Events

We warmly invite the University community to join us for the Mabo Centre’s feature Mabo Day Celebration, with special guests Kaleb Mabo and Kristal West.

This year’s event features a very special address from Kaleb Mabo, a grandson of Eddie Koiki Mabo, who will share personal reflections on his family’s legacy, the enduring significance of the Mabo decision, and what land rights, justice, and truth-telling mean for First Nations peoples today.

Kaleb’s address will be followed by a Q&A, a catered lunch and a live performance by Torres Strait Islander singer, and a granddaughter of Eddie Mabo, Kristal West.

This event gives us a moment to pause, reflect, and come together in recognition of one of the most significant decisions in Australia’s history, with members of the Mabo family.

We look forward to commemorating this day with you.

The price of power: Electricity Pricing for a Cleaner and Fairer Energy Future

Presented by Professor Meredith Fowlie

The clean energy transition is doing more than reducing emissions, it is also reshaping how electricity is produced, priced, and consumed. Electricity prices are one of the most powerful, and underappreciated, levers we have to steer this transition, and it influences energy consumption patterns, technology adoption, and how transition costs will be shared across households.

Drawing on evidence from electricity markets across the US, Europe, and beyond, Professor Fowlie will explore how current pricing structures can both hinder and help progress in the clean energy transition. She will also highlight emerging rate reforms and innovations designed to make electricity prices more fit for purpose, aligning everyday energy decisions with a faster, fairer, and more resilient energy transition.

Background: Downing Lecture Series

Distinguished visiting economists are invited to present at the Downing Lecture for the purpose of promoting analysis and discussion of economic and social research policy. The lectures series have been made possible by a generous fellowship that was established by friends and colleagues of the late Professor Richard Downing (BA (Hons) 1936), in memory of his life and work.

Richard Ivan Downing was Ritchie Professor of Research and Economics in the University from 1952 until his death in 1975. Not only did Professor Downing make significant contributions to economic research in this position, he also put much effort into guiding and fostering the research interests of students and staff. For twenty years he edited The Economic Record. He also played a prominent part in founding the now Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.

Learn more about previous lectures