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College of Law
Faculty of Business Government and Law
Justice Connections 4 PROGRAM
Opening Session: 9:15-9:45 Dr Andrew Leigh MP
9:45- 10:15 – Rosalind Croucher AM and Simon Rice OAM
Institutional Law Reform and Justice
In 2015 the Australian Law Reform Commission celebrates 40 years of institutional
law reform in Australia. This session will focus upon the contribution that an
independent law reform commission can have towards justice—as an idea and in
practice. After a critical account of the politics and practice of institutional law
reform, the distinct role of the ALRC will be considered in the context of the many
sites in which law reform happens and its impact assessed through a broad lens. The
presenters will provide a dialogue around these key themes.
MORNING TEA 10:15-10:45
Session 1: Justice and Violence chaired by Prof Rosalind Croucher
AM
1. 10:45-11:05 – Benjamin Smith
Suing for Systemic Justice: Civil Litigation against Police in Victoria 2005-15
This paper directs itself to recent developments in civil litigation against police in
Victoria. In recent years a number of high profile cases created what appeared to be
landmark precedents relating to civil actions brought against Victoria Police. Further,
in 2014 major legislative changes took effect, redefining liability in such matters and
creating provisions purporting to safeguard against frustrated judgments. The
following paper explores the impact of these developments, Canvassing the views of a
number of senior members of the state's legal profession, this paper investigates the
extent to which High Court and Victorian Supreme Court judgments, United Nations
Human Rights Committee findings and legislative changes, including the operation of
the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, have affected the way suits
brought against Victoria Police are conducted and decided.
2. 11:10-11:25 - Caroline Doyle
Complexities and Perseverance of Gangs: Explaining Patterns of Urban Violence in
Medellin, Colombia
This paper is concerned with urbanisation and violence. Violence in urban
environments is a dynamic phenomenon encompassing physical and psychological
harm against persons from homicides to other forms of victimization, such as gang
violence. Gangs are frequently present in environments of social and economic
marginalisation and where the state is perceived as ineffective or repressive. Of
which, gangs can offer an alternative justice system in these environments. Their
behaviour patterns suggest they are motivated by their own interests using systematic
and organised violence to manifest these motivations. This paper presents preliminary
findings of the role played by armed actors in Medellin, Colombia, which has
emerged from being the ‘most dangerous city in the world’ to having a 90% reduction
in homicide rates in less than 25 years.
11:25-11:35– Questions from the audience facilitated by Rosalind Croucher
Session 2 : Justice and Process chaired by Dalma Demeter
1. 11:40-11:55- Paul Tan, Nicholas Lim and Samuel Seow
Community Interests & International Commerce: Moving Towards Convergence
This paper explores the intersections of social justice and international law,
particularly within the context of investor-state arbitration. Community participation
in international arbitration, even in investor-state arbitration, has historically been
viewed with scepticism. The twin notions of privacy and confidentiality has largely
(though not always) held sway over wider community interests and notions of social
justice. However, as observed in the Australia-Philip Morris “Plain-Packaging”
dispute, there has been increasing pressure from civil society for the investor-state
arbitration process to recognise the social implications of proceedings and ensuing
arbitral awards. In recent years, governments from both developed and developing
countries have faced an onslaught of criticism for submitting to treaties providing for
investor-state arbitration.
Examining trends in international arbitration, it is submitted that the continued
legitimacy and relevance of investor-state arbitration is dependent on key structural
refinements, ensuring that greater community interests are accounted for. In this
regard, the authors examine efforts to increase transparency and hence community
participation in investor-state proceedings, including the recent UNCITRAL
Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration and pertinent
developments in arbitral jurisprudence.
2. 12:00- 12:15- Doris Bozin
Procedural Justice and Court-Referred Mediation
Over the last number of decades Courts have been relying on dispute resolution
processes to deal with the increasing demands placed on them brought about by
decreasing budgets, expensive litigation processes, the growing volume and
complexity of cases, the generally longer time taken to resolve disputes, and the
scrutiny of the media and the public. Today, Courts use a process of escalation to
resolve civil disputes where they use dispute resolution processes that are settlement
oriented; and/or a process where they apply the law. In applying the law Courts apply
a rigour and methodology using procedural fairness, consistency of outcomes and
results that accord with legal principles. The literature regarding procedural justice
and court-referred mediation tends to focus on whether Court settlement orientated
processes are fair and whether the process “feels” fair for the disputants. Considering
that court-referred mediations occur under the auspices of the Court, is that emphasis
on how disputants feel enough to say they have been accorded procedural fairness, if
they “feel” that the process is fair? So the questions that will be explored are whether
the theory of procedural justice is applicable to court-referred mediation, and, if it is
not, should it?
3. 12:20-12:35 – Allison Ballard and Patricia Easteal
National Anti-Bullying Jurisdiction: The Mouse that Roared?
The FWC has confirmed that the anti-bullying applications cannot be made by state
government employees and will not be considered where an employee no longer
works for the relevant employer. Both a ‘reasonable management action’ approach to
defining bullying and the requirement that the offending conduct occur ‘while a
worker is [at] work’ may be used to exclude from the new regime conduct which may
amount to bullying in other jurisdictions. Has the inaction of the first six months
continued? In this paper we describe the beginnings of Australia’s new anti-bullying
jurisdiction, examine the statistics arising from the jurisdiction’s first 15 months of
operation, and examine the case law development for the first 18 months with a view
to understanding its value or lack thereof. We ask whether it is proving to be a paper
tiger in an empty suit or iron fist in a velvet glove.
12:35-12:50- Dalma Demeter wrap up
LUNCH 12:50-1:40
Session 3: Justice and Oppression chaired by Heidi Yates
1:45-2:00 – Skye Saunders
From Whispers to Clear Voices: Re-formulating the Norms in Rural Workplace
Culture
This paper focuses upon strategies for addressing the issue of workplace sexual
harassment in rural Australia. It draws upon my doctoral research, entitled Whispers
from the Bush- The Workplace Sexual Harassment of Australian Rural Women. The
research shows that sexual harassment is tolerated by necessity in a large number of
rural workplaces, with many respondents perceiving the behaviour as being a natural
part of daily working life. This nature of desensitisation to sexual harassment is a
cultural phenomenon, seeped in the mythical tradition of male dominance as a norm.
There is work to be done in re-formulating the acceptable norms and standards in the
Australian rural workplace and this paper explores a recommended three-stranded
thematic thread.
2:05-2:20 – Jessica White and Patricia Easteal
So this is justice? Feminist jurisprudence answers to Why and How the Australian
Legal System Continues to Fail Female Victims of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence
In this paper we briefly focus on intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) and the
Australian legal response, using Heather Wishik's feminist jurisprudence framework
for inquiry to guide investigation. The key questions being asked are:
1. What have been and what are now all women's experiences of IPSV addressed by
the substantive and process of rape law?
2. What assumptions, descriptions, assertions and/or definitions of consent,
corroboration and reporting does the law make in IPSV matters?
3. What is the area of mismatch, distortion or denial created by the differences
between women's life experiences of IPSV coercion and the law's assumptions or
imposed structures?
4. What patriarchal interests are served by the mismatch?
The paper concludes with consideration of law reform to date and reflections on the
findings of the paper. Based on the findings, what are the appropriate approaches
required for further reform if any?
2:25-2:40 – Linda Steele, Fleur Beaupert & Piers Gooding
Righting Legal Capacity?: Disability, Law Reform and Human Rights
Disability legal capacity issues are increasingly prominent in Australian law reform
activity. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has argued for
non-discrimination in relation to people with disability and opposed Australian
substituted decision making regimes. We identify key themes in domestic law reform
in light of such international human rights developments. These include: a focus on
legal incapacity, discriminatory application of mental capacity standards to people
with disability, continuation of substituted decision making, and failure to question
the disabling effects of the concept of mental capacity. These issues point to problems
with the extent to which Australian law reform is realising human rights for people
with disability, and raise deeper questions around the meaning of disability (and
‘ability’) and the epistemic de-authorisation of people with disability. If considered in
relation to future law reform processes, these issues could result in more radical
reforms to the foundations of the legal system.
2:40-3:00 TBA wraps up
Afternoon tea 3:00-3:30
Session 4: Justice and Hope chaired by Bruce Arnold
1. 3:30-3:45 Jeremy Boland, Mark Nolan and Simon Rice
Improving Legal Literacy among Prisoners: Social Justice Behind Bars
This paper reports on the provision, since 2010, of a program by ANU College of
Law students to improve the legal literacy of prisoners in the Australian Capital
Territory. Prisoners are in many respects the most disadvantaged and disconnected
end users of the legal system. They have almost no power over their daily lives and
very little capacity to contribute to and influence the decisions that affect them. The
majority of prisoners have experienced significant social, economic and civic
disruption, limiting their skills to effectively navigate their way through ‘normal’ life
and to influence decisions that affect them. These skills include the ability to read and
write – and comprehend what is read and written – at the same level as the rest of the
population. This important access to justice issue is no more evident than in prisoners’
ability to understand the legal world around them. The paper describes and
evaluates an initiative to improve recidivism and rehabilitative outcomes among
prisoners through their increased knowledge about the legal system and positive
interactions with students, and to improve the capacity for self reflection of both
prisoners and students. While similar initiatives exist, research about the impact of
such initiatives is limited. This paper contributes to a growing body of research on the
importance of supporting students to engage in social justice enterprise and reflect
critically about their learning.
2. 3:50-4:05 Liz Curran
Health Justice Partnerships and Systemic Justice Opportunities Emerging
In the past two years, the seminal evidence-based Australia Legal- Wide Survey
commissioned by National Legal Aid ( August. 2012), The Allen’s Review of the
Legal Assistance Services’ National Partnership Agreement (July, 2014) and the
Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into ‘Access to Justice Arrangements’ (December
2014) have all affirmed the virtues of co-location , integrated legal service with nonlegal service delivery and effective outreach as valuable and instrumental if access of
justice and improved outcomes are to be attained. In this paper, Dr Curran will outline
findings and approaches being implemented as she is evaluating/has evaluated a range
of HJPs including a family violence program, a project examining urban mortgage
stress/ wellbeing and a program where a lawyer is based within a health service in a
regional setting. The latter project requires Dr Curran not only measure the impact of
the service but in ground-breaking research to establish measures for social
determinants of health that many other jurisdictions have lamented lack any concrete
measurement.
3. 4:10- 4:25 - Anthony Hopkins, Lisa Oxman and Lorana Bartels,
Justice as Wellbeing in Prison: The Potential of Vipassana Meditation
This paper considers the use of a particular form of meditation in prison settings.
Vipassana or ‘insight’ mediation, as taught by S. N. Goenka, is a simple, nonsectarian technique designed to bring peace of mind and happiness to those who
practise it (Hart, 1987). ‘Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through selfobservation.’ Those who wish to learn the technique must participate in a ten-day
intensive course of meditation in which they practise in silence and are guided, stepby-step, to bring ‘disciplined attention to physical sensations’ and explore the ‘deep
interconnection between mind and body’ (Vipassana Meditation, 2015). Vipassana
mediation has been taught in correctional facilities throughout the world, amongst
diverse prisoner populations. There is a growing body of evidence (see eg Parks et al
2003; Perelman et al 2012) to suggest that participation results in tangible benefits, in
terms of wellbeing, reduced rule infractions, substance abuse and recidivism. This
paper considers the evidence and asks whether it is time to trial a Vipassana
meditation course in an Australian prison.
4:25-4:45 – Discussion facilitated by Bruce Arnold
Brief Bios of Speakers
Assistant Professor Bruce Baer Arnold teaches privacy, intellectual property,
consumer protection and health law at the University of Canberra. He is a director of
the Australian Privacy Foundation and of the OECD Civil Society Information
Society Advisory Council, in addition to global working groups on health data
infrastructure/policy. He has published widely in Australian and international law and
medico-legal journals, along with invited testimony to national and state
parliamentary committees and law reform inquiries. He has a particular interest in
regulatory incapacity regarding human rights and consumer protection agencies.
Allison Ballard practises in the area of employment law, with a particular focus on
discrimination, human rights, workplace bullying and harassment, administrative law,
and work health and safety. Allison currently works in the community law sector at
the Women’s Legal Centre (ACT & Region) Inc. in Canberra. Until October 2014 she
worked in private practice with Bradley Allen Love Lawyers. Allison has worked as a
sessional academic at the University of Canberra, tutoring in the areas of employment
and administrative law since 2013. She is a member of ACT Law Society Pro Bono
Clearing House Panel and its Industrial Relations Committee. Allison was awarded a
year-long scholarship in management development by the Australian Public Service
and a Dean’s Award for Excellence from the University of Canberra Law School. She
is currently working towards a Doctor of Philosophy in Law with a focus on the
silence of workplace bullying and harassment.
Associate Professor Lorana Bartels (BA LLB LLM PhD GDLP GCTE) is an
Associate Professor at the University of Canberra and Honorary Associate Professor
at the University of Tasmania. Lorana is a member of the ACT Government’s Law
Reform Advisory Council, Justice Reform Advisory Group and Justice Reinvestment
Advisory Group, as well as the ACT Law Society Criminal Law Committee. Lorana
has published widely on a broad range of criminal justice issues and her key research
interests are sentencing, corrections, and the treatment of Indigenous people and
women in the criminal justice system. She currently hold an Australian Research
Council Linkage grant on public opinion on sentencing sex offenders and a Discovery
grant on public opinion on parole. She was a Visitor Scholar at the Cambridge
Institute of Criminology and a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge University in
the second half of 2015.
Jeremy Boland (BA LLB (Hons) GDLP BA (Hons) MA) practised corporate law
before moving to the not-for-profit sector, where he worked with disadvantaged
young people and their families in a number of capacities, including youth worker,
youth refuge manager and community services executive manager. Returning to the
private sector, Jeremy worked as a legal recruitment consultant. During this time, he
also held the statutory position of Official Visitor in adult corrections in the ACT.
Jeremy has held senior policy officer positions in youth justice and adult corrections,
as well as a residential position supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students at a boarding school for boys in Sydney. Jeremy is currently part of the
executive team at ACT Corrective Services, where he manages recruitment and
training functions. Jeremy has taught International Relations at the University of
South Australia and the Australian National University. Jeremy has been teaching
Corporations Law, Lawyers, Justice & Ethics, Law Reform and Prison, Prisoners &
the Law in the ANU College of Law at the Australian National University since 2003.
In 2015, Jeremy taught Young People & Crime in the Faculty of Business,
Government & Law at the University of Canberra.
Dr Fleur Beaupert is an independent researcher whose research focuses on the
interaction between mental health, disability and the law. She was doctoral candidate
on an Australian Research Council Linkage project comparing the operation of
Australian mental health tribunals and has worked as a solicitor with NSW Legal
Aid’s Mental Health Advocacy Service. She taught casually at the Sydney Law
School and is currently a senior research analyst with the NSW Ombudsman’s Police
Division.
Ms Doris Bozin is an adjunct professor at the Law and Justice Studies School at the
University of Canberra (UC). She has had a wide range of legal experience –
working as a prosecutor with Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions;
registrar and managing registrar with the ACT Magistrates Court; practitioner;
academic at the UC, teaching a wide range of units, including ADR in Law; and a
consultant. Doris is also an accredited mediator and conciliator. While working at
the ACT Magistrates Court, she set up the Dispute Resolution Unit dealing with all
civil claims. Presently, she is a PHD candidate, with her topic examining the dispute
resolution processes in Australian courts.
Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, BA(Hons) LLB PhD AMusA FRSA
FACLM(Hon) FAAL TEP was appointed to the ALRC in February 2007, and in
December 2009 as President. Prior to this she was Dean of Law at Macquarie
University (Nov 1999–Feb 2007), where she still holds a Chair. Ros has lectured and
published extensively, principally in the fields of equity, trusts, property, inheritance
and legal history. At the ALRC she has led eight law reform inquiries and is currently
leading the inquiry into encroachments on traditional rights and freedoms. In 2011 she
was recognised as one of the 40 ‘inspirational alumni’ of UNSW, where she gained
her PhD in 1994. In 2014 she was acknowledged for her contributions to public policy
as one of Australia’s ‘100 Women of Influence’ in the Australian Financial Review
and Westpac awards; and for her ‘outstanding contribution to the legal profession’
role in supporting and advancing women in the legal profession she was awarded the
Australian Women Lawyer’s award. In the Australia Day Honours list, 2015, Ros was
made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for ‘significant service to the law as
an academic, to legal reform and education, to professional development, and to the
arts’.
Dr Liz Curran is a Senior Lecturer at the ANU. For 15 years she has been
advocating integrated and collaborative approaches to legal service delivery as
effective in reaching vulnerable and disadvantaged people and for collaborative work
for systemic change that improves outcomes in terms of access to justice for
community. This view is informed both by her academic research and her own work
for a decade in a legal service that was co-located with a health service in one of the
poorest postcodes in Australia. Since 2011, Dr Curran has undertaken research
evaluations of services that now form what are now collectively described in
Australia as Health Justice Partnerships (HJPs). She has also been advising the
Victorian Legal Services Board which has funded five HJPs and working with them
to develop common measures of outcomes.
Dr Dalma Demeter is a law academic and practitioner with a truly international
background. She is teaching and researching in alternative dispute resolution,
international arbitration, international sales law, and international trade law. Dalma is
also an arbitrator in international commercial disputes and at the Willem C. Vis
International Commercial Arbitration Moot. She is a partner at the Australasian
Dispute Resolution Centre, a member of the Executive Committee of the UNCITRAL
National Coordination Committee for Australia, of the ACT Law Society
International Lawyers’ Committee, and of arbitral institutions globally. She is also a
contributor to law reform inquiries in private international law, alternative dispute
resolution and international trade law.
Caroline Doyle is a PhD Candidate in the School of Business at the University of
New South Wales, Canberra. Caroline was admitted as a solicitor to the ACT
Supreme Court in 2012. Caroline completed her Bachelor of Laws (Hons) at the
University of Canberra in 2011 and Bachelor of Arts at the University of Wollongong
in 2005. Caroline currently works as a sessional tutor in the Faculty of Business,
Government and Law at the University of Canberra.
Professor Patricia Easteal AM is a Professor at the University of Canberra. In 2010
she was awarded an Australian Honour ‘for service to the community, education and
the law through promoting awareness and understanding of violence against women,
discrimination and access to justice for minority groups.’ The same year she was
named the ACT Australian of the Year. She was a finalist in Australian Human Rights
awards in 2012. She has published 16 books and over 160 academic publications
primarily focusing on access to justice for women. Her most recent books include (coauthored with Anna Carline) Shades of Grey: Domestic and Sexual Violence Against
Women- Law Reform and Society (Routledge, 2014) and (co-edited with Louise
McOrmond-Plummer and Jennifer Levy-Peck) Intimate Personal Sexual Violence
(Jessica Allen, 2014).
Dr Piers Gooding has a research background in law, history and political science. He
is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Melbourne Social Equity Institute ("MSEI")
working on issues related to disability justice, international human rights law, and
mental health law and policy. His current research centres on rethinking unfitness to
stand trial procedures in Australia. The project includes providing support to accused
persons with cognitive disabilities in three jurisdictions, Victoria, the Northern
Territory and New South Wales. The project will have a specific focus on the effects
of unfitness to stand trial rules on Indigenous people. Prior to joining the MSEI, Dr
Gooding was a research associate at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP)
at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Dr Anthony Hopkins is a Senior Lecturer at the ANU College of Law, having been
appointed in 2014. Anthony began his career as a criminal defence lawyer in Alice
Springs at the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service. After taking time off
to raise his children, Anthony returned to the law as a lecturer at the University of
Canberra in 2008. There he taught Criminal Law, Evidence Law, Advocacy and
Indigenous Australians and the Law, receiving awards for his innovative teaching
approaches. Anthony was admitted to practice as a barrister in 2010, joining Burley
Griffin Chambers in the ACT. He continues to practice with a focus on sentencing
and appellate criminal cases. Anthony has a personal and professional commitment to
approaches to rehabilitation and personal change, born, in part, from his continuing
Vipassana meditation practise.
Dr Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Federal Member for Fraser
in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at
the Australian National University. Andrew holds a PhD in public policy from
Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in
Law and Arts. He has previously worked as a lawyer and as a principal adviser to the
Australian Treasury. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences,
the only parliamentarian to be a fellow of one of the four national academies. In 2011,
he received the 'Young Economist Award', a prize given every two years by the
Economics Society of Australia to the best Australian economist under 40. His books
include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires (2013), The Economics of Just
About Everything (2014) and The Luck of Politics (2015).
Nicholas Lim is a Management Consultant with Accenture. His work focuses on
increasing industry productivity through innovation and technology. He has strong
experience in driving effective stakeholder management to deliver desirable
outcomes. Nicholas has commercial interest in cross-border dispute resolution, and in
particular, transnational intellectual property and taxation issues. He holds a first class
law degree from the Australian National University.
Associate Professor Mark Nolan teaches and researches criminal law and procedure,
federal criminal law, legal psychology, and military discipline law at the ANU
College of Law. Beyond legal study, Mark has a PhD in social psychology and a
Masters of Asia Pacific Studies (Thai language and cultural studies). His research
interests include criminal law and procedure including codified federal criminal law,
terrorism, jury research, human rights, legal and psychological theories of justice,
comparative law, and citizenship. Beyond teaching, researching and supervising
research students, Mark has been accompanying ANU Law Reform and Social justice
student volunteers to the Alexander Maconochie Centre (Canberra's prison) since
mid-2011 to advise them whilst they teach legal literacy classes to detainees. Mark is
the current President of the ACT Branch of the Australian and New Zealand
Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, and is currently the Associate Dean
(Education) at the ANU College of Law.
Lisa Oxman is a Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Canberra. Lisa is
also a lecturer in the Applied Psychology Department at the University of Canberra,
teaching in the Master of Clinical Psychology program and the Psychology Honours
program. Lisa began her career in Adult Mental Health, and has also worked in
Alcohol and Other Drugs Services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Lisa was
on the Board of Toora Women Inc - a crisis accommodation service for women - for
five years. She was the Chair of the Board for four of these years. These experiences
have influenced her belief in the need for effective approaches to rehabilitation, given
the inter-generational trauma associated with custodial sentencing for inmates and
their families. Lisa also has a personal practice in Vipassana meditation.
Professor Simon Rice is Professor of Law and Director of Law Reform and Social
Justice at the ANU College of Law. He chairs the ACT Law Reform Advisory
Council and is adviser to the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human
Rights. He has previously been director of the NSW Law and Justice Foundation,
President of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, and a judicial member of the
NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal. He teaches, researches and writes in areas
of anti-discrimination law, human rights, law reform, legal ethics and access to
justice, and has extensive experience in researching, advocating for, and very
occasionally achieving, reforms to law and policy.
Dr Skye Saunders is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the Australian National University.
She is also the Associate Director of the ANU Legal Workshop and the Director of
the Master of Legal Practice. Skye’s doctoral research was titled Whispers from the
Bush: The Sexual Harassment of Rural Women in Australia. Skye has previously
worked as a lawyer in Canberra (Australia) in the field of Workplace Relations and
Discrimination Law.
Samuel Seow is a Senior Legal Executive of Rajah & Tann Asia. His experience in
investor-state treaty arbitration and commercial arbitration spans a wide range of
industries, including offshore investment, energy and health services. Samuel is
regularly invited to lecture across the region. He is an adjunct faculty of the
University of Tasmania Faculty Of Law, where he convenes a course on international
arbitration. He has authored numerous articles on his areas of expertise, in
publications including the Singapore Law Gazette, International Law Review, Global
Arbitration Review and International Arbitration Asia. Samuel holds a first class law
degree from the Australian National University.
Benjamin Smith is completing a Bachelor of Laws (hons) at the Australian National
University and is the Project Leader and founder of the Police Integrity Project. In
addition to his studies Benjamin has: assisted the AFP with courtroom preparation;
published articles in the Australian Undergraduate Research Journal, the Privacy law
Bulletin and The Conversation. Benjamin was the author of a monthly column in the
Summons (The Isaacs Law Society Publication). Benjamin has contributed to a
number of law reform inquiries and has appeared at parliamentary committee hearings
on topics ranging from organised crime to terrorism, privacy law to racial profiling.
Benjamin has recently collaborated on a research-based internship with the
Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre. In his spare time Benjamin
volunteers with the Ted Noffs Foundation, assisting with fundraising and legal
matters
Dr Linda Steele is a lecturer in law at the University of Wollongong where she
teaches criminal law and tort law. Her research is located at the intersections of law,
disability and critical theory. Linda is co-editor (with Professor Stuart Thomas) of a
special issue of the Griffith Law Review titled ‘Disability at the Periphery: Disability,
Legal Theory and Criminal Law’ (2014 (23(3)). Linda has a professional background
in social justice, including as a solicitor at the Intellectual Disability Rights Service
and an executive committee member of the Women in Prison Advocacy Network.
Paul Tan is a Partner of Rajah & Tann Asia, specialising in international arbitration.
A former assistant registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore, Paul holds first class
law degrees from the National University of Singapore and the University of Oxford.
Jessica White is based in Queensland, Jess has a Bachelor of Arts (Politics/History)
and Master of International Relations from Monash University. A final year Juris
Doctor student at University of Canberra (UC), she will be a PhD candidate at UC
from 2016. Working as a Sessional Academic tutoring with UC's Faculty of Business,
Government and Law, she is also a representative of Women With Disabilities
Australia. Jess is a passionate advocate for kids in foster care, involved with Life
Without Barriers and The Pyjama Foundation, and a student member of Lawyers for
Animals, Barristers Animal Welfare Panel, and Animal Legal Defense Fund (United
States). In a past life she has worked in energy and resources policy in the Australian
Public Service and interned as a Research Associate with think tank Per Capita.
Heidi Yates is Head of the General Law Practice at Legal Aid ACT and has a
background working in the community legal sector, including as Executive Director
of the Women's Legal Centre (ACT & Region). A Young Australian of Year state
finalist, Heidi sits on the Law Reform Advisory Council, is Chair of the ACT
LGBTIQ Ministerial Advisory Council and has a particular interest in access to
justice issues relating to gender-based discrimination including domestic violence.