•     Is genuine, lasting happiness possible?
• Is happiness just a matter of biological luck?
• How can I create a happier life?
• Will searching for happiness give my life meaning?
• The science of human happiness

Dr Howard Cutler, Psychiatrist, Arizona, USA; International Best-Selling Author: The Art of Happiness

•         A brief history of health - from Pathos, Salus, to Hale
• What is mental health as "something positive" and what is the counterpart to flourishing?
• Are you flourishing or languishing, and why would you want to know?
• Languishing in life - a bigger problem than depression? You may be surprised.

Dr Corey Lee M. Keyes, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Health, Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, USA; Co-editor: Flourishing - Positive Psychology and the Life Well-lived

• The workshop is in your mind - a path to happiness
• Emotions as thoughts - how can we change the stories?
• How can I free my mind from anger, anxiety and other destructive emotions?
• Dealing with stress in a troubled world
• Developing a good heart through contemplation

Venerable Robina Courtin, Director, Liberation Prison Project, USA & Australia; subject of award winning documentary Chasing Buddha

There is now general consensus that the brain can be changed by actively developing new ways of thinking. This is an exciting conjunction of Western neuroscience, psychology and Eastern philosophy.

• How can the mind be trained to enhance the positive and diminish the negative?
• What evidence exists that mind training works?
• Is there any consensus on the techniques that are most effective?
• Is the search for happiness self-indulgent?

Moderator: Natasha Mitchell,  Presenter, All in the Mind, ABC Radio National

Professor David Matsumoto, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Director, Culture and Emotion Research Laboratory, San Francisco State University, USA

Dr Corey Keyes, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Health, Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, USA; Co-editor, Flourishing - Positive Psychology and the Life Well-lived

Venerable Robina Courtin, Director, Liberation Prison Project, USA & Australia; subject of award winning documentary Chasing Buddha

Dr Howard Cutler, Psychiatrist, Arizona, USA; International Best-Selling Author: The Art of Happiness

Professor Graham Burrows, President, Mental Health Foundation of Australia, Chair of Psychiatry, Melbourne University, President, National Society of Hypnosis

• Is life getting better or worse?
• The science of measuring happiness
• How do you measure your wellbeing?
• What is the role of external conditions?
• Who are the happiest people?

Ross Gittins, Economics Editor, Sydney Morning Herald

• How can I build happier and healthier relationships - at work and play?
• What are your relationships for?
• Are virtual relationships affecting our connectedness?
• Looking at life "relationally" - making lifestyle choices to nurture your relationships
• The bigger picture - nurturing national and international relationships as the basis for achieving happiness, peace and social harmony.

Amanda Gordon, Clinical Psychologist; President, Australian Psychological Society

• Why are so many relationships troubled?
• How does love become destructive?
• Is attachment harmful to a good relationship?
• What are the successful ingredients of a good relationship?
• How to develop healthy and satisfying relationships

Moderator: Anne Hollonds, CEO, Relationships Australia (NSW)

Amanda Gordon, President, Australian Psychological Society

Dr Julian Short, psychiatrist, Author: An Intelligent Life

Dr Ian Gawler, OAM, Therapeutic Director, The Gawler Foundation

Betty Green, Liverpool Women's Health Centre, Co-founder, Domestic Violence Committee Coalition

Venerable Tenzin Chonyi (Dr Diana Taylor), psychologist, touring teacher, FPMT

• How can I be happier at work?
• Stress in the workplace - friend or foe?
• Are you suffering from Deferred Happiness Syndrome?
• How to achieve work/life balance
• Work as a vocation for finding satisfaction in life.

Dr Barbara Pocock, Professor, Director, Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia, Author: The Work/Life Collision

• Is work a source of happiness?
• When does it become a source of suffering?
• The phenomena of "presenteeism" and "binge-working"
• Can work be a means of pursing our higher goals?
• Is there a place for compassion and ethics in the workplace?

Moderator: Wendy Morison, Director, The Australian Human Resources Institute, Manager, Consulting Services, The Infohrm Group

Dr Anthony Grant, Director, Coaching Psychology Unit, School of Psychology, University of Sydney; Co-Author: Coach Yourself @ Work

Dr Barbara Pocock, Professor, Director, Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia, Author: The Work/Life Collision

Pru Goward, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, HREOC

Kate Carnell, CEO, Australian Division of General Practice

Salim Lee, Director, Regents Garden Group, Perth

• Is there a "happiness crisis" among young people?
• How do we teach resilience skills to young people?
• Research on preventative approaches to depression
• Importance of attachment relationships for surviving trauma
• Implications for parents - how can I teach my child to be happy?

Associate Professor Nick Allen, Clinical Psychologist and Principal Research Fellow, ORYGEN Youth Health; Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne

In this session we will hear the voices of inspirational young people, young leaders in the arts, sport and mental health areas, and of those working closely with young people.

• Are today's teenagers more vulnerable?
• Is being a happy hedonist enough?
• Is there a loss of meaning in life for young people?
• Developing relationships and connectedness in the new information age
• How to maintain hope in the face of global challenges
• Young people's values in the search for happiness

Moderator: Dr Tim Sharp, Founder and Chief Happiness Officer, The Happiness Institute

Trisha Broadbridge, 2006 Young Australian of the Year

Shyla Bauer, Director, Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth

Father Chris Riley, Youth Off The Streets

Khoa Do, Filmmaker, Young Australian of the Year, 2005

Mark McCrindle, Social Analyst, McCrindle Research

After Dinner Speaker: Father Chris Riley

Dr Craig Hassed, Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice, Monash University

"Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, the very purpose of our life is happiness, the very motion of our life is toward happiness."

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

The growing affluence and pace of change within Western society is placing enormous stress on individuals and families. Rather than improving our happiness and wellbeing, the conditions of plenty in which we live appear to be undermining it. In this discussion, H.H. the Dalai Lama will be joined by a group of eminent Australians to address the fundamental issues:

• The challenge of plenty - can we have it all and be happy?
• Are we being spoilt with choice?
• How do we explain the contradiction between material progress and our failure to achieve happiness?
• Can this contradiction be resolved without going backwards in our economic development?
• Has the collapse of belief systems left us in a moral/happiness vacuum?
• Strategies for dealing with a national epidemic of unhappiness and depression
• What can we do to encourage young people to develop healthy thinking and behaviour?

Moderator: Geraldine Doogue, Presenter, Compass, ABC TV

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

Clive Hamilton, Executive Director, The Australia Institute, Author: Growth Fetish and Affluenza

Professor Gordon Parker, Executive Director, Black Dog Institute

The Hon Linda Burney, MP, NSW State Minister for Fair Trading, Youth and Volunteering

The Hon Malcolm Turnbull, MP, Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Resources

• Happiness as an emotion, a mood, an outlook, a trait
• Twelve different happy emotions
• Happy emotions not named in the English language
• Selectivity in the experience of happiness
• Happiness as a motive

Professor David Matsumoto, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Director, Culture and Emotion Research Laboratory, San Francisco State University, USA

This special forum will "give voice" to the lived experience of people with depression. How have their lives and those of family and carers been affected? Hear how each person faced the challenge of re-gaining wellbeing and happiness in challenging circumstances.

Moderator: Leonie Young, Chief Executive Officer, beyondblue: the national depression initiative

PERSONAL STORY 1: Garry McDonald, Board Member, beyondblue; Actor

PERSONAL STORY 2: Craig Hamilton, Ambassador, beyondblue; ABC Sports News Broadcaster/Writer, ABC Television; Author: Broken Open

• Why forgiveness is important for your happiness
• Are resilient people more forgiving?
• Have we forgotten how to forgive in our blaming society?
• Halting the cycle of anger, conflict and violence
• Cultivating compassion, joy and equanimity

Stephanie Dowrick, Interfaith Minister, Author: Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love

• Why do some people deal with tragedy better than others?
• How can we bounce back from life's knocks?
• Is it possible to be happy when seriously ill?
• Inner calm in the face of outer chaos
• Cultivating happiness and wellbeing in difficult times

Moderator: Philip Armstrong, National Manager, Australian Counsellors Association

Anne Deveson, Author: Resilience

Petrea King, Founder and CEO, The Petrea King Quest for Life Centre

Ven David Lungtok, Director, Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, Bendigo

Shehzi Yusaf, Clinical Psychologist, Convenor, Islam and Psychology Interest Group, Australian Psychological Society

• Is there a connection between spiritual meaning in life and happiness?
• The "new believers" - an overview of contemporary trends in religion and spirituality
• Spiritual consumerism - is it making us happier or are we being overwhelmed with choice?
• Is focusing on the "divine within" at the expense of relationships, family life and community involvement?
• Can religions agree on a global ethic?

Rachael Kohn, Presenter, The Spirit of Things, ABC Radio National

• Is modern western culture a health hazard?
• Does having anything/everything you want make you happy?
• Why giving in to desire is making us sick
• Is what matters most at the mercy of what matters least?
• Implications for the consumer society

Richard Eckersley, Social Analyst, Australian National University

• Are good people any happier?
• How are we to decide between what is right and wrong?
• What are the actions that give us the greatest happiness?
• How do we develop positive human qualities?
• Is restraint indeed a virtue?
• Does the pursuit of individual happiness come at the expense of society?

Moderator: Jeanette Kennett, Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Applied and Public Ethics

Richard Eckersley, Social Analyst, Australian National University

Dr James Franklin, Associate Professor, School of Mathematics and Statistics, UNSW

Rachael Kohn, Presenter, The Spirit of Things, ABC Radio National

Dr Dirk Baltzly, Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophy & Bioethics, Monash University

Ven Tenzin Chonyi (Dr Diana Taylor), psychologist, touring teacher, FPMT

• How to stop stress from killing you
• Integrating career, family, and personal growth
• Are drugs the answer?
• Research on the power of mindfulness
• Implications for carers and employers

Dr Craig Hassed, Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice, Monash University