The SEARCH Foundation is a left-wing, membership-based Australian not-for-profit organisation, with a number of high-profile members linked to the left of the

Australian labour movement The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be formed on the basis of cra ...

. SEARCH is an acronym for "Social Education, Action and Research Concerning Humanity". The SEARCH Foundation advocates for a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

and ecologically socialist Australia, while working towards achieving greater democracy, economic and social equality,

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, human rights, and international peace and cooperation.

History

SEARCH was established in 1990 as a successor organisation of the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...

, with the object of promoting “greater understanding in the community of the main factors affecting social life, influencing social development and advancing social wellbeing.” SEARCH also owns and controls access to the Communist Party archives, which are held in trust by the State Library of NSW.

Activities

SEARCH regularly holds national speaking tours and runs a socialist education program. The Foundation publishes SEARCH News, featuring articles on

US politics In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal republic, federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches Separation of powers, share powers: United States Congress, C ...

, Australian politics, and other international political matters. SEARCH also partners with policy analysis magazine Australian Options. Between 2007–2010, SEARCH held a series of roundtables in major Australian capital cities on progressive political issues, culminating in the Australian Left Renewal Conference at the University of Technology Sydney in May 2010. SEARCH has supported

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

marches and events in Sydney and Brisbane. In 2020, SEARCH released a book entitled ''Comrades! Lives of Australian Communists'', to mark the one hundred year anniversary of the founding of the

Speaking tours

On 9 November 2017, SEARCH co-hosted an event in Melbourne, as part of a national tour for socialist and feminist author Beatrix Campbell. In March 2018, SEARCH hosted

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

editor

Bhaskar Sunkara Bhaskar Sunkara (born June 1989) is an American political writer. He is the founding editor of ''Jacobin,'' the president of ''The Nation,'' and publisher of ''Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy''. He is a former vice-chair of the Democr ...

at Sydney Trades Hall. In 2018, with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and

United Voice United Voice was an Australian trade union from 1992 to 2019. It merged with the National Union of Workers to form the United Workers Union in 2019. United Voice was part of the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party. The union was ...

, SEARCH hosted Singapore human rights and labour activist Jolovan Wham, who met with

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

and New South Wales politicians to talk about

human rights abuses Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, which was subsequently the topic of an adjournment speech to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

Opposition Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

Anne Urquhart. On 18 December 2018, SEARCH hosted an Australian Labor Party National Conference Fringe Event with UK Labour MP and Shadow Minister Clive Lewis.

Notable members

* Sally McManus –

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...

Secretary *

Jack Mundey John Bernard "Jack" Mundey (17 October 1929 – 10 May 2020) was an Australian Communist Party of Australia, communist, Trade union, trade unionist and environmental activist. He came to prominence during the 1970s for leading the New South Wa ...

– Trade unionist and environmental activist *

Lee Rhiannon Lee Rhiannon (formerly O'Gorman, ''née'' Brown; born 30 May 1951) is a former Australian politician who was a Australian Senate, Senator for New South Wales between July 2011 and August 2018. She was elected at the 2010 Australian federal ele ...

– Former

NSW Greens The Greens NSW, also known as the NSW Greens, is a green political party in New South Wales and a member of the Australian Greens. First formed in 1991, the Greens NSW began as a state-level party before joining with other green parties in Austr ...

Senator * Eric Aarons – Author, sculptor and former leader of the

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:SEARCH Foundation Political organisations based in Australia Think tanks based in Australia Organizations established in 1990 Australian labour movement Communist Party of Australia