Become a Member Donate Now

• 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 I Am Not a Conservative
F.A. HayekNovember 2, 1992OP41

Liberals who uphold the idea of a free society in which both economic and civil...

From Welfare State to Welfare Society
Michael JamesJuly 1, 1992OP38

The legitimacy of the welfare state has survived the shift in recent years towards smaller...

Freedom, Tradition, Conservatism
Frank MyerJune 1, 1992OP39

The demise of socialist dogma has brought to the fore some underlying tensions between its...

Equalising People: Why Social Justice Threatens Liberty
David GreenDecember 1, 1991OP37

Socialists of all parties have learned to live with markets because they want the prosperity...

Dismantling Socialism: A Preliminary Report
Vaclav KlausAugust 5, 1991OP35

In the eighth John Bonython Lecture, Václav Klaus, Finance Minister of Czechoslovakia, gives an account...

The Fraternal Conceit: Individualist versus Collectivist Ideas of Community
Chandran KukathasMay 6, 1991OP33

Socialists frequently argue that liberals in emphasising the autonomy of the individual neglect the values...

Radical Conservatism: 
Tradition as a guide for managing change
Damien FreemanJuly 13, 2022OP188
This paper revisits conservative philosopher, Edmund Burke, to distil a “cast of mind” — a...
Raging against the past: Guilt, justice, and the postcolonial reformation
Peter KurtiApril 7, 2022AP35

Postcolonial Theory wages relentless campaigns of reformation against Enlightenment conceptions of reason, tolerance, and liberty....

The Threat of Identity Politics
Simon HefferSeptember 1, 2021OP184

Global outrage over the killing of George Floyd by a white policeman in America last...

AP25
Attitudes to a post-Covid Australia
Robert Carling, Simon CowanAugust 26, 2021AP25
This report explores what sort of post-Covid future Australians expect, based on YouGov polling conducted...
The Psychology of Populism: Tribal Challenges to Liberal Democracy
Joseph P. ForgasAugust 19, 2021OP183

The resurgence of both left-wing and right-wing populism presents a serious challenge for liberal democracies....

90 Days to Freedom? Why Australia can learn from Canada’s vaccination success
Robert CarlingAugust 18, 2021PP43
Predictions have been made by the Doherty Institute and others that Australia will achieve full...
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...
The Tradition of Liberty | Senator James Paterson
Robert Forsyth, James PatersonDecember 23, 2025

Senator James Paterson joins Liberalism in Question to discuss the core principles of classical liberalism...

The Tension Between Classical Liberalism and Conservatism | Gray Connolly
December 17, 2025

From surrogacy to free speech, Rob Forsyth and Gray Connolly discuss the differences between classical...

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...

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...

Under-16 Social Media Ban: Protecting Youth or Controlling Speech?
Peter KurtiOctober 17, 2025

Peter Kurti from the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) exposes the hidden threats behind Australia’s...

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....

No Podcasts Available

• Subscribe

Subscribe now and stay in the loop with our giving appeals, event alerts, newsletters and research updates.

We are always pleased to hear from you. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us here:

+61 2 9438 4377
CIS Office
cis@cis.org.au
CIS Media
kpincott@cis.org.au