Big Ideas

Australia's national anthem proclaims that: "for those who've come across the seas we've boundless plains to share". But with Australia's immigration program once again under the political spotlight, is that really true? How does what leaders say about refugees and migrants ripple out into the community, and what attitudes and behaviours does it give license to?
Mariam Veiszadeh was born in Afghanistan and moved to Australia as a child. She's devoted her life's work to creating a fairer Australia for refugees and migrants. She explores what it might take to foster social cohesion and a sense of belonging in Australia, and to ensure that everyone gets a fair go.
The 2026 Kaldor Centre Oration was recorded on 20 October 2026 at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in partnership with the Centre for Ideas at the University of New South Wales.
Speakers:
Mariam VeiszadehLawyer, executive, diversity and inclusion consultant and human rights advocateFounder and director, Islamophobia Register AustraliaFormer and inaugural CEO of Media Diversity Australia
Nicole AbadeeJournalist and professional moderator

Is the witch back?  The word, the craft, the movement, and as a viral social media phenomenon #witchtok? Did the witch ever really disappear? Women who don't conform or who challenge certain kinds of power have long been persecuted as witches. An eye-opening conversation about the past and present of witchy women. Witchcraft is both ancient and modern. Could it be the radical response we need right now — in a world increasingly detached from Nature? This event was hosted by the 2026 Festival of Dangerous Ideas and The Ethics Centre 
Speakers
Lucianne Tonti Author of Good Witch: In search of our lost feminine power (2026) Fashion editor of The Saturday Paper, sustainability editor-at-large for Elle Australia, and contributor to The Guardian.  Dr Emma Quilty Author of Witch Power: Hexing the Patriarchy with Feminist Magic (2026)  Anthropologist and postdoctoral research fellow at Monash University’s ARC Centre for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 
Dr Caroline Tully Archaeologist, University of Melbourne's School of Historical and Philosophical Studies.  Author, The Society of Diana Witch-flight and the Mysteries of the Night Queen (2026). Practising pagan and witch for over four decades.

AI data centre developments are raising concerns in affected communities across Australia. The industry and its critics come together to cover the pros, the cons, and the concerns, at an event in the heart of a city where data centres have become a political hot potato in the lead up to the Victorian state election.
This event hosted by RMIT University for Social Sciences Week was recorded on 17 September 2026. 
Speakers:
Lisa GivenDirector & Co-Founder, Centre for Human-AI Information Environments, Distinguished Professor of Information Sciences in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
Priya RajagopalanDirector of the Post Carbon Research Centre for Infrastructure and the Built Environment and Associate Dean (Research and Innovation) in the school of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
Belinda DennettCEO of Data Centres Australia
Michael HelmerChief Risk Officer at NEXTDC
Dr Sarah MansfieldGP, Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, MLC for Western Victoria
Margaret Paul (host) Suburbs reporter, ABC News Victoria

Homer’s Odyssey is back into the spotlight. Not just with Christopher Nolan’s new record breaking movie. Greek mythology is a publishing phenomenon with enduring appeal. So why are we reaching back to ancient myths for life lessons and a deeper understanding of the human condition? What was life actually like in Homer’s world... and where does history end and myth begin? 
This event was hosted at the Greek-Australian Writers’ Festival in Adelaide.
Speakers
Dr Alexandra TheodoropoulouGreece’s Consul-General in South Australia
Dr Emlyn DoddLecturer in Archaeology and Classical Studies, University of Adelaide
Petra KaliveArtistic Director, State Theatre Company South Australian
Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos (host)Director of the Greek-Australian Writers’ Festival Journalist; Industry Professional Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney

When you lose people and places, you can't bear to be without - or the baggage that weighs you down, is loss really nothing more than change? This conversation goes looking for loss in all its shapes: the identity we misplace growing up between cultures, the self we lose and remake as our bodies change and the strange, unsettling experience of coming face to face with who we used to be.
Griffith Review: Lost and Found was presented at the Melbourne Writers Festival
Speakers
Dr Ahona Guha Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, author, media consultant and speakerAuthor of Reclaim: understanding complex trauma and those who abuse and Life Skills for a Broken World
Madison GriffithsAuthor of Sweet Nothings and Tissue
Georgia MaluPoet, writer and editor. Boigu Island woman from the Umu Mere and Umai Lag clans
Carody Culver (host)Editor of the Griffith Review