The evening of Wednesday 14 June 2023 was the occasion of the seventh in the Ideas@theHouse series—a joint presentation of Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor New South Wales, and the Royal Society of NSW—that took place in the Ballroom of Government House Sydney.

On that occasion, Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM DistFRSN FAA FTSE, Australia’s Chief Scientist, delivered an address titled ‘Importance of scientific ideas and discovery to Australia’s future’ to a face-to-face audience of approximately 100 people together with an online audience which enjoyed a live stream of the event.

In an insightful talk, Dr Foley emphasised that complex problems require complex solutions and that while science can offer potential outcomes and inform decisions there is a responsibility to examine the full span of real-world consequences before action is taken. She argued that science as a “superpower”, driven by both fundamental and applied research, must be embedded in the gamut of knowledge from all fields, including that from First Nations people, working collaboratively, in what she referred to as “Science+”, to realise solutions to the challenging problems that confront humankind.

A recording of her presentation is now available on the Society’s YouTube channel and a gallery of images from that occasion is available at this link for viewing and downloading.