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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.

School Funding for All: Making Sense of the Debate over Dollars
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 12, 2000IA17

Public debate over school funding is characterised by misinformation and misunderstanding. Any sort of agreement...

Code of Silence: Public Reporting of School Performance
Alison RichOctober 4, 2000IA16

Australians are being left in the dark when it comes to public school performance. The...

Playing with Fire: Churches, Welfare Services and Government Contracts
Samuel GreggAugust 14, 2000IA14

Striking a balance between state funding and religious autonomy is the latest challenge for church-based...

The Truth about Private Schools in Australia
Jennifer Buckingham OAMAugust 1, 2000IA13

Private schools in Australia consistently outperform public schools not due to better financial resources or...

Degrees of Difficulty: The Labour Market Problems of Arts and Social Science Graduates
Andrew NortonJuly 19, 2000IA12

That the Australian higher education system is comprehensively rigged against students is evident from the...

Why Learning is a Hard Haul Without a Dad
Alison RichJuly 15, 2000The Age

Research over the last few years has shown that, on average, children from sole parent...

Drawing the Line: Moral Conflict and the Fragility of Liberal Tolerance
Peter KurtiOctober 9, 2025AP90
Liberal democracies face an unprecedented challenge: how to govern societies where citizens no longer disagree...
The rule of law, excessive regulation and free speech
Paul TaylorSeptember 11, 2025AP88

Foreword In the day that the 2024 parliamentary session concluded, more than 30 bills were...

The ties that bind. Reconciling value pluralism and national identity
Peter KurtiJune 12, 2025AP81

Executive summary Australia’s multicultural democracy is under increasing pressure, not only from economic uncertainty but...

The Darkest Path: The Puzzling Resilience of Antisemitism. Acton Lecture 2025
Rabbi Benjamin EltonMarch 19, 2025OP206

Foreword The annual Acton Lecture, presented by the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at...

Fractured Loyalties. Australian citizenship and the crisis of civic virtue
Peter KurtiMarch 6, 2025AP79

Can citizenship survive the end of tolerance? One of the principal tenets of a secular...

Interest, Usury and the Common Good
Ian Harper, Peter KurtiFebruary 20, 2025OP205

Introduction: Is there a problem with interest? Making money out of lending money has generated...

Religious tests a red line we shouldn’t cross
Peter KurtiJanuary 29, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH
Morrison deserves credit for insisting accusations of Islamophobia must not shut down necessary debate. But...
It’s judgment day: time for unis to kick politics off campus
Steven SchwartzJanuary 29, 2026THE AUSTRALIAN
The problem is not academic freedom itself. The problem is that universities have forgotten what...
Fear after Bondi is putting free speech on trial
Peter KurtiJanuary 14, 2026AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Instead of rushing to add new laws to an already swollen statute book, we should...
The royal commission into the Bondi attack should probe the uncomfortable question
Peter Kurti, Michael StutchburyJanuary 10, 2026CANBERRA TIMES
What should Australia have done over the past two years to prevent this moment —...
It is time for good people to act 
Julie ClaridgeDecember 24, 2025ONLINE OPINION
What we saw that Sunday at Bondi not only highlighted the immediate and palpable threats...
Australia’s complacency and the Bondi beach shooting
Peter KurtiDecember 15, 2025WALL STREET JOURNAL
Whether Australia responds to the murders at Bondi with clarity or caution will reveal not...
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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