The Alan Paton Lecture is held annually at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg campus. It is co-presented by the Alan Paton Centre and the Liberal Democratic Association (LDA).  It was sponsored by the LDA and UKZN from 1994 to 2000, and  by the standard Bank Foundation from 2001 to 2003. Sponsorship for 2005 - 2007 is kindly being provided by the Natal Society Foundation Trust.

The purpose of the Lecture is to commemorate Alan Paton's life,and to discuss topics in which he was most involved during his lifetime.These topics include liberalism, the struggle against apartheid, prison reform for juvenile offenders, The South African political situation, literary, educational and environmental issues