FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

EVENT INFORMATION AND TICKETING

  • Progress is Australia’s biggest and boldest social change conference -- 2,000 leading activists, thinkers and change-makers coming together in Naarm/Melbourne and online. Over two jam-packed days, we’ll share ideas, build connections, and shape a better future.

  • The best way to follow news about Progress is to subscribe to our newsletter here. We’ll also be sharing updates on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

  • Attendees aged 16 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian aged 18 years or older with their own ticket.

    Children 6 years old and under can enter free, provided they're accompanied by an adult.

    We have also arranged for a fully qualified child care provider to run an onsite crèche on Level 2 for children under 4. A limited number of places are available on a first-come-first-serve basis, with pre-registration required.

    A Parent Rooms is also available in the Convention Centre, as a comfortable and private space equipped for changing or feeding.

  • Tickets to Progress are scaled based on the size of your organisation or movement.

    Organisations that have large annual revenue help cover the cost for smaller non-profits and for grassroots activists. Each ticket is for one person, and not for the whole organisation.

    Ticket pricing will increase as we get closer to the event, so grab your tickets now! Super early bird prices are heavily discounted.

    We have a number of partial and full scholarships available by application here.

  • Humanitix accepts all major credit cards, Paypal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. 

    If you are purchasing multiple tickets and need to arrange payment via invoice, email us at groups@australianprogress.org.au. We are unable to arrange invoices for single ticket transactions.

  • We may have a limited number of tickets available on the day, however, our conferences frequently sell out and we cannot guarantee that on-the-day tickets will be available.

  • Yes, you can transfer your ticket to a colleague up until March 10.

    To transfer your ticket, please fill out this form.

    You will receive an email confirmation when your ticket has been transferred: this may take up to 10 business days, so please be patient with us.

  • Generally, yes we can make this happen, if you have bought more than a handful of tickets already. Please contact us at groups@australianprogress.org.au.

  • Yes - if you are interested in purchasing tickets for a group of people (typically 10+), and confirming their details closer to, please email us at groups@australianprogress.org.au. 

    Confirmation of names will be due 14 business days before Progress 2026.

  • If you have purchased an in-person ticket and can no longer attend in-person, we can transfer you to an online ticket (no discount will apply).

    To request a transfer to online, please complete this form on or before March 20, 2025.

  • Each ticket is specific to an individual’s name - and admits one person, with no exceptions made. For security reasons, lanyards must be worn at all times. If a colleague can’t afford to purchase a ticket themselves, please see the question on free or discounted tickets below.

  • We don’t ever want price to be a barrier for whether or not you can attend Progress. Thanks to the support of our sponsors and community, we are able to offer some scholarships to cover the registration fee.

    Free or heavily discounted tickets are available for campaigners and change-makers who are First Nations people, disabled people/people with disability, people with lived experience of seeking asylum, young people (under 21) and unwaged activists / people with low incomes. 

    Please fill in the scholarship form on our website here to apply for a free or discounted ticket. If you have any questions regarding scholarships, contact us at scholarships@australianprogress.org.au

  • No. All tickets are for the full two-day conference. Progress 2026 is an immersive (and fully catered!) experience - involving learning, connecting with friends, and inspiration - and we believe some of the sessions you least expect will be some of the most memorable for you.

INFORMATION FOR ATTENDEES

  • Welcome! We’re so excited to have you joining us at Progress. Here’s some tips for having a great time at Progress 2026:

    • Check out the agenda ahead of time - scope out 1 or 2 breakouts you’re keen to go to per slot, knowing sometimes things will fill up!

    • For in-person: Arrive early to get registered and get familiar with the space, bring a water bottle, a reusable coffee cup and make plans for lunch at one of the nearby food spots (or buy a Lunch pack with your ticket)

    • For online: Test your Internet connection ahead of time, and check out the event platform tutorial video when it’s emailed out, to get familiar with moving around the online space!

    • Reach out to other participants - use the event app to see who else is coming, and start a conversation in person or online!

  • We’re committed to creating a safe and inclusive experience for everyone who participates in our events, regardless of your gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, economic status, immigration status or refugee status.

    Creating these spaces is a shared responsibility - one that applies to all of us: event organisers, speakers, and attendees.

    We do not tolerate harassment of participants at our events in any form, and any participants who violate these rules may be asked to leave without a refund.

    You can read our full code of conduct here.

AGENDA AND CONTENT

  • The Progress agenda is designed by a team of experienced advocacy and campaigning experts, in consultation with the community of social change activists and organisations we serve. We have hundreds of conversations with people at all levels of involvement in our movements to shape the agenda. 

    Here are a few ways to be involved:

  • Speakers and sessions will be gradually announced in the lead-up to the event - check out our social media for announcements as they happen. The full agenda will be online in mid-February.

  • Live-streamed and hybrid sessions will be listed in the full agenda when it is published mid-February. All plenaries will be live streamed.

  • We’re so excited to have you involved! We’ll release a speaker specific FAQ closer to the event; in the meantime, you can always reach us by emailing content@australianprogress.org.au

  • Thank you for your interest in partnering on Progress 2026!

    Presenting Progress 2026, Australia's largest cross-sector social change conference, is no small undertaking and it’s thanks to collaborations with our amazing for-purpose business partners that we are able to make the event truly shine! 

    Partner contributions support our scholarship fund, inclusion and accessibility across the board and help us make magic with the small details that often have a big impact! 

    Head here to learn more about sponsors and partnership opportunities

VOLUNTEER AT PROGRESS

  • Progress relies on the support of over a hundred (amazing!) volunteers to help make the event a reality.

    We’re looking for volunteers with a range of skills to help welcome attendees, support with wayfinding and attendee questions, help speakers and presenters, photograph the event, manage AV or other tech, take on the social media, and more!

    Volunteer applications close mid-February; places will be offered from November onwards.

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION

ACCESSIBILITY

  • Yes! You can collect a programmed receiver that will allow you to switch channels for each of our rooms from the MCEC concierge desk, on Level 1 near our plenary space. The receiver will work with hearing aids fitted with T Switches. There are a limited number and they must be returned daily - so please include this in your registration info when we ask about access, or email us so we can do our best to help out with numbers!

    Note - the small rooms where the quiet space and creche are located are not set up with hearing loop technology.

  • Australian Progress honours Companion Cards. Holders of this card are entitled to a complimentary ticket for their companion.

  • There is free Wifi available throughout MCEC. We will also have a dedicated Wifi for attendees; details will be shared closer to the event with everyone registered.

  • Yes. We have arranged for a fully qualified child care provider to run an onsite crèche. A limited number of places are available on a first-come-first-serve basis, with pre-registration required here.

    A contribution to the cost of $50 per child per day as suggested, but please get in touch if this creates a financial barrier for you attending. 

    For more enquiries regarding the crèche, please contact creche@australianprogress.org.au

  • Coats and luggage can be stored at the Customer Service desk at Convention Centre Place.

  • Pram Parking is available in the Convention Centre. Pram parking is a complementary service and will be operational from 9:30am – 7:00pm each day of the event.

    A Parent Rooms is also available in the Convention Centre, as a comfortable and private space equipped for changing or feeding.

    Space in the breakouts can be limited, so please just be conscious of pathways and of others when parking your pram in a breakout space!

  • Yes! Progress is a fully catered event: morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea are all included in your ticket. 

    There will be a number of coffee stations. These are free, but may have queues so please be patient! 

    Some of our sponsors and partners will host their own side events during lunch, some of which will have catering provided. 

    We will provide water stations throughout MCECl, so please bring a refillable water bottle to reduce waste.

  • Yes - we will make sure all dietary requirements are met, as long as we are told about them when you register.

    If you swap your ticket to a colleague, or your dietary requirements change, we will need to know by no later than 7 days before the event - otherwise we may not be able to meet the requirements.

  • Yes. Read our access key to understand what we already have in place to ensure accessibility at Progress 2026, and, when you register, let us know what access needs you have - we’ll reach out directly to confirm what’s in place, and discuss anything else you might need to fully participate in the conference.

  • There will be a quiet room for when you need a break. It is on Level 2 near the breakouts and there will be signage to direct you there, or you can ask a volunteer to help you find it.

    Yoga mats, fidget toys, cushions and blankets will be provided. The quiet room will be staffed.

    You can also go downstairs to the MCEC lobby or outside the lobby where there is seating and a grassed area on the right of the building (closer to the Exhibition Centre part of the venue).

  • There aren’t any private meeting rooms available but there are a number of spots you can use to meet-up and have a conversation with another participant!

PARTIES AND
SIDE EVENTS

  • The Progress parties and side-events are for registered participants ONLY - your lanyard serves as your ticket to the parties and for the other side-events, you will also need to register separately in advance on Humanitix. Do encourage your friends to register - they’ll thank you for the suggestion!

  • Your lanyard to Progress is your ticket to the Progress parties on Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

  • We’ll be running a number of side-events and workshops. Some will be included in your ticket, others you’ll need to register for separately (for workshops where places are very limited, this may involve additional cost). We’ll share details for this as each side event is announced.

  • Yes, a full range of drinks and a dinner menu will be available for purchase at the Progress party and closing drinks.

  • Progress will provide:

    • Cloakroom

    • Mobile charging points

    • Wifi

    • Gendered and genderless bathrooms

    • Accessible bathrooms

    • Changing Places space

    • Quiet room (Level 2)

    • Creche (Level 2, pre-booking required)

MEDIA AND SHARING

  • Please email us at media@australianprogress.org.au with your request, and we’ll get back to you if this is possible. Our arrangement with speakers generally extends only to their attendance to the conference, and they are under no obligation to do media.

    Unfortunately we are generally not able to provide free tickets to members of the public interested in covering the event on social media platforms (due in part to the number of requests).

  • Yes, you can post about the event and sessions on social media with the exception being if a speaker or the moderator specifically requests another approach at the beginning of the session itself - for example they may ask that the whole session be off the record, or Chatham House in which case the general contents can be reported but not who said what/about who.

    You can join in on the conversation over social media with the hashtag -- #Progress2026 and #ausprogress!

  • Welcome to take pictures but please make sure to:

    • Ask for consent from anyone who you are taking a photo with - and respect if they ask not to be filmed/photographed

    • Avoid blocking pathways or preventing people from moving through the venue while you’re taking photos

    We’ll also have a photographer around, so if you get your photo taken by them, you’ll find it afterwards on our official album (Flickr).

    Please do not record sessions for personal or public use - a minute or two of a speech is fine, but we ask that you not film a whole session. We will be livestreaming sessions for online participants and will make these recordings available to all ticket holders afterwards.

  • We ask that you do not record sessions for either personal or public use, except with explicit prior written permission from Australian Progress and the speakers. We will be livestreaming sessions for online participants and will make these recordings available to all ticket holders afterwards.

  • If you attend a livestreamed breakout session, you may be on camera. 

    If you ask a question or participate in a more interactive part of these sessions, you will likely be recorded in order to give context to the online participants. Some of these recordings will also be available to all participants after the event.

  • We will have a photographer moving around the event. If you do not want to be photographed, please see the volunteers at registration for an “Opt out” lanyard. No photos of anyone with this lanyard will be posted online.

CONTACTS

  • Email us at info@australianprogress.org.au.

  • Email us at info@australianprogress.org.au or visit the Progress information desk in the Foyer on the ground floor of MCEC and one of our volunteers will connect you with a team member. Online participants will also be able to reach out on the event platform.

    We will do our best to monitor our social media accounts/inboxes during the event, but due to the volume of messages/channels, these are the best ways to reach us.

  • Email us at feedback@australianprogress.org.au or visit the Progress information desk in the Foyer on the ground floor and one of our volunteers will connect you with a team member.