Center for Independent Studies

Center for Independent Studies   (Think tank)
Formation	1976
Founder	Greg Lindsay
Headquarters	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Membership	• Tom Switzer • Nicholas Moore • Peter Mason.Simon Cowan • Steven Schwartz • Peter Kurti • Jacinta Nampijinpa Price • Robert Carling • Salvatore Babones • Blaise Joseph
Australian libertarian think tank founded in 1976 which specialises in public policy research

The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) is an Australian libertarian think tank founded in 1976 which specialises in public policy research. It is based in Sydney and focuses on classical liberal issues such as free markets and limited government.

The CIS is funded solely by donations, membership subscriptions, and book and event sales from individuals, corporations and charitable trusts. It does not accept government funding. It states that "all research decisions are made by the research team and not by the donors."

Philosophy

The CIS describes itself as a "classical liberal think tank."

The CIS measures its performance by monitoring and analysing the output of research papers, events, presentations, opinion pieces and media mentions, changes in the policy environment, website page views and financial support.

CIS is affiliated with the United States-based Atlas Network, which advocates free market economic policies across the world.

Research programs

The CIS has research programs on:

• Education
• Economic Policy (Tax Policy, Infrastructure, Workplace reform, government spending)
• Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society
• Indigenous Affairs
• China and Free Societies

Most policy research focuses upon the role of the free market in an open society, and how voluntary processes could be used to provide many of the goods and services normally supplied by the compulsory methods of government. Individual liberty and choice, including freedom of association, religion, speech and the right to property are also common themes.

A report dated 2 November 2016 on Australia’s health system by CIS stated “government restrictions, regulations, and other barriers to entry within the health care and medical insurance industries cripple [competition]” and proposed setting up of “Health Innovation Communities”.

A June 2018 CIS report found that the overwhelming majority of Australian “millennials” (defined as those born between 1980 and 1996) have a favourable view of socialism. The report was described as "a worried warning to Australia’s ruling elite of a political radicalisation among young people and the threat that it poses to the capitalist system."

Media

CIS researchers regularly comment in opinion pieces in Australian newspapers, online, on radio and on TV, with content mirrored on their YouTube channel.

The CIS also has a weekly newsletter ideas@thecentre and a weekly livestream interview show On Liberty.

Staff

Tom Switzer has been Executive Director of CIS since 2018, succeeding founder Greg Lindsay who had held the position for 42 years. In February 2019, Nicholas Moore was appointed Chairman of the CIS board succeeding Peter Mason.

Notable individuals in the CIS research staff include:

• Simon Cowan, Research Director and Senior Research Fellow
• Greg Lindsay, Senior Fellow
• Steven Schwartz, Senior Fellow
• Peter Kurti, Director of Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society Program
• Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Director of Indigenous Program
• Robert Carling, Senior Fellow in Economics
• Salvatore Babones, Adjunct Scholar
• Blaise Joseph, Research Fellow in Education Program

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References

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