Across 13 conversations with coalition members, a pattern emerged: the ideas for strengthening civility aren't missing. They're already alive in the work of organisations across Australia. The question isn't "what should we do?" — it's "what's already happening, and what would change if it was connected?"
One of the clearest findings from the coalition's sense-making work is that civility is not a behaviour you can demand or teach in isolation. It's what emerges when the conditions are right — when people have the capacity, capability, trust, and sense of belonging to engage across difference.
This reframes the challenge. Instead of asking "how do we make people more civil?", the coalition is asking "what are the conditions that allow civility to flourish, and how do we strengthen them?"
The ideas cluster naturally into five territories — domains where work is already happening and where the coalition can make sense of what's emerging:
Ideas don't scale themselves. The Menzies Leadership Foundation has identified six existing national infrastructure networks — "engines" — with the reach to carry civility work into communities:
Community foundations. Local newsrooms. Neighbourhood houses. Universities and TAFEs. Local government. Chambers of commerce.
The strategic question is: which territory–engine combinations have the most traction? Where does concentrated energy meet an engine with the capacity to move?
The radar and matrix views let you explore these intersections. The densest cluster — local media — has the most specific, actionable ideas and a live strategic opportunity. Concentrated and potentially activatable with a single bold move.
The critical distinction is that these territories are not programme areas for the coalition to implement. They are domains for the coalition to observe, connect, and amplify. The coalition's unique contribution is seeing the whole board and finding where existing activity could be amplified through connection.
The Civility Coalition is an initiative led by the Menzies Leadership Foundation (MLF) to develop a national approach to civility and social cohesion in Australia.
The coalition brings together practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders who are already working on the conditions for a more connected society — in schools, newsrooms, community spaces, and civic institutions.
The ideas shown here aren't proposals from a consultant. They are things already happening in the work of the people around this table. The coalition's role is not to deliver programmes but to see the whole board — finding where existing activity could be amplified through connection.
An initiative of the Menzies Leadership Foundation. Coalition facilitation and synthesis by Paper Giant.
Four conditions mapped across four levels — from personal to systemic. Civility isn't a behaviour you demand; it's what emerges when these conditions are in place. Click any cell to see which ideas connect.
All 38 ideas from coalition interviews, sortable and filterable.