Australia 2046: Social cohesion is something we must build, not simply hope for

Liz opened by asking participants to describe Australia today in a single word. 

The responses were revealing: confused, tense, disengaged, uncertain. 

When the question shifted to the Australia participants hoped to see in 2046, the language changed: peacefulness, belonging, equity, collective responsibility and security. 

The contrast exposed an important tension. While many Australians can readily describe the pressures affecting social cohesion, articulating a shared vision of what a more cohesive society would look like, and how to create it, is considerably harder. 

Liz challenged the room to bridge that divide. 

Rather than allowing concern about polarisation, distrust and fragmentation to become the endpoint of the conversation, she invited participants to consider what they could influence, individually and collectively, over the next two decades. 

It was a deliberate invitation to practise optimism, not as a dismissal of the difficulties facing communities, but as a commitment to act on them.

One of the strongest themes to emerge was the need to strengthen our ability to engage constructively across difference. 

Participants described the increasing difficulty of navigating conversations involving political views, identity, culture and deeply held values. 

The discussion explored the importance of listening, curiosity, intellectual humility and the ability to disagree without personalising conflict or undermining relationships. 

Contributions from people working in media literacy, multicultural communities, local government and community engagement illustrated how these capabilities are already being developed in practice. 

Importantly, the discussion also recognised that respectful disagreement is not simply about finding common ground or avoiding uncomfortable topics. 

It requires the capacity to remain in relationship when views differ, to acknowledge the lived experiences behind those views and to create conditions in which people can participate without being excluded or diminished. 

For the Foundation, this is central to understanding civility as a leadership capability. The capacity to listen, engage, exercise judgement and act constructively across difference cannot be assumed. It must be cultivated.

Perhaps the most significant shift in the conversation came when Liz challenged participants to think differently about social cohesion itself. 

What if we understood social cohesion as infrastructure, rather than simply a sentiment? 

Much of the work to strengthen connection happens through local programs, community organisations, schools, sporting clubs, cultural institutions and everyday relationships. 

These efforts are valuable. Yet participants also recognised that good initiatives can remain fragmented, dependent on individuals, short-term resources or opportunities that are not available equally across communities. 

The challenge is not simply to create more programs. 

It is to consider how existing efforts can be connected, strengthened and sustained, and how the systems surrounding them might need to change. 

Participants explored the importance of investing in local social infrastructure, creating opportunities for people from different backgrounds to encounter one another, strengthening civic participation and ensuring that institutions are more representative of the communities they serve. 

They also raised questions about where decisions are made, who has influence and whether people have the time, resources and genuine opportunities to contribute. 

These are questions of governance, investment, institutional design and leadership. 

They invite us to consider social cohesion not only as an outcome we hope to achieve, but as something that must be deliberately supported through the way our communities and institutions operate.

The conversation repeatedly returned to the importance of participation, particularly for younger generations and those whose perspectives are too often absent from decision-making. 

Participants questioned how a vision for Australia’s future could be developed without meaningfully involving the people who will inherit it. 

Young people need more than opportunities to express their views. They need pathways to influence decisions, shape policy and exercise leadership. 

The discussion also highlighted the wisdom and experience already present within communities, including First Nations perspectives, multicultural communities and grassroots organisations. 

This raised a broader question: how do we move from consulting communities to genuinely sharing responsibility and influence with them? 

A more cohesive Australia will require institutions that listen differently, recognise diverse forms of knowledge and create meaningful opportunities for people to help shape their collective future.

Throughout the session, Liz returned to the relationship between the individual, the community and the collective. 

What can I do? What can we do together? And what becomes possible when responsibility extends beyond our own organisations or immediate interests? 

Participants offered examples of everyday leadership, from neighbours helping one another and local councils building community relationships to organisations creating opportunities for meaningful intercultural connection. 

These examples demonstrated that social cohesion is shaped through ordinary encounters as much as formal initiatives. 

But Liz continued to push the discussion beyond individual goodwill. 

How might these acts of connection become more widespread? What would enable them to endure? And what would need to change in the systems and institutions that shape everyday civic life? 

The task is to connect personal agency with collective capability and the structural conditions that allow both to flourish.

In closing, Liz reflected on five dimensions of purpose that can help turn aspiration into action: 

• Awareness: Understanding the complexity of the challenge, including perspectives beyond our own. 
• Influence: Recognising where we have the capacity to contribute to change. 
• Imagination: Being willing to envisage possibilities beyond current arrangements. 
• Wisdom: Valuing the knowledge and experience held across communities, cultures and generations. 
• Courage: Challenging assumptions, confronting difficult issues and taking responsibility for action. 

Together, these provide a useful challenge for individuals, organisations and institutions seeking to contribute to a more cohesive Australia. 

The conversation did not produce a single blueprint for 2046. Nor was that its purpose. 

Instead, it revealed the importance of creating the conditions in which a shared vision can emerge, informed by diverse perspectives and supported by the capabilities, relationships and infrastructure needed to make it real.

For the Menzies Leadership Foundation, these questions sit at the heart of Reimagining a Civil Australia, a national initiative exploring how we strengthen civility, trust, belonging and the collective capability to engage constructively across difference. 

The Foundation’s work recognises that social cohesion cannot be sustained through isolated interventions alone. It requires attention to the relationships, leadership practices and systemic conditions that enable communities to navigate complexity together. 

Building on the conversations at the Summit, the Foundation is also partnering with the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, with facilitation by GoodWolf, to convene From Insight to Action: Strengthening Social Cohesion Together, a series of focused workshops in December. 

These conversations will explore how knowledge, coordination, investment and shared ambition can strengthen collective efforts across the social cohesion field. 

The question Liz posed at the Summit remains open. 

If we want to live in a more connected, equitable and cohesive Australia in 2046, what are we prepared to imagine, change and build together today? 

The future will not be shaped by aspiration alone. It will depend on what we choose to practise, support and sustain now.

• Reimagining a Civil Australia: https://menziesfoundation.org.au/civility 
• The question remains open. Help us answer it.
  Join From Insight to Action: Strengthening the Social Cohesion Field, three online workshops on 1, 3 and 7 December 2026. Groups are small and places are limited.
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• From Insight to Action workshops: https://menziesfoundation.org.au/social-cohesion-workshops