Australia Africa Forum
The Charter · 2027

Six Promises. One Room to Keep Them.

Read this the way you would read a letter from someone who wants to work with you. If you agree with it, sign it. Once you sign, you are one of the people who keeps it.

Before you read on

You have sat through forums that changed nothing. So have we.

You know how it goes. Good speeches, warm handshakes, a lanyard that ends up in a drawer. Six months later nothing has moved, and nobody asks why.

This charter is how we stop that from happening. It is short on purpose. Each line is something you can hold us to, and something we will ask of everyone in the room. That includes you.

  1. 01

    Partnership over patronage.

    No one comes to this room to be helped. African and Australian partners write the agenda together. If you have ever been “consulted” after the decision was already made, you will feel the difference within the first hour.

    What you can hold us to: the program committee and the stream chairs, named on this site by January 2027.

  2. 02

    African voices first.

    At least half of every panel comes from Africa or its diaspora. When the question is about Africa, the answer comes from someone who lives it, not from someone who once visited.

    What you can hold us to: the speaker list for every session, published in full before the day.

  3. 03

    Specifics over speeches.

    Named projects, real figures, actual dates. Every session ends with one thing that someone in the room can act on by Monday morning.

    What you can hold us to: the action each session ends on, published in the Outcomes report.

  4. 04

    Results in public.

    Within one week, we publish what was announced, who committed to it and what happens next. We include what did not go to plan, too.

    What you can hold us to: the Outcomes report, online by 27 April 2027.

  5. 05

    A wider door.

    We hold concession places for students, small businesses and community organisations. The best idea in the room may come from the person who nearly could not afford to be there.

    What you can hold us to: the number of concession places, published with the Outcomes report.

  6. 06

    We report back.

    Every Forum opens with the commitments made at the last one, and whether they were kept. That includes our own.

    What you can hold us to: the first session of 2028, which opens with this list.

If you have read this far

You Already Agree. Add Your Name.

Signing takes a second. Your name goes on the list next to your Founding number, in the order you signed. Someone you respect will read that list and decide to come because you did. You sign when you register. We list your name only if you say yes. Signed by 1 delegate

Founding signatories

Listed in the order they signed.
Kelvin Mureithi Makao Group Pty Ltd