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. 10:55-11:05 – Allison Ballard and Patricia Easteal

National Anti-Bullying Jurisdiction: The Mouse that Roared? The anti-bullying amendments the Fair Work Act 2014 (Cth) came into effect on 1 January 2014. There are indications that these changes are not translating into anti- bullying Orders. In the first six months of 343 applications, only one Order made. In this paper we look further to determine whether the legislation is in effect a paper tiger by examining the outcomes of the first 18 months. In addition to outcome we analyse decision-making and conclude that the scope of the provisions has been narrowed. For example, the FWC has confirmed that applications cannot be made by state government employees and will not be considered where an employee no longer works for the relevant employer. Both the ‘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. We also see what behaviours the FWC have considered as constituting (or not) bullying.

2. 11:10-11:25 - Caroline Doyle

Public Policy or Public Action? Explaining declining patterns of urban violence in Medellin, Colombia This paper addresses the causes of urban violence and is concerned with explaining success in the reduction of urban violence. Urban violence is a dynamic phenomenon that requires a multi-layered approach to understand the physical and psychological harm against persons from homicides, assaults, rape and robbery that occurs in cities. Previous literature has suggested several approaches to reduce urban violence. These range from formal to informal solutions and can approaches such as broken windows, social capital or youth empowerment. Formal elements include the role of urban governance and criminal justice. I focus on Medellin, Colombia, which has emerged from being the ‘most dangerous city in the world’ in 1991 to having a 90% reduction in homicide rates. This paper presents preliminary findings in terms of the role played by both public policies and other societal mechanisms that have led to this reduction of urban violence.

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 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

Justice and Court-Referred Mediation Practices Court-referred mediation is a method of dispute resolution that is being used more and more by courts at all levels, in order to deal with disputes efficiently and effectively. The question I will consider is whether the fundamental principle of confidentiality in mediation, is necessary in court-referred mediation processes. One of the principles of mediation is that all discussions in mediation processes are understood to be confidential by all parties and all parties agree that issues raised, will only be communicated outside the mediation process with their agreement. The only exception to this rule of strict confidentiality is where there is evidence of serious risk to self or others. However in court-referred mediations, communications are confidential between the parties, but may be disclosed or admitted into evidence with prior leave of the Court or tribunal. What are the consequences if judicial officers disclose those discussions in future proceedings? Are parties aware of the significance of those discussions being disclosed? Is this really then, a mediation process? What does disclosure of discussions during a court-referred mediation mean for the justice system as a whole?

3. 12:20-12:35 –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.

12:35-12:50- Dalma Demester 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 by responding to five of Heather Wishik’s feminist jurisprudence questions. 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? 5. What reforms have been proposed or have already been implemented pertinent to IPSV rape law? How could these reforms affect women both practically and ideologically? 6. In an ideal world, what would this women's life situation look like, and what relationship, if any, would the law have to this future life situation? We conclude by looking at our vision of utopia, answering the seventh question: How do we get there from here? .

2:25-2:40 – Fleur Beaupert, Piers Gooding & Linda Steele

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 is 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 amongst 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 non- legal 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, non- sectarian technique designed to bring peace of mind and happiness to those who practise it (Hart, 1987). ‘Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through self- observation.’ 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, step- by-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 holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, First Class Honours in International Relations and a Masters in International Studies. Jeremy practised corporate law in a top tier firm 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 also 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 . Jeremy is currently employed as a Senior Manager with ACT Corrective Services. Jeremy has taught International Relations at the University of South Australia and the Australian National University and has been teaching Corporations Law, Lawyers, Justice and Ethics, Law Reform and Prison, Prisoners and the Law in the ANU College of Law since 2003.

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 and is currently a senior research analyst with the NSW Ombudsman’s Police Division.

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 (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 , 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 (co- authored 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 is a postdoctoral research associate at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP), National University of Ireland, Galway. He is currently working on international projects for legal capacity law and policy reform, including with the European Commission. Piers has previously worked as a researcher, including with the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne, with the Australian Mental Health Commission; and the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, in partnership with People with Disabilities Australia.

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 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).

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. Specialising in cross-border dispute resolution, his experience spans a wide range of industries, including energy, construction and health services. Samuel is a director of a private medical practice and has authored numerous articles on his fields of expertise. Samuel holds a first class law degree from the Australian National University and lectures internationally.

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. Paul commenced his legal career as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of Singapore. Subsequently, he was appointed Assistant Registrar, hearing a wide range of commercial disputes. Since entering private practice, he has been praised by the Global Arbitration Review for his “powerful intellect” and “extraordinary analytical discipline”. He holds first class law degrees from the National University of Singapore and the University of Oxford and teaches international arbitration internationally.

Jessica White lives in sunny Queensland with a husband and three special needs rescue dogs. A passionate advocate for foster kids, people living with chronic pain conditions, animal welfare and human rights generally, she was a public servant in a former life and has both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of International Relations from Monash University. Currently in the final year of a Juris Doctor at the University of Canberra, she is developing her legal research interests (helping the legal system to better respond to the needs of women and children) through practical experience helping local organisations on the Gold Coast.

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.