hinge point

This is a term that has been around for a while. It had a surge in popularity in the 1960s and again in 2013.  It has made its way into education jargon and politics in Australia.  We have been invited by Stan Grant to consider that we are at a hinge point in history, this significant change being dictated by China.  The passing of the Albanese government’s climate legislation is being described as a hinge point in the climate wars in Australia.  We are embarking on a very different course in terms of climate policy from the one adopted by the previous government.

In education the hinge point in a lesson is the place where there is a natural pause and where you can ask a hinge question, one designed to check out what the class has understood of what has been said so far.  This decides the next step in the lesson.  If the class is with the teacher, the teacher can move on to the next segment of the lesson.  If the class has not understood, the teacher needs to go back.

Hinge point has given rise to the adjective hingey.  This is a hingey moment in Australian politics.
And to the noun hingeyness.  The hingeyness of the present moment should cause us to rethink our approach to the future.

These two forms are not common in Australian English — yet, but given the popularity of hinge point it is only a matter of time.