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Australian Progress Conferences: Videos, Presentations and Articles

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Introduction

The Centre for Australian Progress is an organisation dedicated to building the advocacy capacity of Australia’s civil society organisations. They hold two key conferences in Australia called Progress and FWD+Organise.

  • Progress
    Australia’s largest social change conference is held every two years. Bringing together entry-level campaigners, senior management teams, and everyone in between, Progress helps to build the courage, connections, and capability of civil society through a cross-pollination of ideas, lessons and skills, and by fostering new relationships.
  • FWD+Organise
    FWD+Organise conferences have built dynamic communities of practice around digital campaigning and community organising, connecting advocates to cutting-edge technologists and organising approaches from Australia and around the world. FWD+Organise is a two day conference bringing together hundreds of digital campaigners and organisers to share hands-on skills, tactics and lessons from recent campaigns.

The Commons Library undertakes ‘event reporting’ at Australian Progress conferences. This includes attending sessions, liaising with presenters, sourcing presentations, and writing articles to capture the key lessons. The Commons Library also engages in the conference discussions and online platforms to link participants up with relevant resources, deepening their learning experience.

Here we have collated links to videos, presentations and articles from past conferences.

FWD + Organise

FWD + Organise 2024

Text reads '5-6 December, Naarm | Melbourne, FWD+Ogranise 2024'. Below main text reads 'Convening Australia's leading community organisers and digital campaigners'.

Australian Progress hosted FWD+Organise from the 5-6 Dec, 2024 in Naarm | Melbourne. Digital and organising practitioners from across the breadth of civil society – including grassroots movements, unions, large nonprofits, service delivery charities, for-purpose business and more – came together to share practical skills, learn innovative approaches to advocacy, and build lasting collaborations. The program included keynotes, workshops, masterclasses and expert briefings. See an overview of the conference or individual resources below.

FWD + Organise 2021

Australian Progress hosted the FWD+Organise 2021 conference online from the 1-2 Dec 2021 and is an initiative of Australian Progress, a national organisation dedicated to building the advocacy and campaigning capacity of Australian civil society to achieve systems change. The conference is a place where community organisers and digital campaigners come together to share practical skills, learn innovative approaches to advocacy and build lasting collaborations to win systemic change. The conference featured more than 60 speakers leading more than 50 sessions in the program which included keynotes, workshops, masterclasses and expert briefings. The 2021 program focused on centring communities with lived experience, highlighting winning case studies during the pandemic and tactics to win on our issues in the upcoming Federal Election.

Progress

Virtual Progress 2020

Virtual Progress 2020

Australian Progress held Virtual Progress 2020 on June 23-24. It was a rapid response online conference to respond to the intersecting crises of the pandemic, racial injustice, rising inequality and the climate crisis. The conference included 1,600 participants, 225 speakers from 13 countries, 5,000+ live chat messages and more than 60 sessions exploring everything from First Nations self-determination to racial justice, disability justice, health, economic fairness, the climate crisis and so much more.

FWD + Organise 2019 Conference

FWD + Organise 2019 Conference Logo

Australian Progress hosted the FWD+Organise 2019 conference in Sydney, 5-6 December 2019. The conference was attended by 300 of Australia’s leading grassroots, industrial and community organisers as well as digital advocates, campaigners and activists from organisations representing all sectors. The conference featured 70 speakers running more than 30 sessions. The conference took place against the eery backdrop of record air pollution from bush fires, bringing the climate crisis front of mind. Decolonisation was also strongly on the agenda with powerful First Nations presenters and case studies.

View the collated materials from FWD+Organise 2019, or click the links below to presentations, articles and related resources.

Progress 2019

Progress 2019 – Australia’s largest social change conference from AustralianProgress on Vimeo.

Progress 2017

Progress 2017

Progress 2015

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