TheBoyer Lectures are a series of talks by prominent Australians, presenting ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues, and broadcast onABC Radio National.^[1]

The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as theABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Lectures. They were modelled on the BBC'sReith Lectures,^[2] and renamed in 1961 afterRichard Boyer (later Sir Richard), the ABC board chairman who had first suggested the lectures. The series is broadcast every year in between September and December onABC Radio National.

The lectures are delivered by prominent Australians selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Board, intended to stimulate thought, discussion and debate in Australia on a wide range of subjects, examining key issues and values.

• 1959 – DrDavid Forbes Martyn – "Society in the Space Age"

• 1960 – ProfJulius Stone – "Law and Policy in the Quest for Survival"
• 1961 – ProfW. D. Borrie – "The Crowding World"
• 1962 – ProfW. G. K. Duncan – "In Defence of the Common Man"
• 1963 – ProfJ. D. B. Miller – "Australian and Foreign Policy"
• 1964 –George Ivan Smith – "Along the Edge of Peace"
• 1965 – Prof SirJohn Eccles – "The Brain and the Person"
• 1966 – SirMacfarlane Burnet – "Biology and the Appreciation of Life"
• 1967 –Robin Boyd – "Artificial Australia"
• 1968 – ProfW. E. H. Stanner "After the Dreaming"^[3]
• 1969 – SirZelman Cowen "The Private Man"

• 1970 – DrH. C. Coombs – "Role of Institutions in Our Lives"
• 1971 – ProfBasil Hetzel – "Life and Health in Australia"
• 1972 – ProfDexter Dunphy – "The Challenge of Change"
• 1973 – Prof SirKeith Hancock – "Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow"
• 1974 –Hugh Stretton – "Housing & Government"
• 1975 – DameRoma Mitchell – "The Web of Criminal Law"
• 1976 –Manning Clark – "A Discovery of Australia"
• 1977 –Douglas Stewart – "Writers ofThe Bulletin"
• 1978 – SirGustav Nossal – "Nature's Defence"
• 1979 –Bob Hawke – "The Resolution of Conflict"

• 1980 –Bernard Smith – "The Spectre ofTruganini"
• 1981 – ProfJohn Passmore – "The Limits of Government"
• 1982 – Prof SirBruce Williams – "Living with Technology"
• 1983 – JusticeMichael Kirby – "The Judges"
• 1984 –Shirley Hazzard – "Coming of Age in Australia"
• 1985 –Helen Hughes – "Australia in a Developing World"
• 1986 – ProfEric Willmot – "Australia The Last Experiment"
• 1987 –Davis McCaughey – "Piecing Together a Shared Vision" (multicultural Australia)
• 1988 – "Postscripts: eight previous Boyer lecturers revisit their lectures"
• 1989 –Max Charlesworth – "Life, Death, Genes and Ethics: Biotechnology and Bioethics"

• 1990 –Tom Fitzgerald – "Between Life and Economics"
• 1991 –Fay Gale andIan Lowe – "Changing Australia (changes through technology)"
• 1992 –Geoffrey Bolton – "A View From the Edge: An Australian Stocktaking (history)"
• 1993 – Presented by six Indigenous Australians in theInternational Year of the World's Indigenous People (IYWIP):Getano Lui, DrIan Anderson,Jeanie Bell,Mandawuy Yunupingu,Dot West andNoel Pearson – "Voices of the Land"
• 1994 –Kerry Stokes – "Advance Australia Where?"
• 1995 –Eva Cox – "A Truly Civil Society"
• 1996 – ProfPierre Ryckmans – "Aspects of Culture"
• 1997 – ProfMartin Krygier – "Between Fear and Hope: Hybrid Thoughts on Public Views"
• 1998 –David Malouf – "A Spirit of Play: The Making of Australian Consciousness"
• 1999 – DrInga Clendinnen – "True Stories"

• 2000 – Chief JusticeMurray Gleeson – "The Rule of Law and the Constitution"
• 2001 – ProfGeoffrey Blainey – "This Land is all Horizons: Australian Fears and Visions"
• 2002 –Ian Castles (Not delivered due to bereavement)
• 2003 –Owen Harries – "Benign or Imperial? Reflections on American Hegemony"
• 2004 –Peter Conrad – "Tales of Two Hemispheres"
• 2005 – ArchbishopPeter Jensen – "The Future of Jesus"
• 2006 –Ian Macfarlane – "The Search For Stability"
• 2007 –Graeme Clark – "Restoring The Senses"
• 2008 –Rupert Murdoch^[4] – "A Golden Age of Freedom"
• 2009 – GeneralPeter Cosgrove – "A Very Australian Conversation"

• 2010 – ProfessorGlyn Davis – "The Republic of Learning: higher education transforms Australia"
• 2011 –Geraldine Brooks – "The Idea of Home"^[5]
• 2012 – ProfessorMarcia Langton – "The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom"^[6]
• 2013 – Governor-GeneralQuentin Bryce^[7] – "Back to Grassroots"
• 2014 – ProfessorSuzanne Cory – "The promise of science: a vision of hope"
• 2015 – DrMichael Fullilove – "A larger Australia"
• 2016 – Professor SirMichael Marmot – "Fair Australia: Social Justice and the Health Gap"
• 2017 – ProfessorGenevieve Bell – "Fast, Smart and Connected: What is it to be Human, and Australian, in a Digital World?"^[8]
• 2018 – ProfessorJohn Rasko – "Life Re-engineered"^[9]
• 2019 – FilmmakerRachel Perkins – "The End of Silence"^[10]

• 2020 –Philanthropist and business leader DrAndrew ForrestAO – "Rebooting Australia: How ethical entrepreneurs can help shape a better future"^[11]
• 2021 – ActorJohn Bell – "Shakespeare: Soul of the Age"^[12]
• 2022 –Noel Pearson – "Who we were and who we can be"^[13]
• 2023 – ProfessorMichelle SimmonsAO –

• 1 "The Atomic Revolution"^[14]
• 2 "The Quantum Promise"^[15]
• 3 "Imagination and Mindset"^[16]
• 4 "The Importance of Doubt"^[17]

• 2024 – Classical music in the contemporary age –

• 1 ProfessorAnna Goldsworthy, Kairos^[18]
• 2Aaron Wyatt
• 3Iain Grandage
• 4Lyn Williams AM

• 2025 - Australia: A Radical Experiment in Democracy^[19]
  • 1 ProfessorJustin Wolfers, "Australia is Freaking Amazing"^[20]
  • 2John Anderson, AO, "Our Civilisational Moment"
  • 3 ProfessorLarissa Behrendt, "Justice, Ideas and Inclusion"

• History of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Reith Lectures
• Massey Lectures

• "Boyer Lectures".Australian Government. Culture and Recreation Portal. Archived fromthe original on 30 November 2005.
• McDonald, Donald, ed. (2001),The Boyer Collection : Highlights of the Boyer Lectures 1959–2000, ABC Books, for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,ISBN 978-0-7333-1003-4

• Official website
• Archivedtranscripts
• boyer lectures podcastRSS feed

• Culture of Australia
• Lecture series
• 1959 establishments in Australia
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programs
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
• Australian talk radio programs
• Recurring events established in 1959

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from July 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from July 2016