Lowy, surely Australia’s most...

Prison
Don’t let death become an easy way out for criminals
Peter KurtiSeptember 3, 2025DAILY TELEGRAPH
Hume’s death raises serious questions. Not just about his rights, but about ours. About the...
Bob Carr’s genocide claims are dangerous for social cohesion
Peter KurtiJuly 29, 2025AFR

Labor’s Friends of Israel group has made this point forcefully. They call for principled criticism,...

Antisemitism Is Not a Jewish Problem, It’s an Australian Problem | Frydenberg, Finlay & Sackville
Peter Kurti, Michael Stutchbury, Josh Frydenberg, Lorraine Finlay, Ronald Sackville AO KCApril 10, 2026

Michael Stutchbury, Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Studies, opens this panel discussion with...

Australia’s Hate Speech Failure | Dimitri Burshtein
Dimitri BurshteinMarch 31, 2026

The tragic events at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025 expose a deepening crisis in...

Angus Taylor at CIS: Economic Reform, Immigration, and Australia’s Cost of Living Crisis
Angus Taylor, Michael StutchburyFebruary 19, 2026

Speaking at his first address outside Canberra since being elected Leader of the Opposition by...

Education Reform in Australia | Jennifer Buckingham
Robert Forsyth, Jennifer Buckingham OAMFebruary 17, 2026

Join us on Liberalism in Question for an enlightening discussion with Dr. Jennifer Buckingham, former...

Australia’s Liberal Odyssey: Tracing Freedom’s Path
Robert Forsyth, Greg MelleuishFebruary 10, 2026

In this thought-provoking episode of Liberalism in Question, we delve into the rich tapestry of...

Our Civic Compact is Shattered
Peter KurtiFebruary 10, 2026

Explosive 316% Jump in Antisemitic Attacks: Could This Be the End of Australia’s Harmony? Dive...

Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM)
Peter KurtiSeptember 25, 2025

Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) Review of the definition of a...

Submission to the Senate Inquiry on Information Integrity
Michael StutchburySeptember 12, 2025

On behalf of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), we are pleased to provide the...

Submission to the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into Personal Choice and Community Impacts 2015
August 11, 2015

The CIS submission into the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry proposed two tightly targeted areas...

Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the value of a justice reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia
Sara HudsonNovember 17, 2013

To address the underlying causes of Indigenous offending, we need to focus on education and...

Submission to Native Title Leading Practice Agreements Discussion Paper 2010
Helen Hughes, Mark Hughes, Sara HudsonNovember 30, 2010

The Native Title process is only one of the processes returning land to traditional owners....

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