Ethics Centre executive director Simon Longstaff AO was joined in conversation with University of Tasmania vice-chancellor Rufus Black as part of the Tamar Valley Peace Festival.

Dr Longstaff said our society was facing many challenges, such as technological innovation, changing geopolitical realities, and effects of climate change.

"All of those things depend on us being able to rely on our core institutions, what I call our ethical infrastructure - of which the media is part - being able to do their job," he said.

Dr Longstaff said if those institutions started to fail, it would destroy trust.

RELATED STORIES

"Worse, it destroys the legitimacy of those institutions at precisely the time they need to be strong," he said.

"All of that - what does it do? It creates anger in some people, insecurity, fear.

"And none of those things allow a society to enjoy the kind of settled peace that it would aspire to.

"Peace of course isn't just an absence of strife or war, it's also having that ability to make choices with a degree of security so that you can plan and execute the life you want.

"When all those things are broken, that becomes extremely difficult."

The lecture and Q&A session took place at the University of Tasmania's School of Architecture and Design at Inveresk.

The discussion took place from 6pm, with Dr Longstaff and Professor Black speaking about the topic separately, then having a conversation together. Afterwards, they opened up the floor to questions from the audience.

The Tamar Valley Peace Festival will run until Sunday, August 18.

This year's theme is "the power of integrity".

Numerous events are still to come on the festival's calendar, with more information available at tamarcommunitypeace.org.au.

The community is raising funds for four local charities as part of The Examiner's Winter Relief Appeal. Can you help?