For All Australians.
The Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University is a public policy institute inspired by one of Australia’s most respected Prime Ministers, Gough Whitlam. It is guided by the ‘three great aims’ of the 1972 Whitlam Program: to promote equality; to involve all Australians in the decision-making processes of our land; & to liberate their talents & uplift their horizons.
What Matters? is now open! Entries close 17 May
"I do not for a moment believe that we should set limits on what we can achieve together, for our country, our people, our future."
Gough Whitlam, 13 November 1972
As part of our celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Whitlam Government, the Whitlam Institute has asked for people to share their stories, memories and impressions of the Whitlam Government. While we know that the Whitlam Government was a radically transformative period in Australian political and social history, these individual stories vividly illustrate how it changed the personal trajectory of many lives.
Learning Resources
Our free learning resources are perfect for the classroom, making it easy to introduce this incredible chapter of sweeping social change in Australian political history. Explore our Discover Whitlam timeline highlighting the making of a Prime Minister, as well as explainers about key figures and achievements of the Whitlam government.
What's happening at the Whitlam Institute?
Guided by the legacy of Gough Whitlam, the Whitlam Institute works to ignite debate, strengthen discussion and enrich policy development in Australia.
Upcoming events
Women (seen) celebrates 20 women artists connected to Western Sydney through work, study, family, or home. This exhibition speaks of identity, community, and belonging. It celebrates what once was, and what is now.
In February 2024, the enduring legacy of the Whitlam government was acknowledged by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape at the fifth Papua New Guinea-Australia Annual Leaders’ Dialogue.
In 2004, Year 6 student Haydon K became the first Overall Competition Winner of the What Matters? Writing Competition, writing about injustices faced by refugee children fleeing the war in Afghanistan…
The 2023 Whitlam Oration, The Command To Perform, was delivered by Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP. Taking place on 29 November 2023 at the National Press Club, the Prime Minister reflected on the Whitlam Government, outlined his Governments priorities and announced the opening of the National Reconstruction Fund. "Promises fulfilled, reforms begun. With more to do - and ready to do more," he said.
With sorrow, the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney acknowledges the passing of the Honourable Bill Hayden AC on 21 October 2023. As a genuine reformer and moderniser, Bill Hayden became an outstanding minister in the Whitlam Government after its election in 1972. His magnificent efforts as the father of Medicare and later as Treasurer will never be forgotten.
In this new Whitlam legacy paper, Revolution and Reform: The Women’s Liberation Movement and the Whitlam Years, Elizabeth Reid revisits the feminist revolution of the Whitlam years and her place at the nexus of the Women’s Liberation Movement and the Whitlam Government.
In 1974, Kerry Wonka was studying a Masters of Government at the University of Sydney when he decided to create a documentary exploring the role of television in politics. Though television is now an essential ingredient to any successful political campaign, the technology was still in its infancy when the It’s Time campaign took off in 1972. Watch an extract from Kerry Wonka’s film.
Dedicated to the Dedicated: Whitlam, the Arts and Democracy has gone interstate! For the first time, this free exhibition will be on display in Canberra at the National Archives of Australia until 29 October 2023.
We are excited to present the final publication by 2022 E.G. Whitlam Research Fellow Dr Ben Huf, ‘Curator of the National Estate’: Equality, Environment, and the Whitlam Government.
Read the full paper here.
With great sadness, the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University acknowledges the passing of the Honourable Simon Findlay Crean. Simon Crean was a lifelong trade unionist, progressive politician and friend of the Whitlam Institute.
The Whitlam Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Zoe Staines as the 2023 E.G. Whitlam Research Fellowship recipient. We look forward to sharing the research of Dr Zoe Staines with you as it unfolds.
On February 17, 2023, we hosted an inaugural half day seminar on the contemporary relevance of the legal transformations of the Whitlam government. the Federal Court of Australia. Speakers examined issues of Indigenous justice, and domestic and family violence with a spotlight on the Commonwealth’s participation in the provision of Legal Aid services.
On Friday 2 December, fifty years to the day of Gough Whitlam's election, we hosted Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese to dedicate the Whitlam Prime Ministerial Home, 32 Albert Street Cabramatta.
We look forward to hosting a public open day in 2023. The Whitlam Prime Ministerial Home will be a space with a living purpose, and we are excited to involve the community in it.
On October 21, the Whitlam Institute held a Symposium titled ‘Breaking Ground: Lessons in Preparing for and Winning Government’, the first of a series that will look back upon and examine this period. We were thrilled to use this opportunity to launch two 50th Anniversary Legacy Papers that draw together the strands of the sixties and early seventies to highlight how Gough Whitlam engaged with and embodied a rapidly changing Australia in order to end Labor’s decades long period in Opposition.
The 2022 Whitlam Oration, Labor’s Foreign Policy Informed by Whitlam’s Legacy, was delivered by Senator the Hon Penny Wong on 13 November at Bowman Hall in Blacktown, 50 years to the day from Gough Whitlam’s campaign launch at the very same place.
In her Oration, Senator the Hon Penny Wong reflected on the lessons we can learn from Gough Whitlam and outlined her government’s plan for a future of foreign affairs informed by his legacy. “We are more than just supporting players in a grand drama of global geopolitics, on a stage dominated by great powers,” she said.
This exchange first appeared in Griffith Review 78, A Matter of Taste.
This is the last in a series of intergenerational exchanges and reflections on the links to and legacies of the Whitlam era in the run up to the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 election. In this collaboration between Griffith Review and the Whitlam Institute, a professor of sociology talks to a cook, writer and television presenter about the many ways Whitlam helped us reimagine Australia.
These two papers, written by Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking, and Professor Frank Bongiorno AM are a celebration of the genesis of the Whitlam legacy.
We are the grateful beneficiaries of their careful scene-setting which greatly assists our re-examination of the road to the landmark “It’s Time” speech at Bowman Hall – the distillate of Gough Whitlam’s life’s thinking and his government’s three great aims: to promote equality, to involve the people of Australia in the decision-making processes of our land, and to liberate the talents and uplift the horizons of the Australian people.
Read them here.
We're thrilled to announce the winners and runners-up of the 2022 What Matters? Writing Competition!
Held at the Female Orphan School, the 2022 What Matters? Writing Competition Award Ceremony was a celebration of Gough Whitlam’s belief that we should not "set limits on what we can achieve together for our country, our people, our future". The young people you see here have won awards because their own stories, beautifully told, possess extraordinary energy and optimism for change on the issues that matter most to them.
Read the winning entries here.
This exchange first appeared in Griffith Review 77, Real Cool World.
This is the third in a series of intergenerational exchanges and reflections on the links to and legacies of the Whitlam era in the run up to the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 election. In this collaboration between Griffith Review and the Whitlam Institute, the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG speaks with E.G. Whitlam Fellow Dr. Benjamin Huf about the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) as a model for international collaboration and accommodation.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of John Juriansz as Director of the Whitlam Institute.
With an esteemed professional and academic career spanning political science, history, public policy, and law, Mr Juriansz has a strong commitment to social justice, equality and education.
He has held several senior roles at the University, including most recently as Interim Director of the Whitlam Institute and Deputy Dean of the School of Law.
We are seeking like-minded supporters to join with us to ensure Gough Whitlam’s vision remains possible, independent and loud.
Our mission is to follow in the footsteps of Gough Whitlam and his three great aims; to promote equality; to involve the people of Australia in the decision-making processes of our land; and to liberate the talents and uplift the horizons of the Australian people.
From a childhood in fledgling Canberra to spag bol in the suburbs, explore the influences that made Gough Whitlam an icon in our new digital exhibition, “Whitlam: the making of a Prime Minister”.
In this paper, E.G. Whitlam Fellow (2021), Associate Professor Camilla Nelson, presents the findings of a multiple case study research project investigating the impact of Federal Circuit and Family Court proceedings on children. It makes recommendations about how legal systems can become more aligned with children’s rights.
This exchange first appeared in Griffith Review 76, Acts of Reckoning
This is the second in a series of intergenerational exchanges and reflections on the links to and legacies of the Whitlam era in the run up to the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 election. In this collaboration between Griffith Review and the Whitlam Institute, a federal senator and land rights activist talks with an Indigenous studies and law graduate about Indigenous affairs across the past fifty years and into the future.
This new research from the Whitlam Institute captures a wide cross-section of perspectives and experiences from ordinary PNG citizens, including those living in a remote part of PNG, voices that are rarely heard in more official forums.
The Whitlam Institute, within Western Sydney University, acknowledges with sadness the passing of Dr Moss Cass, federal member for Maribyrnong from 1969 to 1983 and a minister in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1975.
This exchange first appeared in Griffith Review 75, Learning Curves
In this first of a series of intergenerational exchanges and reflections on the links to and legacies of the Whitlam era in the run up to the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 election, a former New South Wales ALP Minister for Education talks with a current tertiary student activist about the changing landscape of education – and advocacy – past, present and future.
The Whitlam Institute, within Western Sydney University, in collaboration with Bangladesh High Commission, Canberra, and Consulate General, Sydney, commemorates the Bangladesh golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
It is with some sadness that the Whitlam Institute Board announces the departure of Leanne Smith, Executive Director of the Whitlam Institute, and congratulates her on her appointment as the new Chief Executive of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
In light of the recent military withdrawal of US, Australian and other international forces from Afghanistan, and as the Taleban continues to gain control of territory and attack communities across the country, the Whitlam Institute seeks to raise awareness - in Australia and beyond - of the situation in Afghanistan today.