Big Ideas

The connection between body and mind is well established. But mental health expert Daniel Fung also includes the soul in this 'ecosystem' that shapes your overall wellbeing. He envisions a future for mental health services, that is person-centred, holistic and consciously uses digital tools and social media.

Beautiful minds, Loving hearts: Asian Mental Health Ecosystems in 2050 was presented at TheMHS (Mental Health Services) conference 2025 in Brisbane

Listen to Big Ideas — How to overcome the fear and anxiety that are holding you back

Speakers

Daniel Fung - CEO Institute of Mental Health, Singapore

Barbara Disley - Board Member, TheMHS Learning Network

Further information

Mindline - digital first-stop touchpoint for mental health in Singapore

From innocently conning controversial radio duo Kyle and Jackie O as a kid, time in a Zambian convent as a teen, to nearly becoming an air traffic controller before finding her real passion - helping others find their voice - Astrid Jorgensen has quite a story to tell. Her new memoir is called Average At Best. She is anything but. She is anything but. On any one night, anywhere in the world, you’ll find Astrid on a stage in front of a few thousand people singing their hearts out. But to call Astrid Jorgensen a choir conductor doesn’t really capture the incredible global phenomenon she’s created.  She’s the founder, composer, and host of Pub Choir, described as the “world’s biggest one night stand in song”. 

This event was organised by Northern Books in Castlemaine and held at the Fitzroy Town Hall in Naarm/Melbourne.

Speaker

Astrid JorgensenFounder and conductor of Pub ChoirAuthor, Average At Best (Simon and Schuster Australia, 2025)

Further information

How Astrid Jorgensen turned a suburban pub choir into a worldwide musical phenomenon (Australian Story/ABC News, 2025)

Watch Australian Story episode about Astrid on Youtube (2025)

Australia now has its first treaty with this country's first peoples. After nearly a decade of formal consultation and negotiation, the Victorian Statewide Treaty has become law, and will come into effect from early December. This address outlines the long road to achieving the treaty, why it's important, and what comes next.

The 25th Dr Charles Perkins Oration was recorded on 28 October 2025 at the University of Sydney.

Speakers

Ngarra MurrayCo-chair, Victorian First People's Assembly

Humans are by nature creative, but how do we turn a spark of inspiration into something more tangible? Author Emily Maguire draws inspiration from some of the world's most creative minds — from Lin Manuel Miranda, to Susan Sontag, to explore the ingredients of a truly creative life.

The 2025 Colin Roderick Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Foundation of Australian Literary Studies at James Cook University in partnership with the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, was recorded on 29th July 2025 in Townsville.

Speakers

Emily MaguireAuthor, Rapture, An Isolated Incident, Love Objects, and moreTeacher of writing, Writing NSW

The Vanya QuartetElder Conservatorium, University of AdelaidePlaying Saoirse, composed by Belle Smibert

As we grow older, changes to our bodies and minds are inevitable. But what if science could help us age better? Our experts on Big Ideas uncover the latest science behind healthy brain aging. What's possible in the fight against cognitive decline and dementia? How might you live a longer, healthier, and more meaningful life?

Presented by Sydney Ideas, the talk program at the University of Sydney

Speakers

Associate Professor Eleanor DrummondSenior Lecturer (Neuroscience), School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney

Olivier PiguetNHMRC Leadership Fellow and Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Sydney

Gilbert KnaggsSociology PhD candidate, University of Sydney

Elfy Scott (host)award-winning journalist, podcaster, and presenter

When acclaimed Australia author Christos Tsiolkas was invited to give the 2025 Ray Mathew Lecture at the National Library of Australia, he had in mind what he wanted to say, as difficult as it was. Then he got a rage-filled message from a longtime friend. How did Christos respond? Is fence-sitting an indulgence in an ethically troubled, divisive, dislocated world? Or, is 'speaking across the fence' something writers and other creatives can offer us?

"We're urged at all times — and for every occasion — to take a position. Yet is there a utility, both practical and ethical, in taking a breath, a pause, and refusing to land definitively on a stance?"  — Christos Tsiolkas

Speaker

Christos TsiolkasAuthor of The Slap, The In Between, Barracuda, DamascusPlaywright and screenwriter

Further information

More about the annual Ray Mathew Lecture, including the transcript and video of the 2025 lecture

From The Don to Warny, the Gabba to the G, from its legacy of British colonialism, to the Asian powerhouse nations of today — cricket is not just a sport, but also a reflection of the societies who play it. Drawing on a wealth of writing about the sport, including novels, biographies, and media reporting, this lecture explores the cultural and historical legacy of cricket.

This event was recorded at the Australian Catholic University on 30 October 2025.

Speakers

Paul Giles Professor of English, Australian Catholic University

Gideon Haigh Journalist and author of The Cricket War, The Summer Game and On WarneEditor and host, Cricket Et Al podcast and newsletterOpening batsman, South Yarra Cricket Club

Born in apartheid South Africa, she became the country's first female high court judge. She sat on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and helped to establish sexual violence and rape as war crimes in international law. At a time of global conflict and instability, the work and achievements of Navi Pillay are a reminder of what can be achieved when accountability trumps impunity, when the law defeats lawlessness, and justice prevails over injustice.

The 2025 Sydney Peace Prize Lecture, hosted by the Sydney Peace Foundation, was recorded at the Sydney Town Hall on 6 November 2025.

Speakers

Navi PillayFormer Chair of the United Nation's Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian TerritoryFormer United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsFormer President and Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for RwandaSouth Africa's first female High Court Judge

Chris SidotiMember of the United Nation's Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian TerritoryFormer Australian Human Rights CommissionerFormer Chair of the Australian Law Reform Commission

Rawan ArrafFounder and Executive Director of the Australian Centre for International Justice

Nour Haydar (host)Journalist and co-host, Full Story, Guardian Australia

Young Australians are losing faith that our politics, our civic institutions and the mainstream media are working for them. Why is this? And how can our democracy adapt to win back the trust and engagement of new generations?

The 2025 Speaker's Lecture was recorded at Parliament House on 27 October 2025.

Speakers

Holly Rankin - Musician and recording artist Jack River, founder, Sentiment, director, Teach Us Consent

Milton Dick - Speaker of the House of Representatives, Labor Member for Oxley

Further information:

SOS Democracy with Niki Savva — Can politicians and journalists do better?2024 Speaker's Lecture - Big Ideas, ABC Radio National, 15 October 2024

Are our universities facing an existential crisis by trying to be too many things? Places for learning, research, the production of new knowledge, the production of job-ready graduates, and profit-making enterprises? Does everything they do have to produce a tangible, measurable, practical, or profitable outcome? Should they also foster intellectual life and the pursuit of ideas just for curiosity's sake? Or is that an elite, outdated mission? Who gets to judge what knowledge is deemed useless or useful? 

Join Big ideas host Natasha Mitchell with guests to mark the 25th anniversary of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Western Australia.

Speakers

Associate Professor Oron Catts, Academic lead of the Institute of Advanced Studies, pioneering artist and founder of Symbiotica: The Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts

Dr Jessyca Hutchens, Palyku woman, art historian, indigenous studies lecturer and co-director of the Berndt Museum, University of Western Australia.

Terri-Ann White, former founding director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, former head of UWA Publishing, and founder of the independent publishing house Upswell

Further reading

The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge by Abraham Flexnor (Harpers, 1939)Famous educator and reformer Abraham Flexnor was founder of the first Institute for Advanced Study in 1930. Albert Einstein was a member of its founding faculty and at least 37 Nobel Laureates have found an intellectual home there since.