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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.

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...

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...
Hatred and intimidation levelled at Australia’s Jewish community must not be tolerated
Michael StutchburyDecember 15, 2025

The Centre for Independent Studies extends our deep sympathies to all those affected by the...

Alexander Downer: Leadership Between Allies and the Region
Alexander Downer, Michael Stutchbury, Tony ParkinsonDecember 12, 2025
Join us for the book launch of A Step to the Right: The Life and...
New CIS paper:  how antisemitism is becoming mainstream 
Julie ClaridgeDecember 11, 2025CIS

A new CIS paper – the first in its antisemitism campaign – provides valuable insight...

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...
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...

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...
A Case for Helpful Government Intervention | Emma Dawson
Emma Dawson, Robert ForsythFebruary 3, 2026

In this thought-provoking episode of Liberalism in Question, we welcome Emma Dawson, Executive Director of...

Indigenous Expectations are Skewed | Senator Kerrynne Liddle
Kerrynne Liddle, Robert ForsythJanuary 26, 2026

Join us on Liberalism in Question as Senator Kerrynne Liddle shares her insights on why...

Progressive Intolerance. The contemporary antisemitism landscape in Australia
Peter KurtiJanuary 23, 2026

The question this report poses is whether Australia’s progressive institutions are capable of the honest...

“People are just sick of it” | Alexander Downer
Robert Forsyth, Alexander DownerJanuary 19, 2026

In this episode of Liberalism in Question, former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer joins us...

A Short History of Liberalism in the Middle East | Joshua Landis
Robert ForsythJanuary 14, 2026

In this episode of Liberalism in Question, we dive deep into the complex and often...

Trump and the red wave | Dave Rubin
Robert Forsyth, Dave RubinJanuary 6, 2026

From Donald Trump to the lockdowns, Dave Rubin sits down with Robert Forsyth to discuss...

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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