Bold. Inclusive. Urgent
Reimagining a Civil Australia
Why Civility Matters Now
Communities across Australia are grappling with rising racism, tribalism, and distrust. We’re becoming more alienated and less able to bridge deepening social divides, and our social fabric is unravelling. Many institutions are caught between opposing forces or unsure how to respond, while citizens can act in ways institutions cannot, by building personal relationships across divides and creating momentum and space for structural responses.
Key to this is civility: our appetite and ability to engage constructively across fundamental differences in common cause. Yet a contemporary culture and capacity for civil engagement is missing in many communities. Old-fashioned politeness is inadequate in the face of grievance, and imposing one group’s definition of civility can exacerbate tensions and so, we need to reimagine civility and build mechanisms to cultivate it at scale across Australia.
The Civility Initiative
Philanthropy brings high-risk capital and independence, connecting community heart with system-level nous to drive innovation and tackle contemporary racism and tribalism. The Menzies Leadership Foundation fosters outstanding leadership for the greater good; as a philanthropic foundation and system entrepreneur, we amplify a leadership movement and catalyse partnerships to build leadership at scale. One of our priority cohorts, our “leadership sandbox”, is citizens seeking to strengthen their communities’ resilience.
Through the Reimagining Civility Initiative, the Menzies Leadership Foundation, has convened a coalition to make sense of the challenges and opportunities around civility, unearth new insights, and co-develop an inclusive response.
Our goal is bold: to reimagine a more civil Australia with a unifying narrative about race and diversity and a national platform for action that helps all Australians engage constructively across differences and strengthen their communities’ resilience
National Coalition
Support community pilots and make collective sense of insights.
Co-design a scalable, national approach with communities across Australia.
In 2026, a national taskforce, convened by General Sir Peter Cosgrove AK CVO MC, will oversee the approach and guide implementation.
The Community Pilots
Ballarat Civility Exchange
Ballarat (population 114,000) has long been central to Australia’s story of justice, representation, and multiculturalism. The 1850s gold rush and multicultural hub sparked demands for justice, fair representation and the Eureka Rebellion. 170 years on, Ballarat continues to wrestle with deep social challenges. In response, local government, industry, funders and community organisations are stepping forward together to tackle these issues in new and more connected ways.
The Ballarat Foundation has launched the Ballarat Civility Exchange, a gathering of leaders across nonprofit, public, and private sectors with key activities to include:
- A learning circle where participants share insights and test micro-experiments.
- A Schools “Design Out Racism” Challenge, with $20,000 in prize funding to bring student ideas to life.
- Additional community-led campaigns under consideration.
Tasmania Community Resilience Initiative
Tasmania (population 580,000) has many strengths as a connected island state. It also grapples with growing inequality and the continuing impacts of colonisation on Palawa community. From state politics to community, there is a call to ‘do leadership differently’ so that our differences do not divide but become a strength for Tasmanians to ‘pursue the quietly extraordinary’ together.
Collaboration for Impact is embedding work on civility in the Tasmania Community Resilience Initiative with key activities to include:
- Three Futures Learning Circles to surface desired and competing futures.
- Consultations with community leaders and public focus groups.
- Developmental evaluation to capture lessons that inform national work.
Together, these pilots, one rooted in a regional city, the other spanning local, regional and state-level systems, will provide important contrasts as we shape a national approach.
Insights So Far
Through early work, several key lessons are emerging:
Narrative & language matter.
Terms like “racism” and “civility” resonate differently across communities. A working definition that has gained traction is: “our appetite and ability to engage constructively with each other across our fundamental differences in common cause.”
Exploration over prescription.
Local communities often lack capacity for exploratory approaches. Yet tackling racism and civility requires sense-making, trial, and iteration rather than fixed plans.
Common ground is emerging.
Across Ballarat and Tasmania, elements such as kindness, respect, inclusion, and calling in rather than calling out are surfacing as shared dimensions of civility.
Get Involved
We’re keen to engage with others in this work. Please get in touch with us if you’re interested in partnering to reimagine a civil Australia.
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