While people in the affluent world are living longer and healthier lives than ever before, they have become more and more fearful and worried about their health. Iona Heath untangles the distinct yet overlapping fears of patients, doctors, bureaucrats, politicians and society at large. In about 1848, while writing his famous poem The Bells, Edgar...

Jennifer Nedelsky calls for deliberation on her proposal to completely rebalance the challenges of employment, life, family and care. Her idea; that everybody (and she does mean everybody) engage in both paid part-time work and unpaid part-time care. In this talk she argues that the current arrangements and approaches are behind many of the social...

Big Ideas examines the role of our watchdog agencies. Generally, they only draw public attention when they show someone up: corrupt behaviour by a government official, a waste of public money or maladministration. Less dramatic but just as important is another side of the agencies’ work: monitoring and improving standards and processes. Hear from the...

If corruption does not exist in Australia's federal sector, it would make Canberra the only corruption-free place in the world, Geoffrey Watson argues. In this lecture, the former ICAC counsel calls for the creation of a strong and independent federal anti-corruption commission. • As a community we have entered a social compact under which we...

In the decades ahead, digital disruption could result, according to some predictions, in nearly half of all current jobs in Australia being displaced - unless we skill up. While technology will undoubtedly create new employment opportunities, will it create enough of them? Already, many qualified young Australians are unable to find employment. Is there a...