Publications

Our publications are the most important means of contact between the Centre's ideas and its general readership. Since 1976, The Centre for Independent Studies has produced some of the most authoritative publications in Australasian academia. From the influential Lands of Shame to the authoritative Will China Fail? CIS has published hundreds of publications covering topics from the social policy to legal affairs to religion and education.
In addition to books, the CIS publishes a range of shorter publications: Issue Analyses deal with controversial and current issues and Policy Mongraphs investigate and offer policy solutions. Since 1984, Policy magazine has published feature articles and reviews authored by some of the foremost national and international thinkers on public policy and ideas. The quality of writing and the diversity of topics in Policy ensure its status as a 'must read' by leading politicans, businesspeople and academics.
Hard copies of our publications are available for purchase through the bookstore. Many of the smaller publications are also available for download.
CONTRIBUTIONS
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All Religion and a Free Society Publications
In the Pay of the Piper: Governments, Not-for-Profits, and the Burden of Regulation
Reforms intended to boost confidence in Australian charities risk turning the charitable sector into just another arm of...
What Kind of Religion Is Free in the Public Square? A Warning from the United States
In the 14th Acton Lecture, Dr Ryan Messmore, President of Campion College, asks what kind of religion is free in the public...
Moral Wisdom and the Recovery of Virtue
What are the moral skills we need to cultivate to live effectively in the social media world of the twenty-first century...
After the Riot: the Meaning for Multicultural Australia
The riot on 15 September in the Sydney CBD by Muslim protestors has raised questions about the health of Australian multiculturalism....
What’s New with Anti-Semitism?
Criticism of Israeli government domestic policy has intensified in Australia with the emergence of the international Boycott,...
FEATURE: Religious Liberty in Nation-States: Practice, Principles and Ideas
Religious liberty has become a more contentious issue in today’s globalised world.
The Kingdom of God is Forcefully Advancing and Forceful Men Lay Hold of It
In the CIS’s annual Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom, Senator David Coltart discusses the application of biblical...
Book Review: The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century
The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke...
REVIEW ARTICLE: Know Thy Enemies
The High Price of Heaven: A Book about the Enemies of Pleasure and Freedom by David Marr (Allen & Unwin, 1999.)
BOOK REVIEW: Christian Theology and Market Economics
Christian Theology and Market Economics by Ian Harper and Saumel Gregg (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008).
FEATURE: Liberalism and Hate Laws: Toleration versus Tolerance
Attempts to create interpersonal tolerance undermine state toleration, writes John Shellard.
FEATURE: The Trouble With Religious Hatred Laws
Religions and their followers should receive no special protection from spoken hostility.
Must Religion be a Threat to Liberty?
Does Christianity destroy or defend freedom? Answering this question, Fr Robert A. Sirico turns to the foundations of Christianity.
Do Secular Societies Promote Religious Extremism?
In the Annual Acton Lecture Tom Frame looks at secularism in society. He concludes that in a genuinely secular society all...
FEATURE: Enlightening Islam
Leonie Phillips talks with Ayaan Hirsi Ali about Islam and liberalism.
FEATURE: Liberal Egalitarianism and Religious Vilification Laws
Equality of persons is a stronger foundation for freedom of speech than fallibility of knowledge argues.
Religion and Politics: Contemporary Tensions
Religion has always been important but the decline in Christian practice in recent decades led to a widespread assumption...
DEBATE: On the Right To Give Offence
Freedom of speech should cede nothing to religious sensibilities.
FEATURE: Preaching to the Converted? The Limits of Religious Arguments in Politics
Religious believers should make secular arguments.
FEATURE: Faith and Politics: Separation or Synergy
Religious beliefs can guide politicians while preserving the separation of church and state.
FEATURE: Do We Really Need Religious Vilification Laws?
Religious vilification laws are diminishing freedom of speech.
Rendering Unto Caesar: New Challenges for Church and State
In considering contemporary church-state relations, Gregg argues that religious communities need to reassess their role,...
Christian Morality and Market Capitalism: Friends or Foes?
In the 5th Annual CIS Acton Lecture on Religion & Freedom, Ian Harper explores the moral basis of market capitalism––its...
Islam in Pluralist Indonesia
In this, The Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom for 2002, noted Indonesian academic Mohammad Fajrul Falaakh discusses...
Dangerous Protections: How Some Ways of Protecting the Freedom of Religion May Actually Diminish Religious Freedom.
The 2001 Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom delivered by Robert Forsyth. Sometimes efforts to achieve good can backfire,...
Playing with Fire: Churches, Welfare Services and Government Contracts
Striking a balance between state funding and religious autonomy is the latest challenge for church-based welfare agencies....
The Moral Foundations of Freedom: Lessons from the Religious Encounter with Democracy
What happens when a society loses it moral capital? Can democracy thrive in a value-neutral environment? These are just some...
REVIEW: In The Shadow of the Reign of Terror
Tocqueville: A Biography by Andre Jardin (John Hopkins University Press, 1998.)
Christianity and Entrepreneurship: Protestant and Catholic Thoughts
This monograph is a scholarly yet understandable study of entrepreneurship from both a Protestant (Preece) and a Catholic...
Catholicism and the Architecture of Freedom
The nature of freedom is a question that has puzzled western societies from their very beginnings. In the Centre for Independent...
Religion and Liberty: Western Experiences, Asian Possibilities
In this CIS Occasional Paper, Samuel Gregg examines religion and its effects upon liberty in the West, before speculating...
In Praise of the Free Economy: Essays
Michael Novak is the first contemporary Christian theologian to have dedicated many years of his life to a serious and open...
BOOK REVIEW: Ego and Soul: The Modern West in Search of Meaning
Ego and Soul: The Modern West in Search of Meaning by John Carroll (HarperCollins, 1998.)
The Political Economy of Freedom
The Political Economy of Freedom is an eloquent discussion of the importance of a diffusion of power in maintaining freedom.
Economics, Faith and Moral Responsibility
In this CIS Occasional Paper, Robert Sirico defends the institutions of the free and open society from a Christian standpoint.
NOTES AND COMMENTS: The Blessing of Market Capitalism
In Centesimus annus, the Pope is unsparing in his criticism of communism, socialism and (less explicitly) the Catholic flirtation...
FEATURE: Television Jingoism: The Proposed Limits on Foreign Ownership of Australia's Air Waves
"Mr Kim Beazley, Australia's Minister of Transport and Communications, recently proposed limits on foreign ownership of Australian...
Chaining Australia: Church Bureaucracies and Political Economy
Edited by Geoffrey Brennan and John K Williams. Contributions by Geoffrey Brennan, Paul A McGavin, John K Williams, Hugh...