Founded in April 2003 by Sir Frank Lowy AC, a Slovakian-born Holocaust survivor who arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1952 and co-founded the global Westfield shopping centre empire in 1960, the Lowy Institute came into being as an independent foreign policy think tank established to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Lowy's arrival in Australia and to deepen the country's engagement with the world. Lowy, who had served in Israel's 1948 War of Independence and built one of the world's largest retail property companies, wanted to give something lasting back to the country that had embraced him. Today, the Lowy Institute is led by Executive Director Michael Fullilove and operates from 31 Bligh Street in Sydney's Central Business District, and as of 2025 is recognized as the most cited think tank based outside the United States and United Kingdom globally. Today, the Lowy Institute is mainly focused on Australian foreign policy, Indo-Pacific geopolitics, China-Australia relations, climate and energy security, international economics, and multilateral diplomacy from their headquarters in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One interesting fact: Every Australian prime minister and foreign minister since the Lowy Institute's founding in 2003 has spoken at the Institute, and its annual Lowy Lecture series has featured speakers including Angela Merkel, Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Bill Gates, giving a single Sydney-based think tank a speaker roster that rivals the world's most prestigious international policy forums.