In June 2014 FODI announced a lecture by Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar entitled "Honour Killings Are Morally Justified".
[5] Following negative responses from the community, the lecture was cancelled with Longstaff saying the "Islamophobes" have won the day[6][7] and Badar saying it shows the extent and depth of Islamophobia in Australia.
It announced ANTIDOTE: a festival of art, ideas and action featuring speakers such as Janet Mock, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Tamika D. Mallory (Women's March on Washington) and Micah M. White (Occupy Wall Street) and artists such as Noemi Lakmaier, Anne Collod and Kaleider.
In 2018 the Festival of Dangerous Ideas was independently presented by the Ethics Centre on Cockatoo Island, with two days of discussions on internet sub-cultures, fascism, privacy and LSD.
Speakers included Stephen Fry, Niall Ferguson, Pankaj Mishra, Megan Phelps-Roper, Zeynup Tufecki, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, Ayelet Waldman, Germaine Greer, Toby Walsh, Nikki Goldstein and Xanthe Mallett.
However, on 16 March, the 2020 Festival of Dangerous Ideas was officially cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the NSW Minister of Health issued a ban of non-essential public gatherings of over 500 people.
Speakers included Kevin Rudd, Daisy Jeffrey, David Sinclair, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Stan Grant, and Tim Soutphommasane.
Notable organisations which have donated money or other resources to the centre include Mordant Investments, University of New South Wales, ANZ, Westpac, BHP, the City of Sydney, Woolworths Group and others.