News and Insights

We share ideas, research and commentary that help shape the conversation about Greater Hobart’s future.

From policy insights to community perspectives, these articles explore the challenges and opportunities facing our region.

Students lining up for food at Grounded cafe as part of TUSA After Dark. In the background students sit around heaters and tables, and posters line the wall of a nearby fence.
June 30, 2026

How can students participate in the night-time economy when they can’t even afford food?

Cost of living pressures are reshaping life at the University of Tasmania, writes Cam Crawford and Jack Oates Pryor....
A person waves their arms while sitting on someone else's shoulders in front of stage at gig. Red lights shine on the stage, and the crowd and person is in silhouette.
May 21, 2026

Why the $10 million for Creative Industries must be just the beginning​

Hobart is a UNESCO City of Literature. Almost half of Tasmanians have low functional literacy. That tension is exactly why any investment into creativity matters, and why the Budget announcement...
Exterior shot of Moonah Arts Centre. The sky is bright blue with white clouds rolling by. The top of the Moonah Arts Centre building can be seen, with aluminum cladding and a light hanging over the edge.
May 8, 2026

Abundance, one year on: lessons for Tasmania around desludging the system, and Moonah as a solution

Authors Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson gave prominence to a very important conversation. But a year later, the question they are still struggling to answer is the one that matters...
A view from the interior of The Forest, looking out over the entryway underneath a glass dome roof. There are ferns and a pathway leading from the entrance to the interior teaching and learning spaces.
March 25, 2026

Seeing the forest and the trees​

At first glance, the opening of the University of Tasmania’s new Forest building in Hobart’s CBD is about education infrastructure. But moments like this are rarely just about bricks and...
March 16, 2026

If “Building Tasmania” is to translate into real change, the focus must shift quickly from announcement to delivery

Tasmania faces a challenging environment. The state budget is under structural pressure, the cost-of-living crisis is widening inequality, and housing shortages continue to affect communities across the state. In that...
February 13, 2026

The superpower of connection

The University of Tasmania recently asked me to be part of a conversation with their leadership group, with the overarching theme for their discussions over the two days centered around...