Whitlam Institute

Back to Blacktown: 13 November 2012

On 13 November 1972 the towering figure of Gough Whitlam took the stage at Blacktown's Bowman Hall. The hall was packed to overflowing. That night proved to be one of the most significant in Australian political history, and Gough Whitlam delivered the speech that changed a nation.

40 years on from this speech, on November 13 2012, the Whitlam Institute within the University of Western Sydney booked out the Bowman Hall for a night of commemoration and celebration. More information is available at www.whitlam.org/news_and_events/back_to_blacktown

Federalism, Education Provision and the Common Good

Federalism, education provision and the common good

The Whitlam Institute, together with project partners the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, the Foundation for Young Australians, and the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, hosted this seminar in Sydney in May 2012.

Speaker 1: Professor Alan Reid AM
School of Education, University of South Australia
Drawing on his expertise in the areas of educational policy, social justice and education, and the history and politics of public education, Professor Reid discussed the public purposes of education in the contemporary context.

Speaker 2: Br Kelvin Canavan fms AM
Executive Director Emeritus, Catholic Schools, Archdiocese of Sydney and Visiting Professor at the Australian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame.
Br Canavan addressed the particular experience and contribution of Catholic education.

Speaker 3: Mr Bill Daniels
Executive Director, Independent Schools Council of Australia
Mr Daniels spoke on the nature and extent of private education as a public good.

Marriage Equality: The International Experience

2 March 2012, Sydney: As Australia moves forward with consideration of legislation allowing Same Sex Marriage, the Whitlam Institute and Catalyst were very pleased to jointly host this timely and important forum exploring the experience of those countries that have adopted laws providing for marriage equality. We were very fortunate to have two respected international figures, Professor Lee Badgett and Mr Boris Dittrich, guests of Australian Marriage Equality, to address the question drawing on the legislative experience and the existing body of relevant research.

What Matters? Competition

The What Matters? Competition is an annual writing competition for NSW and ACT students in Years 5 - 12, where students are given a chance to say what matters to them in society today. The competition is presented by the Whitlam Institute within the University of Western Sydney, and generously sponsored by Officeworks.

Symposium 2011: Labour Market Evolution

On 29 November 2011 the Whitlam Institute, in partnership with the University of Western Sydney School of Economics and Finance, presented this symposium, Labour Market Evolution, at the InterContinental Hotel, Sydney.

The Hon Barry O'Farrell, Premier of New South Wales delivered the Opening Address, and The Hon Mike Rann, former Premier of South Australia and former ALP National President, delivered the luncheon address.

The symposium offered the opportunity to take a step back and consider ideas and options for maintaining a strong labour market with a sustained commitment to full employment that better balances the imperatives for economic growth and equity, and address the notion of well-being as a goal of economic policy.

The Northern Territory Intervention and Human Rights

The Northern Territory Intervention is the subject of as much debate today as it was three and a half years ago when the 'emergency reform package' was introduced. As the Intervention continues, it's time to take stock and search for a just response to the complex problems it sought to address.

In November 2010 the Whitlam Institute published Dr Mary Edmunds' essay The Northern Territory Intervention and Human Rights: An Anthropological Perspective. Prompted by the very warm reception this paper received, the Institute, together with the Human Rights Council of Australia, convened this special public forum hosted by Minter Ellison on May 17, 2011.

Why is education reform so hard?

March 2011, Sydney

The Hon. David Bartlett, former Premier and Minister of Education in Tasmania, provided some reflections on the significant reforms undertaken in Tasmania in recent times. He was joined by The Hon. Nick Greiner, former Premier of NSW, and Professor Brian Galligan from the University of Melbourne.

This Seminar was run as part of an ARC supported project on Federalism and Australian Schooling by the University of Melbourne & the Whitlam Institute within the University of Western Sydney with the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development & the Foundation for Young Australians.

This project seeks to investigate the impact of federalism on Australia's system of schooling and to investigate changes in the federal arrangements that would potentially increase the capacity of schooling to deliver better quality and more equitable outcomes.

The Hon Michael Kirby on International Law and Human Rights

International Law and Human Rights: Gough Whitlam's transformative vision

The Whitlam Institute and the University of Western Sydney School of Law presented this lecture by The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG on 25 February 2010

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