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The CIS was Australia's first libertarian think tank. It was founded in 1976 by a Sydney maths teacher, [[Greg Lindsay]]. After struggling for financial support, Lindsay began meeting with Australian businessmen who wanted to establish an Australian version of the UK think tank the [[Institute of Economic Affairs]] (IEA). These businessmen included [[Hugh Morgan]], CEO then an executive director of [[Western Mining Corporation]] (WMC), [[John Bonython]], Chairman of the Adelaide Group [[The Advertiser|Advertiser]]Group, [[John McLeod]], chief economist at mining company [[CRA]], [[Douglas Hocking]], Chief economist at Shell Australia, and [[John Brunner]], an economist at mining company BHP.

In 1979, six companies - WMC, CRA, BHP, Shell, Santos and the Adelaide advertiser Advertiser - provided financial backing to the CIS, each pledging to donate $5,000 each year for five years.

At the [[John Bonython]] lecture in 2005, Greg Lindsay said that the Centre had an annual budget income of around $2 million, of which 1/3 came from corporations, 1/3 from foundations, and 1/3 from individuals. The CIS does not disclose its funding regarding it as a private matter. It will not take taxpayers' funds and will not undertake cmmissioned commissioned workfor anyone. Companies which have been publicly disclosed as funders of the CIS [http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/11/1060588322537.html] include: