About Us
The Boyer Lectures is a series of talks by prominent Australians chosen by the ABC Board to present ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues. The lectures have been broadcast on ABC Radio for more than 40 years and have stimulated thought, discussion and debate in Australia on an astonishing range of subjects – great minds examining issues and values.
The Boyer Collection, an anthology of individual lectures selected by ABC chairman Donald McDonald AO, was published to mark the 40-year history of the Boyer Lectures in 2001. This collection celebrates the vibrancy of the ideas and debates within the lectures.
A special series of programs was broadcast in March and April 2003 in which Donald McDonald presented some of his Highlights of the Boyer Collection
The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 and are named after the late Sir Richard Boyer, who was chairman of the ABC. Previous Boyer lecturers include Murray Gleeson, Inga Clendinnen, David Malouf, Manning Clark, Eva Cox, Bob Hawke and Professor Pierre Ryckmans.
The Boyer Lecturers 1959 - 2007
2006: Restoring The Senses – Professor Graeme Clark
2006: The Search for Stability – Ian Macfarlane
2005: The Future of Jesus – Dr Peter Jensen
2004: Tales of Two Hemispheres – Peter Conrad
2003: Highlights of the Boyer Collection – presented by Donald McDonald
2003: Benign or Imperial? Reflections of American Hegemony – Owen Harries
2001: This Land is all Horizons: Australian Fears and Visions – Professor Geoffrey Blainey
2000: The Rule of Law and the Constitution – The Hon. Murray Gleeson, AC,
1999: True Stories – Dr Inga Clendinnen
1998: A Spirit of Play: The Making of Australian Consciousness – David Malouf
1997: Between Fear and Hope: Hybrid Thoughts on Public Views – Professor Martin Krygier
1996: Aspects of Culture – Prof Pierre Ryckmans
1995: A Truly Civil Society – Eva Cox
1994: Advance Australia Where? – Kerry Stokes
1993: Voices of the Land – presented by six Indigenous Australians in IYWIP: Getano Lui, Dr Ian Anderson, Jeannie Bell, Mandawuy Yunupingu, Dot West and Noel Pearson
1992: A View From the Edge – An Australian Stocktaking (history) – Geoffrey Bolton
1991: Changing Australia (changes through technology) – Fay Gale and Ian Lowe
1990: Between Life and Economics – Tom Fitzgerald
1989: Life, Death, Genes and Ethics: Biotechnology and Bioethics – Max Charlesworth
1988: Postscripts – eight previous Boyer lecturers revisit their lectures.
1987: Placing Together a Shared Vision (multicultural Australia) Davis McCaughey
1986: Australia The Last Experiment – Eric Wilmot
1985: Australia In a Developing World – Helen Hughes
1984: Coming of Age in Australia – Shirley Hazzard
1983: The Judges – Justice Michael Kirby
1982: Living With Technology – Sir Bruce Williams
1981: The Limits Of Government – Prof John Passmore
1980: The Spectre Of Truganini – Bernard Smith
1979: The Resolution Of Conflict – Bob Hawke
1978: Nature's Defence – Sir Gustav Nossal
1977: Writers of The Bulletin – Douglas Stewart
1976: A Discovery Of Australia – Manning Clark
1975: The Web Of Criminal Law – Dame Roma Mitchell
1974: Housing & Government – Hugh Stretton
1973: Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow – Prof Sir Keith Hancock
1972: The Challenge of Change – Prof Dexter Dunphy
1971: Life and Health in Australia – Prof Basil E Hetzel
1970: Role of Institutions In Our Lives – Dr HC Coombs
1969: The Private Man – Sir Zelman Cowen
1968: After the Dreaming – Prof WEH Stanner
1967: Artificial Australia – Robin Boyd
1966: Biology and the Appreciation Of Life – Sir MacFarlane Burnet
1965: The Brain and the Person – Prof Sir John Eccles
1964: Along the Edge Of Peace – George Ivan Smith
1963: Australian and Foreign Policy – Prof JDB Miller
1962: In Defence Of the Common Man – Prof WGK Duncan
1961: The Crowding World – Prof WD Borrie
1960: Law and Policy In the Quest For Survival – Prof Julius Stone
1959: Society In the Space Age – Dr David Forbes Martyn
