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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.

Back the plan and save Australia from hatred
Peter KurtiJuly 14, 2025DAILY TELEGRAPH
Our Jewish neighbours, colleagues and friends are facing harassment, threats and exclusion in ways this...
The Journalist, the Jew and an Argument About Identity | Tim Franks
Tom SwitzerJuly 9, 2025

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, Israel’s war in Gaza and escalating regional tensions...

Lattouf judgment evidence of an ABC that has badly lost its way
Tom SwitzerJune 26, 2025DAILY TELEGRAPH

The Federal Court’s judgment in favour of journalist Antoinette Lattouf represents not just humiliation for...

The Freedom Trap: The Chains of Choice | Priyan Max Jeganathan
Robert ForsythJune 25, 2025

“Freedom or death!” The rallying cry of revolutions, constitutions, and rights movements shaped the modern...

Grounded Liberty: Liberalism’s Moral Roots | Michael Bird
Robert ForsythJune 18, 2025

Robert Forsyth interviews Dr. Michael Bird, who reflects on the relationship between liberalism and Christianity....

The science of learning will set students free | Glenn Fahey
Robert Forsyth, Glenn FaheyJune 13, 2025

Robert Forsyth interviews Glenn Fahey, director of the education program at the Centre for Independent...

Humankind and the infinite resource base
Marian L. TupyApril 2, 2026OP212

This paper examines the human ability to expand our resource base into infinity. Given human...

The Legislative Fantasy. Hate Speech, Culture, and Institutional Failure
Dimitri BurshteinMarch 26, 2026AP103

Foreword The Bondi Beach attack of 14 December 2025 forced a reckoning that many Australians...

Overcoming Enmity and Restoring Tolerance. Antisemitism’s challenge for the civic compact
Damien FreemanFebruary 5, 2026AP99

Foreword When the Book of Genesis speaks of enmity between the serpent and the descendants...

Progressive Intolerance. The contemporary antisemitism landscape in Australia
Philip MendesJanuary 22, 2026AP98
The evidence is comprehensive and damning. From universities to trade unions, from civil society organisations...
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...
Political legitimacy, harm protections and our freedoms
Paul TaylorNovember 10, 2025OP211
This article considers different concepts of ‘legitimacy’ and their contribution to understanding the difference between...
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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