Melbourne Forum gives you access to the highest level of expertise and real-world lessons that our conversation leaders – all with a reputation for excellence – bring to the table under the Chatham House rule.
With varied formats (in-person or virtual; conversation leader or members engaging with each other; learning from experts or exploring viewpoints) there are multiple ways to participate.
Events Search and Views Navigation
June 2021
What Can We Do About Climate Change?
MF Digital with Dr Sheila Nguyen and Chris Arnott
Hosted by Dr Jonathan Spear
The existential global challenge of climate change – with all its environmental, economic, social, technological and political complexities – can be overwhelming. So, what can we practically do as individuals to mitigate and prepare for climate change? What is our personal role in getting to…
Find out more »The future of food in urban environments?
A MF Cultural Life event
Hosted by Sally Arnold
Productive buildings with thriving ecosystems which sustain their inhabitants. Matt, Jo and Joost would like to welcome you into their home for a 45 minute guided tour through futurefoodsystem - a productive building that is a zero-waste eco system that mimics nature. Learn about its…
Find out more »Should the Olympics go ahead?
Digital Dinner with Rod McGeoch AO
Hosted by Prof Ian Dunn AM
Rod McGeoch AO is best known as the leader of Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Olympics. Less known is that he also advised the successful bidding teams for Athens and London. Rod McGeoch commenced public life as a lawyer becoming President of the Law Society…
Find out more »The India Way
MF Digital: Non-Fiction Interest Group
Hosted by Peter Lamell
The very nature of international relations and its rules are changing before our eyes. In The India Way: Strategies For An Uncertain World (Harper Collins, September 2020) Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar analyses these challenges and spells out possible policy responses. Dr Jaishankar has been India's Minister of…
Find out more »A night at the Justin Art House Museum with Donald Bates
A MF Cultural Life event
Hosted by Sally Arnold
The Itinerant Architect: A Man Within All Countries We are delighted to be returning to the Justin Art House Museum for a very special evening with Donald Bates as he presents The Itinerant Architect; A Man within All Countries, followed by a viewing of…
Find out more »Stephen Bartholomeusz — Masterful Finance Columnist: A discussion about his columns
Members' Dinner with Stephen Bartholomeusz
Hosted by Prof Ian Dunn AM
Stephen Bartholomeusz is one of Australia’s leading Economics Journalists After 23 years at The Age, during which he rose to the position of Associate Editor, Stephen left to co found the Business Spectator in 2007. In 2012 he took up a position at The Australian…
Find out more »July 2021
The real history on colonising Australia
Members' Lunch Henry Reynolds
Hosted by Prof Andrea Hull AO
There is still a great deal of truth telling to be told, and if we are to take seriously this need for telling the truth about our history, we must start at first principles. What if the sovereignty of the First Nations was recognised by European international…
Find out more »The impact of COVID-19 on universities and the path to recovery
Members’ Lunch with Prof Iain Martin
Hosted by Justin Bokor
International education was Victoria’s single largest export sector in 2019, worth $13.7 billion and supporting around 79,000 jobs. Over 250,000 international students studied here in 2019, but by December last year that figure had more than halved due to the coronavirus pandemic. Australia’s higher education sector, which had grown reliant on international student fees, has lost billions…
Find out more »Electric, Hydrogen, Autonomous? The Hope, Hype and Reality of New Modes of Transport
MF Digital with Prof Robert Sparrow, Prof Peter Sweatman & A/Prof Crystal Legacy
Hosted by Dr Jonathan Spear
Electric cars are here, there’s lots of hype about hydrogen, and self-driving cars may be just around the corner. When will we get them? How will they work? Are they safe? What will they mean for our cities? Who wins and who loses from their…
Find out more »Politics of Care or Fear?
MF Digital: Non-Fiction Interest Group
Hosted by Peter Lamell
What should government be responsible for in the twenty-first century? Will Australia be a country of concern and care or will it be shaped by a politics of fear? In Exit Strategy - Politics After the Pandemic (Quarterly Essay, 28 June 2021) George Megalogenis explains that between the fires and…
Find out more »