Events

This free one-day symposium will focus on the theme of Transformative Solutions for Inclusive Development: the role of Innovation in Fuelling an Accessible and Equitable World.

Drawing inspiration from last year’s exploration of spatial justice and the physical and attitudinal barriers faced by individuals with disabilities, this year’s Ableist Cities Symposium intends to hear narratives of individual lived experience or co-designed research.

Emphasizing an integrated approach, the symposium seeks to marry the realms of politics, policy, and practical applications to address the pressing challenges faced in the built environment. In giving voice to these narratives, we aim to ignite conversations that will shape our cities to make them more inclusive, equitable, and accessible for all.

The Ableist Cities Symposium is a collaboration between the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, the Melbourne Disability Institute and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

True Liberal? The Record and Legacy of the Fraser Government, 1975-1983 is a major symposium on 12-13 December 2025 hosted by the University of Melbourne’s Archives & Special Collections, the Melbourne School of Government and Trinity College. It is held to mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Fraser government following the landslide federal election in December 1975. 

The symposium brings together scholars, politicians, political thinkers and civil society leaders to review the record of the government and its relevance to contemporary issues and debates concerning the nature of liberalism and other issues. Speakers include Jackie Huggins, Anne Twomey, Glyn Davis, Fred Chaney, Cheryl Saunders, David Kemp, Senator James Paterson, Alexander Downer, Sean Gordon, Peter Shergold, Sonja Hood, Deborah Glass, George Brandis, Michael Crommelin, John Hawkins, Phoebe Wynn-Pope, Ian McPhee, Michael Wesley and many more.

The symposium includes panels on: 

• What kind of leader was Fraser and how do we characterise the government?

• What is liberalism today?

• Australia in the world

• Refugees, migration and multiculturalism

• Monetary policy, the economy and productivity

• First Australians, then and now

• Human rights

• The public service

• Constitutional and administrative reform

• The culture of the nation

The University of Melbourne Archives are the custodians of the Malcolm Fraser Collection, one of Australia’s largest personal collections of Australian Prime Ministers. The collection consists of personal, electoral and political correspondence, speech notes, photographs, subject files and post-parliamentary records. 

The symposium will coincide with the biennial Fraser Oration, an opportunity to explore matters of public and social interest in line with Malcolm Fraser’s vision for Australia, and more broadly his support for multiculturalism, universal democratic principles, human rights and free speech. The 2025 Oration will be presented by the Rt Hon Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999–2008. Helen served two terms as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and as Chair of the United Nations Development Group from 2009-2017.