Civil Society
With freedom comes responsibility. A society of free individuals can only function if everyone respects the rights and liberties of everybody else. This means we have to voluntarily limit our own desires and monitor our own behaviour in the hope and expectation that other people will do the same in their relations with us.
But there is evidence that these informal norms governing our behaviour have been fraying over recent decades. The CIS asks what are the causes and consequences of the decline of civility and social cohesion, and what can be done about it?
The research also examines how government is weakening civil society by trying to eradicate risk from our lives and by 'crowding out' voluntary activity with state initiatives?
Publications
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FEATURE: The Risks for High Migration
| 22 Mar 2010 | POLICY MagazineIf the population of Australia reaches 36 million by 2050, it will be a direct consequence of migration policy. A growing... Read More...
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FEATURE: The Great Firewall of Australia
| 22 Mar 2010 | POLICY MagazineDespite strong opposition and economic and political risks, the federal government continues to support mandatory filtering... Read More...
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BOOK REVIEW: So Many Firsts: Liberal Women from Enid Lyons to the Turnbull Era
| 22 Mar 2010 | POLICY MagazineMargaret Fitzherbert’s new book So Many Firsts tracks the political achievements of Australian Liberal women, their political... Read More...
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Diminishing Democracy: The Threat Posed by Political Expenditure Laws
| 31 Jul 2009 | Issue AnalysisElectoral law reforms nearing a Senate vote risk making political activists inadvertent lawbreakers, deterring financial... Read More...
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BOOK REVIEW:The Henson case
| 03 Mar 2009 | POLICY MagazineThe Henson Case by David Marr (Text Publishing, 2008).
Opinion & Commentary
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It’s time to bring back a bit of class to train travel
| 29 Oct 2009 | The Sydney Morning HeraldFor a city that wants to play in the first league of the world’s great cities, our dated intercity train connections are ... Read More
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Ferguson shown the door by media and the mob
| 29 Sep 2009 | The Newcastle HeraldManaging the media takes precedence over dealing with controversial issues in an honest, open and effective manner.... Read More
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No worries on Aussies' generosity
| 24 Aug 2005 | The Courier MailThe Australian welfare lobby often calls for increases in taxation. Presumably this is to fund increases in welfare expenditure.... Read More
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Our leaders have a responsibility to uphold standards
| 28 Jun 2002 | The AustralianThe name-calling and personal attacks so readily used by Australian politicians—such as Mark Latham's derogatory remarks ... Read More
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Fighting an uncivil war to save society
| 29 May 2002 | The Daily TelegraphIt starts with an unthinking act of selfishness, becomes rudeness, and before you can say 'I'm all right Jack', civilisation ... Read More
Ideas@TheCentre
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Income Management for all a courageous step forwards
| 25 Jun 2010Federal parliament this week passed laws that will subject non-Indigenous welfare recipients in the Northern Territory to ...
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The forgotten Indigenous Australians
| 23 Apr 2010This week Channel Ten’s 7pm Project did a report on whether Australia is racist. It raised a few questions – specifically ...
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That’s discrimination!
| 20 Nov 2009Many a bemused journalistic eye has this week turned to the human rights commissions, who have been busily cracking down ...
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Defending civil society and Prescribed Private Funds
| 20 Feb 2009New regulations that will limit the flexibility of charitable funds and decrease the quality and quantity of philanthropy ...
