“It took a pandemic for our State and Federal governments to admit that the JobSeeker payments weren’t enough to live off, that homelessness needed to be (and could be) tackled, and that the level of insecure work in this country is hitting crisis point. Despite this, every solution has focused on the short-term, with an expectation that everything will just go back to normal once the pandemic ends. But we don’t want to return to normal, we want change. Now is the time to have our voices heard. Now is the time to force our governments to do what is right."

“You don’t wake up and find a Utopia fully realised and perfectly formed. It happens a little bit at a time, unevenly, erratically, but if we know how to look, we can see glimpses of it emerging all the time, everywhere. Utopia doesn’t happen by accident. It must be nudged into shape through the hard work of many people and the many institutions that make up our society. What can we do to help? In this keynote speech, Jess Scully will discuss how we can harness technology and imagination to reshape the world to build a fairer and more sustainable future."

“If you take a look around the globe, you will find some remarkable success stories. Denmark will reach 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. Iceland has topped gender equality rankings for a decade and counting. Singaporean students beat almost all others in maths and reading. South Koreans will soon live longer than anyone else on Earth. What can we learn from these successes? And how can we apply these lessons at home to help shape a better future in our communities?"

“Play is not just fun and games. Our deep drive to play has shaped our cultures and our philosophies, our working lives, and our civilizations since we first started playing. No part of human history is untouched by the way we play. In this session, Daniel Teitelbaum will convince you that our drive to play is at the heart of how we make meaning, is essential to our self-expression, can be a guide to our values, and creates our communities. "

“Whether by intention or accident, economic ideas and analysis often diminish society’s expectations of what can be achieved. Such failings are not inherent to economics per se, rather they are the result of outdated economics dominating analysis and public discussion. The problematic nature of economic analysis must stop and make way for better theory and concepts to help us re-imagine what our economy and society could look like."

“How do we make taxation fair for single-parent households? How do we ensure that planning decisions consider the different ways in which women use our communities? How can we ensure that glass ceiling is not a barrier to the corner office? How can we ensure that we do not forgo the talents women have to offer as leaders in politics? Ramona Vijeyarasa will demonstrate that we can help correct gender inequality, through the law, by courageously stepping away from neutrality and using the law to help transform decades of discrimination"

“Revolutions never start at the top. If we dare to dream of a more loving country – a kinder, more compassionate, more cooperative, more respectful, more inclusive, more egalitarian, more harmonious, less cynical country – there’s only one way to start turning that dream into a reality: each of us must live as if this is already that country. And there is no better time to start the revolution than now, when so many are struggling from the effects of drought, floods, bushfires and the pandemic. "

“Community sector workers usually start with the best of intentions but are too often met by outdated systems and poorly conceived rules and laws that prevent them from achieving the best results. There is no denying the sector is in need of a serious shake-up, but what does reform on this scale look like?"

“After a surprise election victory in May 2019, Scott Morrison thanked the ‘quiet Australians’ for sticking by his side. Since then, it appears that our government is hell-bent on making the entire population quiet. Journalists are being pressured by the Australian Federal Police to cooperate or feel the force. There’s been talk of outlawing group boycotts. Children finding their political voice are being told to go back to school. When New South Wales and Queensland were on fire we were told that now is not the time to talk. But the community sector won’t be quiet Australians. We will continue to talk, and our voice will be heard."

“Cities and towns should be built for the communities that will inhabit them. There is a trove of data on the demographics of any given town, but do we spend enough time consulting this data, and the people the data represents, to give us a better understanding of what the community needs? It’s time to put people back at the centre of our urban environments."

“In Australia, policy agendas come, tip everything upside down, and then they go, swept away by the next fad. New Zealand has garnered world attention for its ‘Wellbeing Budget’ but Australia had a wellbeing framework a decade ago. It was quietly scrapped a few years ago and no-one noticed the difference. It looks like New Zealand is heading down a similar path. What can we do to overcome this churn-and-burn cycle of policy building? How do we escape the path of business-as-usual?"