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.
We are committed to providing a platform for, and the increased visibility of, diverse voices.
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.
Explore our upcoming program of events and forums.
Events Search and Views Navigation
February 2024
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our…
Find out more »Dangerous Dinner
In a relaxed, intimate dinner party format, we draw on the diverse expertise of our members sharing their ideas and experiences on complex or controversial topics; to learn from others, challenge assumptions, spark new ideas or point the way for potential actions. Dangerous because the…
Find out more »Connections
Cultivating Community This is an evening of unparalleled camaraderie and exchange as we come together for drinks at an enchanting city location. As members of the Melbourne Forum, you have been pivotal in shaping our community's civic engagement landscape. This special event offers a unique…
Find out more »March 2024
Indigenous Business Leadership
Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, is a centre of engagement, research and teaching focused on Indigenous economic empowerment. Dr Michelle Evans is the inaugural Director. She holds a joint appointment of Associate Professorship of Leadership and Associate Dean, Indigenous, at the University of…
Find out more »Is The Energy Future Renewables?
Widely considered one of the Australian renewable energy’s industry’s strongest advocates, Miles George, will lead a conversation helping us to explore the state of play and the many future opportunities. Miles has more than 30 years’ experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors, with a…
Find out more »Boardroom Passions and Challenges
At the cutting edge of change and competition, David Thodey AO is a global business leader focused on innovation, technology and telecommunications with more than forty years of experience creating brand and shareholder value. He is interested in customer centred transformation of businesses. “The best organisations put…
Find out more »Gift A Seat At The Table
Assist outstanding individuals through the many benefits of Melbourne Forum. The Melbourne Forum Fellowship gives the rare opportunity for invited individuals to go on a special development journey that allows them to explore their civic impact, really expand their networks and engage in a different…
Find out more »April 2024
Question 7
Beginning at a love hotel by Japan's Inland Sea and ending by a river in Tasmania, Question 7 is about the choices we make about love and the chain reaction that follows. By way of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West's affair through 1930s nuclear physics to…
Find out more »Dangerous Dinner
In a relaxed, intimate dinner party format, we draw on the diverse expertise of our members sharing their ideas and experiences on complex or controversial topics; to learn from others, challenge assumptions, spark new ideas or point the way for potential actions. Dangerous because the…
Find out more »May 2024
Dangerous Dinner
In a relaxed, intimate dinner party format, we draw on the diverse expertise of our members sharing their ideas and experiences on complex or controversial topics; to learn from others, challenge assumptions, spark new ideas or point the way for potential actions. Dangerous because the…
Find out more »June 2024
Adriatic
Robert D. Kaplan, a geopolitical expert turns his perceptive eye to a region that for centuries has been a meeting point of cultures, trade, and ideas. He undertakes a journey around the Adriatic Sea, through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, to reveal that…
Find out more »July 2024
Wifedom
Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own... when she uncovers his forgotten wife, it's a revelation. Eileen O'Shaughnessy's literary brilliance shaped Orwell's work and her practical nous…
Find out more »