2026 Laurie Carmichael Lecture – Fighting for a better life for workers: lessons from the past, for the future

The 2026 Laurie Carmichael Lecture will be delivered by Bill Kelty AC, former Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

In this year’s lecture, Bill will look at what a good quality of life for working people really involves. A decent wage is the foundation, but the idea goes further: access to education, participation in cultural life, and the time and security to enjoy them. This broader view of what work should make possible was central to Bill's many conversations with Laurie Carmichael. It is especially relevant now, as working people deal with sustained pressure on real wages.

Bill will also reflect on his long partnership with Laurie, whom he called a ‘gentle Communist warrior’. The two came from different ideological traditions within the labour movement, yet worked closely together through some of its most consequential decades. Their collaboration shows what can be achieved through shared purpose across differences.

The lecture will be chaired by Correna Haythorpe, Federal President of the Australian Education Union.

About the Laurie Carmichael Lecture

The Laurie Carmichael Lecture is an annual keynote lecture hosted by the Carmichael Centre, an initiative of the Centre for Future Work, in partnership with RMIT University’s Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT).

The lecture honours Laurie Carmichael (1925–2018), a prominent trade unionist and communist, who campaigned passionately throughout his life to protect workers’ rights, including the rights to organise and take industrial action. Laurie's legacy is one of outstanding and innovative leadership to the trade union and social justice movements in Australia. His lifetime of activism covered numerous themes that remain relevant and pressing today.