Wollongong University’s Faculty of Arts has announced a new summer session subject of Politics, the Community and the Common Good, attracting an impressive line-up of speakers, including former State Member for South Coast, John Hatton.

He described the summer school as “one of the most exciting things I’ve done in my whole political life”.

Mr Hatton said the sessions would place a strong emphasis on how individuals and communities could empower themselves by working “below the radar of all political parties”.

The course represents the first time the university has opened its doors for free to people of all educational levels, allowing everyone to learn from highly-credentialed Australians.

They include:

• Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby, who is a respected international jurist and advocate for human rights.

• Businessman, philanthropist and adventurer, Dick Smith, the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Dick Smith Foods, Australian Geographic and the first man to fly solo around the world via the Poles and to the North Pole by helicopter. He was Australian of the Year in 1986.

• St Vincent de Paul chief executive, John Falzon.

• Long-serving clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans, who is retiring at the end of the year.

• Former chairperson of the NSW Corrective Services Commission and famed promoter of equity, Professor Tony Vinson.

• Winner of a 2009 national award for excellence in teaching from Wollongong University’s School of History and Politics, Dr Glenn Mitchell.

• Honorary Professorial Fellow of the University, Emeritus Professor Stephen Hill, who is former Regional Director and Ambassador of the UN organisation, UNESCO. He promoted community empowerment in UN initiatives in Asia and the Pacific during the 1990s and 2000s.

The summer sessions are running over seven weeks through December and January, with university students and community members able to take part at the Shoalhaven campus through video conferencing.