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Egalitarianism, the idea that each person has equal worth; that any limitations on achievement and ability to share in society's goods should be systematically broken down, is a goal that UWA's Winthrop Professor Carmen Lawrence has always been passionately committed to achieving.

In this year's Reid Oration, Dr Lawrence, who served on the recent Commonwealth review of school funding in Australia, will discuss the importance of equality in education.

"Increasing inequality in Australia presents a real threat, not just to the well-being of those who are missing out, but also to our collective well-being. Such inequality, especially in a society accustomed to seeing itself as fair, creates a nagging sense of injustice and threatens social solidarity and stability," said Dr Lawrence, who is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Social Change at The University of Western Australia.

The Reid Oration, a joint collaboration between the WA Institute of Public Administration Australia and The University of Western Australia was established in 1991 to honour the contribution to public life by Professor Gordon Reid, a former Governor of Western Australia (1984-1989).

A professor of politics for many years at The University of Western Australia, as well as serving as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Reid was also a Fellow and past President of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. Professor Reid passed away in 1989.

The Oration aims to encourage public interest and research into public policy and contemporary thinking of our times; not dissimilar to the work of Professor Reid.

WHAT: Public lecture, 2012 Reid Oration - Maintaining a civil society: The importance of equality and education .

WHERE: University Club Theatre Auditorium, The University of Western Australia. Parking P3, off Hackett Drive.

WHEN: Wednesday 17 October at 6pm.

RSVP : Institute of Advanced Studies.

Media references

Audrey Barton (UWA Institute of Advanced Studies)  (+61 8)  6488 4797