Big Ideas Folgen

What is the future of religion? Many see the declining number of ‘traditional believers’ as a clear sign that religion has no future. Others resist any idea that our established religions might adapt to new cultural trends. But religions come and go. Always have and always will. The latest shift of religion is not secularism, but atomisation into individual believes.

The biggest tertiary reforms in decades are taking shape in our universities. Are students attracted to cut-priced STEM courses and rejecting humanities subjects that have doubled in price? Insiders suggest another possibility: cash-strapped universities could create more places in higher fee courses.

How many houses, schools, pensions, and skilled workers will we need in the next decade? The answer to that requires a handle on the size and shape of our population. Demographers give governments a snapshot but the modelling contains guesswork about fertility rates , life expectancy and immigration policy. Could we do more to make Australia an attractive destination for skilled migrants?