Melbourne Conversations 2026
PRESENTED BY CITY OF MELBOURNE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FED SQUARE.
Ever wanted to hear more on a particular issue, or to have your say? Melbourne Conversations is the city’s longest-running free public event series, bringing together local and international personalities, authors, artists and experts for insightful talks on topic mattering most to Melburnians. The Melbourne Conversations series is aimed at informing, engaging and inspiring Melburnians to discuss big opportunities and challenges facing a capital city, across themes including community and culture, the economy and technology.
Our next conversation:
Thursday 5 November, 6pm–7.30pm | The Edge
As Australia confronts a mounting reckoning – with democracy, with the planet, with its own unresolved past – what would it mean to actually listen to Aboriginal knowledge systems? This special event is a rare in-person conversation with Kombumerri and Wakka Wakka Elder, scholar and national treasure Aunty Dr Mary Graham.
More dates to be announced soon.
Past talks:
Wednesday 11 February, 6pm | The Edge
AI, equity, and power. Who shapes technology, and who gets excluded?
Tuesday 28 April, 6pm | The Edge
From local organising to global advocacy, climate organisers discuss sustaining justice in this free public talk.
Monday 15 June, 6pm | The Edge
Would you swim in the Yarra River – Birrarung? Together with scientists, designers, and city leaders, we will unpack why the idea has captured the public imagination and what it would take to make it a reality.
Wednesday 22 July, 6pm | The Edge
How can design reveal and strengthen our connections to Country? Bringing together leading voices in First Nations knowledge, architecture and urban design, this conversation will explore how pathways, trails and infrastructure can act as living cultural lines.
Thursday 27 August, 6pm | The Edge
In this special edition of Melbourne Conversations, presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre, author and musician Anna Goldsworthy discusses her new Quarterly Essay, The God We Made. Here, she considers how artificial intelligence is reshaping culture in its own image.