Become a Member Donate Now

• Free Speech

Freedom of speech is a crucial principle of a liberal democracy that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.

The Woke Inquisition
Monica Wilkie, Lionel Shriver, Brendan O'NeillJuly 14, 2020

Everything from The Golden Girls to brown rice is now ‘problematic’ as activists seek to...

In bed with Noam: The fight to say what you think makes strange bedfellows
Tom SwitzerJuly 11, 2020SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

You know we live in a strange world when people like me are forced to...

Respect and Division: How Australians view religion
Monica WilkieDecember 6, 2019ideas@theCentre

Australians’ famously tolerant attitude toward religion endures. But this view has a clear blind spot...

Beware unintended consequences, Prime Minister
Tom SwitzerNovember 9, 2019SMH

An important rule of politics is the law of unintended consequences. Implement hasty and radical...

Sport now a geopolitical minefield
Sue WindybankOctober 11, 2019Ideas@TheCentre

Has the fallout from a single tweet by an American basketball team manager in support...

Change of guard in culture battle
Peter KurtiOctober 4, 2019Ideas@TheCentre

The departure of my colleague, Jeremy Sammut, from the Centre for Independent Studies after 12...

University Freedom Charters: How best to protect free speech on Australian campuses
Jeremy SammutOctober 7, 2018PP10

This POLICY Paper recommends how and why a ‘university freedom charters’ policy that is backed...

Conflict vs Mistake: Academic cultures and explanatory conflict
Claire LehmannSeptember 11, 2018OP167

The 2018 Helen Hughes Lecture explains why and how universities are fuelling the corrosive identity...

Let Money Speak
Simon CowanApril 25, 2018PP2

The government’s proposal to ban foreign donations and limit political contributions from charities is a...

What’s happened to the University?
Frank Furedi, Marguerite Johnson, Steven SchwartzFebruary 5, 2018OP163

Trigger warnings, cultural appropriation and safe spaces. Who decided to bestow guardian status to Australian...

Liberty and Surveillance: What should governments and private corporations know about you?
Tom SimpsonJanuary 30, 2018OP162

Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA hacked the internet as a key part of...

The Limits of Australian Anti-discrimination Law
Helen AndrewsAugust 3, 2016Research Report 17

Anti-discrimination law has existed in Australia for only fifty years, and yet in that comparatively...

State-sanctioned ‘truth’ is still a danger under the Greens and teals
Tom Switzer, Emilie DyeDecember 30, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

Australia dodged a bullet this year when the federal government withdrew its contentious legislation to...

Disagree with Antoinette Lattouf, but silencing her wasn’t the answer
Tom SwitzerDecember 18, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

Friday marks one year since the ABC sacked journalist Antoinette Lattouf. By reflecting the intolerant...

Freedom of speech not protected through censorship
Tom Switzer, Emilie DyeNovember 26, 2024Centre for Independent Studies

The federal government’s decision this week to withdraw its legislation requiring social media companies to...

War on misinformation doomed to fail: tariffs a case in point
Simon CowanNovember 2, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

Experts in misinformation will no doubt be closely following the extraordinary claims being thrown around...

misinformation truth lies approve disapprove 640x360
Having an authority to rule on what is truth is deeply problematic
Simon CowanOctober 18, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

There is no better sign of the loss of faith in democracy than the belief...

Jerry Seinfeld
No offence, but the wokerati are killing free expression
Tom SwitzerMay 3, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

In a wide-ranging interview with the New Yorker, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld explains how the...

No Videos Available
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...

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