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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.

Reframing an Ancient Hatred: the intersection of left-wing antisemitism and anti-Zionism
Julie ClaridgeDecember 11, 2025AP97
Anti-Zionism has evolved to create a further mutation of antisemitism, cloaking bias and discrimination in...
The future does not belong to the axis of autocracy: Andrew Neil on a World in Disorder!
Andrew Neil, Michael StutchburyDecember 1, 2025

Veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil joins CIS Executive Director Michael Stutchbury for a conversation about 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...

Rebuilding the Open Society | Roger Partridge
Robert ForsythNovember 19, 2025

In this episode of Liberalism in Question, we dive into Roger Partridge’s provocative Quillette essay,...

Dave Rubin and Andrew Neil debate Trump, Free Speech, Conservatism & Net Zero!
Dave Rubin, Andrew Neil, Michael StutchburyNovember 13, 2025

Broadcaster Andrew Neil and commentator Dave Rubin ‪@RubinReport‬ join Michael Stutchbury for a wide-ranging conversation...

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...

The Ethics of Economic Freedom
Herbert GierschMarch 3, 1989OP24

An economic order is always based on a certian set of moral principles. This applies...

Endangered Freedom
Thomas SowellNovember 1, 1988OP22

In the fifth John Bonython Lecture, Thomas Sowell argues that public life in Western countries...

The Long Debate on Poverty
R.M. HartwellMay 10, 1988OP21

The Centre for Independent Studies Occasional Papers series provides an opportunity for authors to present...

Social Welfare: The Changing Debate
David GreenMay 5, 1988OP20

The Centre for Independent Studies Social Welfare Program has commissioned studies by qualified economists and...

The Enemies of Progress
Ralph HarrisJuly 4, 1986OP16

Why is it that politicians of all parties still shrink from giving enterprise, competition and...

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...

Poverty lines tangled: An influential report claiming that one in eight Australians lives in poverty is wrong
Kayoko TsumoriJanuary 17, 2002The Age

Our paper, Poor Arguments: A Response to the Smith Family Report on Poverty in Australia...

For richer or poorer, we’re still a lucky country: Don’t exaggerate the extent of poverty in Australia
Peter SaundersJanuary 16, 2002The Australian

The Australian economy experienced remarkable growth during most of the 1990s.  Yet social researchers are...

A generation drowns in boos: Repairing society’s attitude to rearing children would be revolutionary
Frank DevineDecember 13, 2001The Australian

Peter Saunders, Professor of sociology at the University of Sussex, said something dreadful at a...

The great drink-driving scandal: Police road blitzes are wasteful and an affront to our liberties
Peter SaundersDecember 13, 2001The Age

Over the last Labour Day weekend in NSW, 106,396 people were apprehended by the police...

Children pay the price of gender feminism war
Barry MaleyDecember 12, 2001The Sydney Morning Herald

For some radical feminists, males are patriarchal oppressors and the family is their torture chamber....

The damage done by the decline of marriage
Barry MaleyDecember 8, 2001The Age

In the past generation, Australian family life and marriage have undergone a revolution that has...

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...

Reflecting Back: John Howard and Alexander Downer on Power, Alliances and Australia
John Howard OM AC, Alexander DownerFebruary 6, 2026

Alexander Downer and former Prime Minister John Howard join author Tony Parkinson and CIS Executive...

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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