Around the world, norms and institutions that promote democracy and human rights are weakening.  They are challenged by discontent with cost of living, with longstanding and urgent environmental and social crises, and by ambitious and populist voices that do not respect restraint and social cohesion. 

Come and join other community members, scholars, and civil society groups as we celebrate, critique, interrogate and challenge the conditions for democracy and human rights today.  With festival events being organised across the country over eight days, you’re bound to find one near you or online.

Interested? You can find out more below and register for events.

Keen to host an event? We invite anyone - community members, scholars, students, and advocacy groups - to host an event as part of the festival! Please see our host guide for more info.

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Democracy and Human Rights Festival 2026

• Monday 1 June
  • Democracy and Human Rights – A musical concert and spoken word event, Dr Mary Mahoney AO Amphitheatre, UQ St Lucia. More details coming soon.  
• Tuesday 2 June
  • A series of inter-related workshops - come to any or all, as you wish! All in Room 271, Level 2 Global Change Institute (Building #20), UQ St Lucia, with an option to attend online (link TBC). Registration coming soon. 
    • 9-10am AEST: From Emotions to Action: Democracy & Human Rights Activism and Advocacy for Beginners This free, interactive, and hybrid workshop is for students and community members who feel sad, angry, or scared about the state of democracy and human rights, and who haven’t acted or who feel like beginners in democracy and human rights activism and advocacy. You’ll learn some key psychological principles and participate in hands-on activities to get started on your journey.  It’s fun for individuals, and it’s also great to come with friends.  You’ll meet some like-minded students and staff.​
    • 1-2pm AEST: Bridging Now to Next in Activism and Advocacy
      This free interactive workshop is about refreshing your vision of working to advance democracy and human rights. It’s open to anyone, but will offer the most to people who have been working long enough or given enough to a social movement to feel disillusionment, burnout, or despair.  We’ll be focusing on democracy and human rights, but the learnings and activities can benefit people in any movement.
    • 2:30-3:30pm AEST: Democracy and the Polycrisis
      Issues of democracy and human rights are inter-connected with other intensifying problems as humanity transgresses our planetary boundaries – problems like food insecurity, rising conflict, democratic backsliding, climate change, and biodiversity loss, together sometimes referred to as the Polycrisis.  Yet we often study or advocate for these problems in isolation.  Hear from scholars working on the polycrisis and grow your thinking about the interdisciplinary scholarship and trans-issue advocacy that is needed to orient to it in this free, hybrid, and interactive seminar.
• Wednesday 3 June
  • 10:30am-12pm AEST: Wellbeing in Difficult Times: Understanding Trauma and Distress, and Managing Difficult Thoughts and Feelings. This free, interactive workshop is for students, staff, and community members interested in learning about psychological distress and trauma. We will discuss how to support yourself and others during difficult times, and when and where to seek help. We will also learn some basic approaches to managing difficult thoughts and feelings, including mindfulness-based strategies. ​Room 271, Level 2 Global Change Institute (Building #20), UQ St Lucia, with an option to attend online (link TBC). Registration coming soon.
    Please note: we won’t be discussing trauma in detail. However, for some people even an introduction to the topic can bring up strong feelings. If you think this might be the case for you, it may be kinder to yourself to skip this session and reach out for one-on-one support instead.
  • 5-6:30pm AEST: PEPSS Seminar, "Inequality and democracies: What we know and what we don’t know", featuring Professor Jolanda Jetten, Professor of Social Psychology and Head of the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland, and Professor Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham and co‑author of The Spirit Level. Room 275, Level 2 Global Change Institute (Building #20), UQ St Lucia, with an option to attend online (link TBC). Registration coming soon.  
•  ​Thursday 4 June
  • 9am-5pm AEST: National Interdisciplinary Conversation on Democracy and Human Rights. Room 273, Level 2 Global Change Institute (Building #20), UQ St Lucia, with an option to attend online (link TBC). Registration coming soon.  
• Friday 5 June
  • 4-5pm AEST: Seminar - Ending Impunity Online panel discussion featuring interdisciplinary speakers from the field of law and psychology. More details coming soon.
  • 5:30-7:30pm AEST: Writing for Human Rights. A writing salon hosted by the UQ Writing Society and will be in person only. A writing challenge on the topic of democracy and human rights - prompts will be provided - concluding with the opportunity for attendees to read out their work towards the end of the salon. Open to all, including UQWS members and non-menbers as well as non-students. More details coming soon. 
  • 7-8pm AEST: Making Democracy Real for Women. Online panel discussion featuring interdisciplinary speakers including scholars and advocates. More details coming soon.