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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.

Tax system that’s stifling the family
Michael DuffyAugust 25, 2001The Daily Telegraph

Everyone knows the family is in trouble these days, but what is not widely recognised...

Taxing the family : Australia’s forgotten people in the income spectrum
Lucy SullivanAugust 22, 2001PM50

Over the last two decades, the tax burden has shifted from taxpayers without to taxpayers...

Laissez faire not fair for all
Steven SchwartzJune 27, 2001The Australian

In a spirited defence of sacked Wollongong University academic Ted Steele, Brian Martin (HES, April...

Communism is dead, but there’s life yet in socialism
Vaclav KlausJune 1, 2001The Australian

Ten years ago I accepted as the title of The John Bonython Lecture I was...

Talking Trash: When Standards are set by the Underclass
Charles MurrayMay 23, 2001The Sydney Morning Herald

Many elites in the United States are disavowing what is best in our culture and...

State of the Nation 2001: A Century of Change
Jennifer Buckingham OAM, Lucy Sullivan, Helen HughesApril 5, 2001SP04

The first edition of State of the Nation in 1997 showed in graphs and statistics,...

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...
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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