The Sydney Institute

The Sydney Institute is a privately funded^[1] Australian policy forum founded in 1989.^[2] The institute took over the resources of the Sydney Institute of Public Affairs, which ceased activity in the late 1980s.^[3]

The institute was opened on 23 August 1989 by then New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner with supporting remarks from Bob Carr (then NSW Opposition Leader).^{[citation needed]}

Columnist and writer Gerard Henderson is the executive director of the institute. His wife, Anne Henderson, who is also an author, is the deputy director.^[4]

The Sydney Institute has been described as a "right-aligned policy think tank",^[5] comparable to organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Manhattan Institute.^[6]

Gerard and Anne Henderson had previously run the South Australian branch of the Institute of Public Affairs, and run foul of the state Minister for Health who banned cigarette advertising. He branded South Australia as the "nanny state".^[7]

The couple then shifted to Sydney where they set up the IPA's New South Wales branch. ^[8][9]

However, the Centre for International Studies had shared publishing resources and a territorial agreement with the Melbourne-based Institute of Public Affairs not to infringe on each other's sources of corporate donations, so the Hendersons created their own institute, and Philip Morris was happy to contribute to both. All these organisations are part of the Atlas Network. ^{[10] [11]}