Most of us are shaped by cultural currents we rarely stop to examine – the quiet assumptions about freedom, identity, success, and what makes a life worthwhile. When left untested, these scripts can leave students anxious, educators stretched, and communities unsure of what it means to live well. Dr Justine Toh is widely respected for helping audiences surface and interrogate these hidden narratives. With cultural insight, intellectual clarity, and an instinct for the questions beneath the surface, she equips schools to think more deeply, engage more thoughtfully, and imagine richer possibilities for life and learning.
A Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity, Justine holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from Macquarie University and previously worked at Fairfax Digital. She has spoken widely in schools, universities, and professional settings, drawing on her research, her book Achievement Addiction, and her gift for making big ideas land in everyday life.
Justine’s sessions are energetic, warm, and thought-provoking. She helps both teachers and students recognise the subtle pressures shaping their beliefs and behaviours – whether around achievement, freedom, human worth, or the stories we live by. Her goal is not simply to analyse culture but to empower people within it: to ask better questions, to understand themselves with compassion, and to see how the Christian story speaks with surprising clarity and hope.
Justine is based in Sydney.
Speaking Topics
Achievement Addiction
Many students feel defined by their grades, popularity, or performance. This session explores how achievement can quietly become the basis of our identity — and why that foundation eventually cracks. Drawing on her book Achievement Addiction, Justine helps young people recognise the pressures they live under, understand why achievement feels so consuming, and imagine a different way of seeing themselves. A reflective, liberating session that invites audiences to separate their worth from their wins and losses.
Living in STAN’s World
Our society claims to value every human life equally, yet in practice we often privilege certain kinds of people, and certain kinds of human lives, over others. Justine introduces the concept of “STAN” – the imagined “standard human” – and explores how it influences ethics, politics, and everyday judgments about worth. Across two sessions, she traces the Christian roots of human rights and examines how we might treat every life as valuable in the face of modern ethical dilemmas. A rich, eye-opening journey into equality and human dignity.
Creation & Creativity
What does creativity have to do with being human? Drawing on the Christian story and the doctrine of the image of God, Justine explores creativity as a fundamental part of who we are – not limited to artists or entrepreneurs but present in every person. In a world reshaped by AI and automation, she helps audiences see why human imagination, innovation, and “making” still matter. A hopeful, energising session about purpose, identity, and creative calling.
Embrace the Awkward
In a world where screens shield us from discomfort, awkwardness, and real human moments, many young people are losing the skills needed for face-to-face connection. This session explores why awkwardness is intrinsic to being human, and how being awkward-avoidant costs us empathy, intimacy, and a true sense of who we are. Justine makes a lively, humorous case for embracing the messy, unpredictable reality of human relationships – and shows how doing so can deepen our connections with God and each other.
Stories We Live By
We don’t just read stories – we live them. Our daily decisions are shaped by cultural narratives we barely notice: freedom, self-creation, productivity, personal fulfilment. This session helps audiences identify these “background stories,” understand where they come from, and see how they shape our assumptions about what it means to live well. Justine makes the case for students and staff to develop cultural literacy and invites them to consider how the Christian story offers a deeper, more life-giving script to live by.
Life After Achievement Addiction
If achievement isn’t meant to define us, how do we still pursue excellence? This session explores what healthy ambition looks like once we move beyond an identity built on performance. Justine invites students and teachers to rethink success through the lens of human flourishing, which includes a responsibility for all of us to develop our gifts, and discover joy in learning. She paints a positive, hopeful picture of vocation and excellence rooted not in pressure, but in purpose.
For Justine’s availability and other possible topics, reach out to our booking team.
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