Journalist, author and professor Stan Grant will deliver a keynote address at Forestry Australia’s 2026 Symposium in Canberra this October. Registrations are now open for the three-day gathering at the Rex Hotel, running from Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 October. Grant headlines a programme themed around the forestry story and how the sector can strengthen public awareness and social licence, with The Ethics Centre’s executive director, Simon Longstaff, joining the bill as a second keynote speaker.
The Symposium builds on Forestry Australia’s 2025 Conference in Adelaide and its 2024 Symposium in Ballarat, bringing the forest science and management community together to examine how forestry articulates its values and connects with the broader Australian community.
Forestry Australia CEO Jacquie Martin said the programme reflects a commitment to open and constructive dialogue, with the sector carrying both something to say and a responsibility to listen to the communities around it.
“Forestry has an important story to tell,” Martin said.
Martin said bringing thought leaders into the forest management community’s conversation would challenge the sector’s thinking and prompt reflection on its current approach. Social licence rests on genuine connection, trust and accountability, she said, rather than something the sector can assume.
“Social licence is not something our sector can take for granted,” Martin said.
Grant brings a four-decade career across television, radio and print to the Symposium, having reported from more than 70 countries as a former senior CNN correspondent and won three Walkley Awards across that time. The Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharrawal man is the bestselling author of seven books on subjects from world affairs to Indigenous history, and directs the Asia Pacific arm of the Denmark-based Constructive Institute.
Longstaff has led The Ethics Centre as executive director for three decades, working across business, government and society on questions of ethics and corporate responsibility. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Cambridge University and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2013 for service to ethical standards in governance and business.
The Symposium runs two days of plenary and concurrent sessions, followed by a day of field trips, with the full programme and sponsorship details available on the conference website.
