"Decanally Yours 2020" - Southern Cross University Law School Magazine

Former Magistrate and Southern Cross University Alumnus David Heilpern, opens up about life on the bench and his next chapter...

The good, the bad, and the bench!

A note from the Editor

Kim King, Alumni & Placement Support Officer

As we move into the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems 2020 is far from finished with us!

We live now in a time where classes are taught online, we’re all experts in Zoom, and small talk about the weather has been replaced with outbursts about the extensive commute delays due to the closure of the QLD border.

Whilst the media is saturated with messaging about quarrantine, hand-washing, hot-spots, restrictions, social distancing and panic buying (don’t mention the toilet paper!), it is important to remember the grief and loss so many people are still experiencing from the devastating bushfires that ravaged our land last summer, sparked by a prolonged drought.

Despite these ongoing challenges our newsletter is brimming with stories of accomplishment, so much so we now have a fully fledged magazine! This issue is all about people — the human spirit during tough times — in law and practice (cover story pg 6), the plight of the underdog (pg 8), and how we are driven to continue putting our students first (pg 14).

Our ‘new world’ challenges us to continually re-evaluate what truly matters, and that which does not!

And so we keep on, with tenacity, taking it all in our stride — with a smile!

Kim King

BComn (Griffith) Editor and graphic designer, Decanally Yours

Dean’s Welcome Law in a time of Covid!

This issue of Decanally Yours finds me addressing you not from my book-lined office nestled in the heart of Lismore’s sylvan campus, nor atop Building C’s 6th Floor with its magnificent views of Mount Warning; rather, I write to you from the small – but comfortable –study of my home, ‘Seadrift’, in beautiful Byron Bay, itself eerily quiet and utterly empty of tourists.

To engage in some understatement: what a year it has been! Suffice it to say, though, the School of Law & Justice (SLJ) has come through the pandemic in good order. Indeed, with flying colours. Of course, we were well positioned to do so, with over 80% of students — prepandemic — online, and all units and courses flexibly delivered. Even with that, I am astounded, astonished and amazed at how well we have segued to a fully virtual law school!

First and foremost, I applaud our superb students for making this potentially challenging transition so smooth; I know there were impediments, uncertainties and contingencies along the way, but you’d never know it from your unflagging commitment to the School and your indefatigable application to your studies, as well as your determination to just get on with it!

A special shout-out, additionally, to your student leaders: the hard-working presidents of SCULSS, SCULA and Law Club, and their Executives, for all their assistance and support throughout these ‘interesting times’, especially in acting as such effective conduits of communication between staff and students.

Second, a huge thank you to the SLJ Management Team, in particular Acting Deputy Dean, Mr Aidan Ricketts, who has worked tirelessly throughout the transition to ensure equity and fairness, as well as efficiency and efficacy for both students and staff in their teaching and learning.

Course Coordinators, Mr Geoff Manion and Mr Warwick Fisher are also thanked, as is Deputy Dean (Research), Professor John Page for guaranteeing that our seminar series — as well as other key research events — continued to run via zoom, skype and other digital delivery systems. And congratulations on the promotion to full professor, John; it’s very well deserved, and overdue!

Third, I want to thank our outstanding University Coucil, Senior Executive, and last but certainly not least Vice Chancellor, Professor Adam Shoemaker, for their managerial nous, transparent decision-making, consultative outreach and, above all, truly steadying hand — a Zen-like calm! – in what has been one of the most demanding — and absolutely unique — sessions, semesters or terms in my thirty year teaching career on four continents and five cities. Good on ya’, the SLJ is firmly behind all of you and here’s to SCU all the way!

And to my readers: stay safe, be well and enjoy Decanally Yours!

Huzzah for the SLJ, all my best and

Decanally yours, Bill

Professor William MacNeil The Honourable John Dowd Chair in Law Professor of Jurisprudence Dean and Head, School of Law & Justice Head of Lismore Campus Southern Cross University

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The good, the bad, and the bench!

Masters of Law, Class of 1997

Former NSW Magistrate and Co-founder of the School of Law and Justice (SLJ), David Heilpern, judges himself as “just a person, doing a difficult job,” but it only takes a few moments speaking with him to appreciate the accomplished, centred, and humble man he is.

A husband of 36 years, a son, father and grandfather, David has stepped down from the bench and is publicly confronting his demons giving raw accounts of his experience with vicarious trauma, from the many years of hard-decision making as a magistrate.

David speaks of his beloved law as being likened to that of a great novel, of the intrinsic intersection between law and the arts, but unsurprisingly, it is the trauma within each story that has pointed him towards retirement. Now, after years of exposure to wrongfulness, death threats, situations unfathomable to most, David is upbeat as he maintains people are mostly good, as he embraces his new found freedom to speak freely, though teaching, activism, and most importantly bringing attention to vicarious trauma in the industry.

David’s relationship with Southern Cross University began in 1989 when he and Richard Harris, (teaching Business Law at the time), were tasked to set up a law school.

“It was a really exciting time where Richard and I had a vision that the Law School would train really good country lawyers, and that’s how we sold it to the politicians — if you want people to be country lawyers, you’ve got to teach them in the country.”

When asked what he loves the most about law David’ explains he “has always seen the practice of law as better than fiction in real life.”

“I think law is inherently interesting, it’s like a continual soap opera. Sitting in court being an advocate, is like a movie or a great novel. Every time a case came before me in court, I saw a story, and generally they’re riveting, thrilling really,” he said.

“A good example of this is the famous Dudley and Stephens case, where three people in 1884 are starving to death in a life raft and draw short straws to decide who is going to knock off the cabin boy to eat him to stay alive — and then they are charged with murder. This poses the question is necessity a defence to murder? You don’t get better than that in novels or real life.”

But in all great novels, there are trials and tribulations, and towards the end of his time as Magistrate, David said he was damaged, by the nature of the work, and this lead to his stepping down.

“Since the royal commission the courts have been flooded by child sexual abuse cases, and child pornography — it takes a toll, and I was feeling pretty damaged by that. The injustice of the Drug Driving Laws and the Driving Laws in general, also weighed heavily, so I felt like I could do more outside of in the tent than in,” he said.

Alumni in the spotlight – David Heilpern

SLJ Alumnus David Heilpern is also an SLJ Adjunct and a member of the SLJ Practice Professorial Program.

Image source: The Echo

“As a magistrate, you can’t talk about public policy, you can’t complain about bad laws, you can’t be a commentator on things, and that became increasingly frustrating for me. Since stepping down, I’ve spoken at a Black Lives Matter rally, I haven’t been able to do that sort of thing for literally decades, and I feel free.”

Mr Heilpern said it was the countless hard decisions that he would make as a magistrate that really weighed on him.

“I have found there are far less hard decisions in practice than there is on the bench. You do a bail application as a lawyer, and you do your best and you put the information before the court, but you aren’t the one making the decision. As a magistrate or a judge it can be lonely, you need to make these decisions on your own with really significant implications,” he said.

“In the last few years before I quit, I granted bail to two young people who then at knife point, raped a nurse within hours of them being released on bail. I refused bail to someone who within three hours was shot dead by corrections. Some days I’d be making 20, 30 bail decisions in a day. The implications of what you do are so significant and you have so little time to reflect on the decisions you are making, it is wonderful not having to make those hard decisions.”

Having seen the very best and the very worst of humanity on the bench, Mr Helipern said he actually saw very few people he would describe as bad people.

“In my view, most people don’t want to commit crimes, most people genuinely don’t want to hurt their partners, they don’t want to be in a position where they are stealing things, they don’t want to be drinking and driving, they actually genuinely want to be good and wholesome members of the community. I never really saw many people as being bad in that sense, you can find the good in most people” he said.

“I saw an enormous amount of goodness and bravery, and trying to climb mountains of despair in their lives. There were some people who were really dangerous and predatory, but not many, probably a dozen the whole time on the bench did I form the conclusion these people were beyond redemption, and were a danger.”

When asked if he believes a leopard can change its spots David said he often saw evidence of this.

“I saw a huge amount of change whilst sitting in court, you sit in a town long enough you get to see people over and over again, and some of them have really great success stories,” he said.

“We are all interrelated, if there is injustice to one, there is injustice to all. What Buddhism has taught me and my own philosophy is that we are all connected and there is a beautiful saying that is “until the last chain falls, freedom will make slaves of us all”, that really sums it up, this isn’t just happening to ‘them’, this is not just happening to others, this is us, this is our society and unless we change that, it will bite us all. I come from a holocaust survivor family and what the biggest lesson of the holocaust is that it only takes good people to remain silent for evil to triumph.”

Looking to the future I asked David what legacy he would like to leave and “in terms of the bench, the legacy he hopes to leave, is speaking out about vicarious trauma — and the impact on himself and on other judges and magistrates.”

“It’s more than just saying this affected me and is really terrible. Judges and magistrates are just people doing a difficult job, and demystifying, removing the gown and the wig, removing “your honour” and “your worship”, is extremely valuable to me,” he said.

“For me to say “I suffered from vicarious trauma” as a result of sitting through child sex cases is something I am proud of.”

“A great piece of advice I was once told is to remember to breathe — and it’s taken me a long time to learn how and since I have, it’s served me well. I even had a little sticker on the bench saying remember to breathe”.

In the next chapter of David’s story, you will find him centre stage, speaking his truth, openly sharing his highs and lows. His story is far from over as he trades the Director chair as a Magistrate, for the lead role in his own story — I hear you may even see him on stage at the theatre — one of his other great loves.

Story by Kim King.

Alumni in the spotlight – Paul Armbruster

From sports field, to leader in his field, law graduate wins prestigious award in New York!

SCU School of Law & Justice, Class of 2008 Bachelor of Legal and Justice Studies, 1999–2003 Bachelor or Laws (LLB), 2005–2008

New York, centre stage, accepting the 2020 Futurist Award for excellence in eDiscovery, legal operations, and litigation response, is a far cry from where School of Law and Justice (SLJ) Alumnus Paul Armbruster was as a teen, leaving high school at 16, more interested in chasing soccer balls.

In February 2020, Mr Armbruster was honoured by his peers as a leader in his field at the 2020 Corporate eDiscovery Hero Awards — an annual night of celebration, awards, food, and drinks that brings together some of the industry’s best and brightest.

“I was extremely surprised to win the award. The voting was conducted by 40 industry leaders and it was nice to be recognised by many of the people that had mentored me throughout my career. This event gave awards in five categories including a lifetime achievement award to Ken Withers of the Sedona Conference and featured a down-to-earth discussion with featured guest, 60 Minutes correspondent, Lesley Stahl,” he said.

For the past four years Mr Armbruster has been at Salt River Project (SRP) in Phoenix, US, where he works on end-to-end Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) issues.

As well as being admitted to practice law in Australia, Mr Armbruster holds an in-house counsel certificate with the Arizona State Bar.

“I received the award in recognition for over 20 years of contribution to the eDiscovery industry. I have worked both to promote eDiscovery as an

essential and recognised function of litigation, as well as to bring those best practices to corporations, law firms, and eDiscovery vendors.

“SRP is a community-based not-for-profit water and energy company, which provides reliable, affordable water and power to more than two million people living in central Arizona”, he said

I have spent significant time managing complex e-discovery issues at law firms, large multinational corporations, and as a litigation and trial consultant — having supported dozens of jury trials throughout the United States (US),” he said.

The technology landscape is changing so fast and keeping pace with emerging chat apps, software platforms, and productivity tools can feel like a losing battle. Mr Armbruster explains that eDiscovery is simply a concept that each party to litigation has a right to see the other side’s evidence.

“If you are in federal court discovery rules are contained within rules 26–37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). Each state has enacted state law equivalent discovery rules that map to the federal rules, for example, discovery sanctions is FRCP rule 37 and the state rule for discovery sanctions will also be state rule 37. eDiscovery, or electronic discovery, began as a creature of the US legal system and more and more we are seeing other countries, like Australia, embracing technologies and workflows developed years ago in the US,” he said.

“When I began at SRP they didn’t have an eDiscovery program and after conducting an assessment of their current practices it was obvious they needed consistent processes and procedures. We then went about creating a process and procedure playbook that outlines different scenarios and the steps that needed to be taken to get consistent results. We documented, among other things, how to collect text messages from cell phones; how to locate and preserve social media activity; how to search and extract email from various email platforms,” he said.

“Gone are the days when we kept everything forever. The ease of access and identification means that content can often create enormous risk to a company. There are only three reasons to keep business content; first, the content has business value, second, there is a legal obligation

to preserve content – say for pending litigation, and third, there is a regulatory obligation – seven years for financial documents. Everything else creates risk and increases cost,” he said.

“When I arrived at SRP they were not deleting certain content from an email archive system and this created enormous risk. Legal and IT partnered to reconfigure rules within their system that enabled us to identify content we needed to preserve, which allowed us to delete the remainder – 25 million emails.”

Prior to working at SRP, Mr Armbruster spent time at Epiq Global, eBay/PayPal, Cooley’s Palo Alto office, and Heller Ehrman in San Francisco. It hasn’t always been glitiz and glamour for Mr Armbruster, who said that as a 16 year old, the appeal of being paid to play sport was far more enticing than high school.

“During high school I was more interested in chasing soccer and cricket balls than school. I took a public service entrance exam at the end of year 10 and was offered a plumbing apprenticeship with the public works department. I thought I had won the lottery, someone was going to pay me $300 a week not to go to school,

it was a no-brainer. I may actually be the only licensed plumber and licensed lawyer in Australia.”

After finishing his plumbing apprenticeship Mr Armbruster’s moved to London and this changed his trajectory towards law.

“I got a job as a store detective at the UK equivalent of a Kmart. Before I started, I was required to take a basic criminal law class and I loved it. In the matter of a few months I had gone from changing out toilets to arresting people for shoplifting,” he said.

“When I came back to Australia I wanted to join the Police Force but as I hadn’t finished year 12, they wouldn’t accept me. I had done some research on courses at Southern Cross University and decided to apply for the Associate Degree and I was lucky enough to be accepted. From there I completed the Bachelor of Legal and Justice Studies, the Bachelor of Laws, and completed my PLT.”

Due to the technical nature of his work Mr Armbruster said COVID-19 has had very little impact in his industry.

“eDiscovery lawyers have been using many of the tools required to work remotely for years. We have however, noticed a downturn in the amount of litigation and claims being filed and this is likely the result of less people out and about.”

Mr Armbruster is currently living in Pheonix, Arizona, and hopes to return to his homeland Australia, in the near future.

Story by Kim King.

Paul Armbruster, Monica Enand (CEO of Zapproved), and Cecil Lynn (Director at PayPal), at the Hero Awards in New York.

Paul Armbruster and Judge Sheindlin, founding pioneer in eDiscovery Law.

Alumni in the spotlight – Laura Gerber

Law graduate the Member for Currumbin

Bachelor of Laws, Class of 2012

From a Bachelor of Laws at Southern Cross to securing one of Queensland’s most hotly contested seats, Laura Gerber has a dynamic legal and political story to tell.

In March this year, during the disruption of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Gerber was named the Member for the marginal Gold Coast seat of Currumbin in the Queensland by-election following the resignation of long-term LNP member Jann Stuckey.

It was during her maiden speech to parliament in May, Ms Gerber shared about the family and education that helped shape her, and teared up when thanking her husband Dan, wider family, friends, colleagues, volunteers and mentors for their support.

“Mum tells the story of how from the age of six I told her I wanted to be a lawyer. I do not know what it was that planted that seed, but I was determined to achieve this dream. I worked my way through University… and I enjoyed learning and gained an appreciation about the importance of education. In 2008 I obtained by Bachelor of Laws with Honours from Southern Cross University,” Ms Gerber said.

“I firmly believe all children should have opportunities to achieve their dreams and as the Member for Currumbin this will certainly be a focus of my work. We need to plan for the future and ensure our children have opportunities to experience clean beaches, world-class education and local jobs.”

The Currumbin electorate includes the suburbs of Currumbin, Coolangatta, Bilinga, Elanora, Tugun, Currumbin Valley and Tallebudgera Valley, and includes many important landmarks including Southern Cross University, the Gold Coast Airport, John Flynn Hospital, Currumbin Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary, as well as the World Surfing Reserve and Hinterland.

Ms Gerber was born in Allamanda Private Hospital in Southport, lived in Carrara, Tallebudgera Creek and Terranora while growing up as the eldest of four children. She spoke about how she met her husband Dan in Coolangatta and the two married on Currumbin Beach five years later.

She reminisced learning to surf at Rainbow Bay, and joining nippers at Currumbin Vikings club where she earned her bronze medallion and volunteered as a Surf Life Saver.

“I used to prosecute the law-breakers to protect the public, now I join the law makers, to continue to preserve and protect my community.”

(Laura Gerber)

While studying law at Southern Cross, Laura worked as a waitress in Coolangatta and Tweed, and secured her first legal role at local Coolangatta firm Attwood Marshall Lawyers. After three years as a litigation lawyer she accepted a position as a federal prosecutor in Brisbane, in a team prosecuting bikies, people smugglers, drug importers and paedophiles.

Her maiden speech outlined her strong stance against child pornography and her commitment to work with colleagues to be tougher on crime, fix the M1, retain Currumbin’s natural beauty, support small businesses and create jobs.

“I used to prosecute the law-breakers to protect the public, now I join the law makers, to continue to preserve and protect my community,” she said.

She described the by-election win as her “most difficult achievement”, and will head to the polls again in October for second time this year for the 2020 Queensland State Election.

SLJ graduate Laura Gerber, the new member for Currumbin.

Story by SCU media.

Alumni in the spotlight - Lyn Ellison

Graduate

work

picked up by major international journal

Bachelor of Laws, Class of 2018 University Medalist*

In the summer of 2020, School of Law & Justice (SLJ) graduate Lyn Ellison, along with former SLJ academic Dr Natalia Szablewska, redrafted Lyn’s law Honours paper and submitted the paper to leading international journal in legal semiotics: International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, hoping for some good feedback.

Ms Ellison, (now working in the Southern Cross Univeristy Legal Office), said not only did they achieve positive feedback, but subject to some revisions, the paper was accepted and published in May, 2020.

“I was surprised, but delighted, that our paper was accepted, particularly as this was our first submission,” Ms Ellison said.

“The paper, a critical discourse analysis of court material relating to the high-profile cases of two women perpetrators of international crimes, indicated that personal social, cultural and situational factors might influence women’s agency and propensity to engage in violence,” Ms Ellison said.

“We concluded that the achievement of gender justice requires these factors be considered where women are accused of committing violent crimes to ensure that law’s gender neutrality does not amount to gender blindness,” Ms Ellison said.

“I want to sincerely thank Dean of Law and Head of School Professor William MacNeil, Deputy Head of the Law School (Research), Professor John Page, Associate Professor Jennifer Nielsen, and Dr Alex Pelizzon, for their encouragement and support during my Honours year, Ms Ellison said.

“In the midst of so much awful news surrounding COVID-19, it was so good to be able share some better news.”

Professor John Page (SLJ) said Lyn’s publication success is testament to the rigour and quality of the SLJ’s embedded Honours program.

Turning an Honours thesis into a peer-reviewed international journal article speaks volumes not only to Lyn, but also to the extraordinary calibre of our Honours students, their SLJ supervisors, and the leadership of Dr Alessandro Pelizzon, the then Honours coordinator’.

*University Medals are awarded to candidates who have completed the requirements of a Bachelor degree with first class honours and who at all times have demonstrated a very high standard of academic achievement.

Lyn Ellison and Dean of Law and Head of School Professor William MacNeil at Lyn’s graduation in 2018.

Story by Kim King.

Alumni in the spotlight – David Barnden

Law graduate leading world-first cases on climate change risk

Bachelor of Laws, Class of 2012

Law graduate David Barnden has taken his Southern Cross University law degree and forged a stellar and highly influential legal career currently carrying two world-first cases in the Federal Court of Australia, on climate change risk.

The most recent case filed in the Federal Court of Australia, is on behalf of a 23 year old student against the Commonwealth for failing to disclose climate risks to sovereign bond investors.

Another concerns a member suing the trustee of his $60 billion Australian superannuation fund in relation to climate risk and compliance. It could impact the US$33 trillion global asset pool for pension funds.

“The case is on track to set a precedent on climate risk for trustees who invest billions of other people’s money,” says David.

With substantial class action litigation experience, Mr Barnden is known as a specialist in complex, novel litigation and corporate investigations. He is the founder and principal lawyer of Equity Generation Lawyers, a firm specialising in finance and climate change issues.

Story by Kim King/SCU media.

Alumni in the spotlight – Cassandra Pickering

Bachelor of Laws (Honours), Class of 2019

During 2019, Bachelor of Laws (Honours) student Cassandra Pickering teamed up with Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning) Evgeny Guglyuvatyy and published a joint paper “Negative Impact of Land Clearing and Deforestation on the Great Barrier Reef, Assessing the Effectiveness of Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act 1999 (Qld)”.

Published in 2019 in Carbon and Climate Law Review journal, Lexxion, Berlin, the paper examines the recent amendments to the Vegetation Management Act 1999 (Qld) (VMA) and whether these amendments will interact with the Reef 2050 Plan effectively.

The effectiveness of the VMA is discussed to draw conclusions about potential reforms that should be considered to limit land clearing and deforestation in Australia thus minimising negative impact on the Great Barrier Reef.

Alumni in the spotlight –

Julie

de

Rooy

Empathy the key to student support during COVID-19

Associate Degree in Law, Class of 1995 Bachelor of Laws, Class of 1997

The School of Law and Justice (SLJ) is pleased to welcome back graduate Julie de Rooy as Resident Tutor returning to a rich student body, in an ever-changing climate.

Ms de Rooy graduated in the late 1990s completing an Associate Degree in Law and Bachelor of Laws. Having previously worked in legal offices as a secretary, Julie commenced higher education as a young mum, whilst also juggling other work and family commitments. Julie went on to legal practice in NSW and Victoria, before teaching law in the higher education sector for over 15 years.

Julie has returned to SCU with a wealth of experience in many different aspects of the legal profession.

Given her own less than conventional study path, Julie said she can empathise with SLJ students at various levels.

“When I was a student at University, most students were school leavers, with only a handful of mature age students,” she said.

“The scene has changed considerably, as many of our commencing law students come from all walks of life, bringing with them a wealth of different life experiences,” she said.

There doesn’t seem to be a ‘typical’ law student any more, and this makes for a wonderfully rich study body,” she said.

Julie explained the aim of the Resident Tutor is to assist students to make the transition to higher education.

“Support may involve helping students to understand the expectations of a unit, providing additional feedback after assessments have been

returned and/or making referrals to the many other support services offered by the University,” she said.

In the last 12 months, Julie interviewed many of SLJ’s top students examining how they had achieved excellent outcomes.

“With this knowledge, and based on my own experience, the Resident Tutor Webinar Series was developed,” she said.

“I am now offering a number of optional-extra workshops each study session providing tips and hints on how students can settle in and obtain their own positive outcomes.”

The RT Webinar sessions include topics such as ‘Getting off to a Great Start with your Law Studies, ‘Preparing for mid-session Assessments,’ ‘AGLC4 Referencing Refresher’, and ‘Preparing for open book Law Exams’.

In session 1, 2020, SLJ academic Emma Babbage and Ms de Rooy co-hosted an information session, based on Ms Babbages’ PhD research into Wellbeing, with a view to provide practical emotional support during the COVID-19 changes.

While the role of RT is primarily aimed at supporting first year students, later stage law students may also benefit from contacting Julie if needed.

Story by Kim King.

For more information contact Julie at lawtutor@scu.edu.au.

New Law & Creative Writing Intensives

Exciting times for Law & Culture!

The School of Law and Justice is expanding its innovative range of interdisciplinary law electives with two exciting new law and creative writing intensives, to be delivered in December 2020 during session 3.

Program Convenor for the Law and Creative Writing

Program Jonathan Harlen, said the school is honoured to have prizewinning Australian novelist and Journalist Sarah Armstrong, (pictured left), teaching a unit on “Law and Morality”.

“Along with Ms Armstrong, who won the 1993 Walkely Award for Journalism, we have invited renowned South African novelist Eben Venter (pictured above), to deliver a unit “Writing About Family in the 21st Century.”

“Both courses, taught online over four consecutive days, can be taken as stand-alone subjects or as electives in a wide range of degree programs, including SCU’s unique combined Bachelor of Laws and Creative Writing degree,” Mr Harlen said.

“These courses strengthen the Law School’s position as a market leader in Law and Culture studies, which seek to enrich students’ understanding of the narratives of law by developing their skills in cultural criticisms and their ability as writers.”

Mr Harlen further explained that Law is, above all, about mastery of language — as much concerned with rhetoric and narrative discourse as it is with technique.

“Students who love language and who would like to explore the synergies between law, literature, and culture whilst at the same time expanding their own creative writing talents will find these electives an extremely rewarding experience.”

A range of other Law and Creative Writing intensives are planned for summer and winter 2021, showcasing some of Australia’s best-known writers: Matt Condon on writing True Crime, Phil McLaren on writing Crime Fiction, Gillian Rubenstein on Writing Japan – with more in the pipeline, yet to be confirmed.

At this stage, all courses are expected to be delivered online, and are being developed using SCU’s state-of-the-art online course design technology.

Aspiring writers take note! These are indeed exciting times for Law and Culture at Southern Cross University!

Story by Kim King.

For further information visit scu.edu.au/law

Eben Venter will deliver a unit “Writing About Family in the 21st Century” in the new Law & Creative Writing Intensives.

Summer and Winter Law Intensive Program 2019/2020

Stellar international line-up delivers law intensive units online despite bushfires & COVID-19

The 2019/2020 Summer and Winter School continued the tradition of offering cutting-edge and relevant units that allow students to develop the skills needed to stand out in an increasingly competitive world.

In what was the School of Law and Justice’s (SLJ) second Winter Intensive program, students were treated to a suite of socially-poignant and intellectually-stimulating subjects at the Gold Coast campus in July 2019. Capturing the interest of local and cross-institutional students, was the fascinating unit, Crimen Exceptum: The English Witch Prosecutions in Context, ably presented by Adjunct Associate Professor Gregory Durston from Kingston University, London. Dr Allison Fish from UQ presented Wisdom Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property. Last, but certainly not least, our very own Dean of Law and Head of School Professor William MacNeil, encouraged students to investigate the ways in which images of law in popular culture depict, distort and critique the legal process in Legal Fictions – during the Writing the Law unit.

The first round of the 2019 Summer Law School units commenced in December at the Gold Coast

with some very popular practical units. A mix of SCU students, cross-institutional students, police officers, scientists and other industry professionals formed the student cohort who enjoyed:

• Public Interest Advocacy delivered by Aidan Ricketts (SLJ)

• DNA and the Law presented by Dr Paula Hallam (SLJ)

• International Business Negotiations delivered by Jay Finkelstein (partner at DLA Piper LLP (US) with adjunct faculty positions at Stanford, Berkeley, and Georgetown Law Schools)

• Mooting presented by Dr Paula Hallam (SLJ).

The Study Period 1 Summer Law School was interrupted by the devastating fires and while two units had to be postponed, Dr Daniela Carpi agreed to move her unit online and delivered The Legalities of Artificial Intelligence from her office at the University of Verona, Italy. Little did we know at the time, this form of unit delivery would become the norm just several months later with COVID-19 seeing the move of all teaching at SCU online.

We were fortunate to once again have Dr Renata Salecl join us from Slovenia to deliver one of students’ favourite subjects, Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law. Finally, Cormac Cullinan, practising environmental attorney and author, joined us from Cape Town, South Africa to deliver Ecological Jurisprudence.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions, the 2020 Winter Law School program was shifted to online with international experts delivering via various platforms from around the world.

Students enjoying the DNA and the Law panel, part of the 2019 SLJ Summer School at the Gold Coast Campus, Australia.

Scott Nowland (police detective), Sophie Anderson (Barrister), Emma Pearce (Journalist), David AshtonLewis (former Supreme Court Judge), Ange Williams (SCU Student and forensic physician), and moderater Paula Hallam (forensic scientist), at The DNA panel during 2019 Summer Law School.

Associate Professor Pornchai Wisuttisak, presented International Trade and development Law from his office at Chiang Mai University, Thailand. In the same week, Dr Valentina Adami, from the University of Verona, Italy and SLJ Professor Nicole Rogers came together virtually to co-present Myths for the Future: Law and Climate Fiction in the 21st Century.

Dr Merran Lawlar, Kaiarahi & National Advocate of Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga/National Network of Family Violence Services in Aotearoa/ New Zealand treated students to an exploration of the discursive conventions of law in The Rhetoric of Law. And, Dean and Professor of Law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Law School, Professor Shen Wei delivered Introduction to Chinese Business Law.

Enrolments have already commenced into the upcoming 2020 Summer Law School, which will give students the opportunity to delve into some fascinating topics including:

• The Art of Advocacy: Mooting and Performance Rhetoric delivered by Professor Gary Watt from University of Warwick UK

• International Business Negotiations presented by Jay Finkelstein

• Justice Framed: Law in Films and Graphic Novels – presented by Associate Professor Chiara Battisti University of Verona, Italy.

The Session 3 Summer Law School will be followed by the Study Period 1 round of Summer intensives in January 2021. This program promises to offer students a variety of practical and thought-provoking theoretical topics. Professor Salecl will deliver Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law online from Slovenia. Performances and Power in Literature and Law will be presented online by Associate Professor Sidia Fiorato, from the University of Verona, Italy and Professor Raffaele Cutolo, also from the University of Verona, will present Shifting Cultural Paradigms: Law and Literature After Postmodernism.

Two practical units will be added to the suite with Lee Aitken, set to deliver Troubling Transactions in Private Law and Dr Jeff Thompson to teach us about Resilience in Conflict.

Story by Kim King and Helen Walsh.

For further information on the Intensive Units, or to enrol, visit scu.edu.au/law

Student placement opportunity Partnership brings employers direct to students in Virtual Careers Fair

In April 2020, The School of Law and Justice (SLJ) proudly partnered with Southern Cross University Careers and Employability to host a Virtual Careers Fair which provided students and recent graduates, the opportunity to meet with over 25 employers from Government, Law, Health, Community Services, Engineering, Science, IT, Business, Events, Arts and Education sectors.

Manager, Careers and Employability Leanne Baker, (pictured right), said the fair was run at a time when employers were recruiting for hundreds of graduate jobs, from a wide range of disciplines that will start in 2021.

“Four legal organisations were online to talk to students about the different roles, pathways, opportunities and challenges of working in the legal profession, as well as discuss clerkships, placements and grad programs offered through their organisations,” Ms Baker said.

“The School of Law and Justice provided two industry experts from their Practice Professorial Program, Ms Joelene Nel (pictured far right), and Mark Carkeet, (pictured top right), who hosted Zoom Meeting rooms on behalf of their organisations and practice areas.

“Mr Carkeet, former partner at Minter Ellison, one of Asia Pacific’s leading law firms at the forefront of driving digital transformation and embedding a culture of curiosity and innovation, spoke to students about Minter Ellison and his hints and tips for succeeding in the industry,” Ms Baker said.

“Ms Joelene Nel, family lawyer, mediator and family dispute resolution practitioner at McLaughlin Lawyers, provided students with insights into the legal field and the rewards and challenges of mediation and family dispute resolution,” Ms Baker said.

“Alexandra Smith, Recruitment Business Partner and Jay Stephenson, Solicitor, from The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (NSW) spoke with SCU students seeking work experience, Graduate roles and Practical Legal Training in the Lismore and other offices of the ODPP NSW,” Ms Baker said.

“Students interested in pursuing these options can connect with SLJ Placement Director, Associate Professor Jennifer Nielsen at jennifer.nielsen@scu.edu.au.”

Students were also able to put themselves in front of other important legal organisations such as the Queensland Law Society and network with seven other organisations with specialist legal streams including Australian Public Service Commission, Indigenous Careers – Australian Government, Defence Jobs Australia, Leidos, Public Service Commission NSW, Teach for Australia, and Inside Sherpa.

“Final year students were able to connect directly with graduate recruiters to gain insights into what they are searching for, how to improve applications and enhance professional networking skills,” Ms Baker said.

“First and second year students were able to explore a range of national clerkship and international and graduate programs, learn about their timelines and the types of skills and qualities required. Students also explored internship opportunities and developed professional networking skills.”

Story by Kim King.

Mark Carkeet, former partner at Minter Ellison shared hints and tips with students on succeeding in the industry.

Student placement initiative Law students gain first-hand experience in community centre

Session 1, 2020 saw the launch of a new partnership between the School of Law & Justice (SLJ), and My Community Legal, Robina, QLD (MCL), giving students a taste of what it’s like to provide free legal services to those who need but cannot afford a lawyer.

Director of SLJ Placements, Associate Professor Jennifer Nielsen said the School’s relationship with MCL has been developing for some time.

“Professor Bee Chen Goh participated in MCL’s early meetings when it was being set up as the Robina Community Legal Centre. Our partnership took on new energy and force because of SCULA’s work with the Centre, particularly that of former SCULA Committee member James EllisSmith. Last year, the SLJ formally joined MCL as one of its university sponsors.”

“This is an exciting development, adding an important facet to the way the SLJ engages with the Gold Coast community and legal profession. It complements the strong links we have already forged with the profession in the Northern Rivers, including with the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre.”

“Our students have reacted to the MCL partnership very enthusiastically and it has been exciting to see the partnership start so well. Students can apply for a voluntary placement with MCL, and approved applicants work in the centre one day per week, for the duration of a teaching session,” she said.

“Students should treat the placement like a job with a law firm or community organisation. If for any reason students are unable to work, they are responsible for assisting with finding someone to cover their shifts.”

The program was launched just weeks before COVID-19 disrupted all our lives. However, the MCL team worked almost seamlessly to adapt the program to allow online participation by students and, and when allowed, in person sessions with social distancing to ensure compliance with COVID-19 requirements and restrictions in Queensland.

“It was fantastic as it kept our student volunteers engaged. The majority of them adapted well to the changes, just as we are all learning to adapt in such unprecedented times,” Associate Professor Nielsen said. Students echoed this view.

“The remote delivery was a little tricky to begin with but now merely adds a new dimension to the overall learning experience,” said student Hannah Roach.

MCL Coordinator Renee Skennar, MCL Principal Lawyer Kirsty O’Donnell (Govender), Associate Prof. Jennifer Nielsen, and MCL Treasurer George C Pharmacis.

Law students Suha Feitag, Emma Ellis and Zai Harris – part of the very first cohort of volunteers in the My Community Legal Placement.

“The Placement is going amazingly and I am enjoying the experience. Although it is very different in a remote setting from home, the way that MCL has created a way for us to stay involved is great. I have learnt so much from this experience and definitely recommend to other students,” said student Emma Ellis.

Another student, Reagan Darby added, “I am loving my time at MCL, I am really enjoying the experience and I have asked to continue on next semester with the clinic.”

My Community Legal Coordinator Renee Skennar said the students gained valuable skills and enjoyed the experience.

“I have loved having students in the office, and the SCU team have been a very positive addition. Despite the challenges of moving to a remote delivery due to COVID-19, we continued our service and worked with students through the challenges,” Ms Skennar said.

“We have really come to rely on them in the lead up to our advice nights.”

Associate Professor Nielsen said working with Community Legal Centres (CLCs) is imperative to law students as it allows them to gain insight into holistic lawyering and responding to community need rather than a government or business agenda.

“CLCs work on the core belief that everyone in our society is entitled to access justice and to determine their own justice needs and outcomes. CLCs are independent and operate as community-based, not-for-profit legal centres –they are proactive and engage critically with the law.”

“CLCs are immersed in their community and aim to provide a whole-of-client solution by working collaboratively with other community organisations, such as to secure emergency accommodation, social counselling and financial advice. My Community Legal is one of 33 nationally-accredited CLCs in Queensland.”

“Working at MCL – or another CLC – is a way of participating in pro bono public, Latin ‘for the public good’. Pro bono work is a convention for the profession and involves providing legal services without charge to promote acces to the law, human rights and social justice. It dioe snot replace it augments the important services provided by the legal assistance sector (legal aid, CLCs, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services) for people on low incomes or who are marginalised in other ways from the legal system,” she said.

The program now in its second session, has been such a success all students from the first intake have stayed on to continue working as volunteers, some with Supervisory roles, allowing them to make the most of this valuable opportunity.

Story by Kim King and Jennifer Nielsen.

James EllisSmith, (left), who championed the SLJ’s relationship with MCL, was named MCL’s Student Volunteer of the Year in 2019

“The Placement is going amazingly and I am enjoying the experience... I have learnt so much from this experience and definitely recommend to other students.” (Emma Ellis – student)

Preparing students for employment with The Practice Professorial Program

Leading law practitioners linking students to practice

In January 2020, The School of Law and Justice launched a Practice Professorial Program designed to facilitate professional engagement and build linkages between the academy and practice.

Director of the Program Bede Lipman said accomplished, respected and successful current or former legal practitioners have been invited to take up pro bono roles and work with SLJ to undertake relevant activities.

“The Practice Professorial Program offers a unique opportunity for the profession to impact, shape and influence the academic life of the SLJ, as much as it affords staff and students an opportunity to engage with and learn from influential leading local, national and international practitioners,” Mr Lipman said.

“The range of activities undertaken by Practice Professors includes research, teaching such as giving masterclasses or taking part in Q&A sessions with student associations, networking and mentoring,” Mr Lipman said.

“We are currently working with a number of Practice Professors to facilitate the provision of guest lectures and all details will be advertised on our website and we have also established a dedicated Practice Professors Learning Site which is available to students on Blackboard,” Mr Lipman said.

“We are very excited to be introducing this program and look forward to enriching students’ learning experiences as well as assisting them in the transition to employment in law and related fields.”

Story by Kim King.

Meet the Practice Professors:

• Ms Clare Owen, (pictured top left), Consultant at Woodsford Litigation Funding and SCU academic

• Ms Joelene Nel, (pictured bottom left) family lawyer, mediator and family dispute resolution practitioner

• Mr David Heilpern, former Magistrate, Litigation Lawyer and Co-founder of SLJ, Southern Cross University

• Mr Mark Carkeet, former partner, MinterEllison, one of Australia's most experienced and recognised energy lawyers

• Mr Adam van Kempen, principal, BVK Lawyers with strong community links in the local area

• Mr Patrick Mullins, partner, Mullins lawyers, Australia’s only canon lawyer

• Mr Lee Aitken, Barrister and academic with strong experience in commercial law

• Ms Julie Granger, Barrister and Council member of Southern Cross.

For further information visit scu.edu.au/law

The mentor program runs during Sessions one and two annually, for further information contact careers@scu.edu.au

Preparing students for employment: Student-Alumni Mentoring Program Connecting students to industry specialists in the ‘real world’

During session 1, 2020, The Bright Futures Mentor Program matched 17 Law students with a high-calibre industry professional, to gain valuable advice and insights into their future career.

Program Coordinator from SCU Careers & Employability, Gina Werner, (pictured left), said the program, now in its 6th year, offers current students (who have completed 6 undergraduate units), the ability to establish a successful mentoring relationships which is reciprocal, respectful and mutually beneficial with the mentor and mentee learning from each other.

“The collaborative project between Alumni and Giving and Careers and Employability assists students in developing industry networks, an important step in their transition from university to employment”, she said.

“This exciting program is designed to match students with alumni in a related industry and provides a learning experience for students that connects the classroom to the ‘real world’.

Ms Werner went on to say mentoring relationships are professional in nature, and facilitate idea exchange between the experienced professional and the next generation of leaders.

“The program involves alumni (and industry) back in the life of the University in a meaningful way,” she said. To apply for this wonderful opportunity, students submit an online application choosing

their top three preferred mentors. Matching is on a ‘first in’ basis as well as the quality of responses in the application form. However, if there isn’t a suitable match, I even try to source a mentor so encourage students to apply in any case – no promises though.”

Additionally, Ms Werner said that mentors change each session depending on availability, so students can apply for a different mentor in each program.

“I have had some students who were mentored up to four times, and what’s wonderful, is that some of these students have come back as mentors themselves!”

Fourth year Bachelor of Laws student Jennifer Burgess, now in her second session of the Mentor Program, said being able to have a virtual coffee every fortnight with her Mentor John Keating gave her motivation during a very challenging time.

“I was able to talk with John about particular tasks and roles I could face as a Junior Lawyer, and what the industry may expect from me. He also gave me valuable feedback on what a employer may look for in a cover letter, and how to prepare interview questions and answers, Ms Burgess said.

“I was extremely interested in learning how John practices across two jurisdictions (NSW and QLD), and his firm deals in Property, Family and Commercial Litigation — areas I am most interested in. To get his perspective on these areas of law, and what type of clients he deals with, has been extremely useful in my goal setting,” Ms Burgess said.

“I felt like I was part of John’s team and I could approach him for advice, anytime.”

Story by Kim King.

Session 1 Mentors (left to right), Lee Quinn, Debbie Sage and Jessica Rose.

Research Update from Deputy Head of School (Research), Professor John Page

Record numbers at Research Seminars despite COVID-19!

The Research Portfolio at the School of Law & Justice (SLJ) has met the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown –shifting as seamlessly as possible to the online, socially distant, yet enduringly connective world we now inhabit as the new normal!

Our Research Seminar Series, now in its 4th year, has rolled ahead with great speakers, engaging topics, and record numbers of Zoom attendees. Dr Rohan Price’s preview of his forthcoming two books, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Colonialism: Occupying South East Asia (Routledge), and Nietzsche and Colonial Nostalgia (Peter Lang, New York) kicked off the Series. Rohan weaved an innovative narrative of early 20th century German thinkers, post-colonial politics, and the fate of British statues in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. This excursus into critical theory and legal history demonstrated — by its large audience — the hunger in the wider university community for critical scholarship, and the importance of maintaining our scholarly endeavours in these disruptive times.

This seminar was followed by a presentation in May from Practice Professor Lee Aitken, whose forensic examination of Australian constitutional law and administrative writs proved the perfect foil to the Series’ often-erstwhile focus on the socio-legal, cultural, or theoretical. Again, a large attendance of colleagues, students, and interested others highlighted the growing momentum of the Series. Lee has enjoyed a successful career in practice and academia, including as a barrister appearing before the High Court in landmark cases. As the inaugural speaker from the School’s Practice Professor Program, this seminar showcased the strong links between the profession and the academy, and the significance of clinical legal research to the SLJ.

Other speakers have included the SLJ’s Associate Professor Nicole Rogers (Climate Activism and the Extraordinary Emergency Defence), Practice Professors Mark Carkeet (Renewable Energy Policy, from Minter Ellison Lawyers, Brisbane) and Patrick Mullins (Canon Law, from Mullins Lawyers, Brisbane), and New York Police Detective and former NYPD hostage negotiator, Dr Jeff Thompson, who spoke on ‘Building Real Resilience in the Time of the Pandemic.’

Meanwhile, the SLJ’s researchers continue to think, write and publish. Dr Rohan Price’s new book proposals, together with published journal articles in 2020 from Associate Professor Nicole Rogers (‘Climate Activism and the Extraordinary Emergency Defence’, Australian Law Journal), Dr Alessandro Pelizzon (‘Yarning as Protected Space’, AlterNative; ‘An Intergenerational Ecological Jurisprudence; The Supreme Court of Colombia and the Rights of the Amazon Rainforest’, Law, Technology & Humans, and ‘The Harmony with Nature Paradigm in Brazil’, Argumentum), and Dr Evgeny Guglyuvatyy (‘Negative Impact of Land Clearing and Deforestation on the Great Barrier Reef’, Carbon & Climate Law Rev.), amongst others, exemplify the vibrancy of the SLJ’s research.

Meanwhile, the School’s researchers meet virtually in fortnightly debriefs — to discuss new projects and forge collective responses to research policy. Our grants-writing syndicate likewise meets regularly online to finesse new grant proposals, and PhD supervisors are full steam ahead meeting with their doctoral students online as their theses continue to reach key milestones.

Last, but far from least, the SLJ is excited to announce that the School’s re-badged journal,

Legalities; The Journal of the Law & Society Association of Australia and New Zealand will be published by Edinburgh University Press. Led by Senior Editorial Consultant, Professor William MacNeil, and Managing Editors, Professor John Page (SCU), Dr Trish Luker (LSAANZ President/ UTS) and Associate Professor Carwyn Jones (VUW), the journal’s first edition is planned to be launched in April 2021. This development runs in parallel with the first SLJ edition of Polemos: A Journal of Law, Literature and Culture (de Gruyter, Berlin), which is likewise well advanced for release in early 2021. Polemos’ Managing Co-Editor is Professor MacNeil, who is joined by the SLJ’s Mr. Jonathan Harlen. Together these journals anchor the SLJ as the destination of socio-legal and law, humanities and culture scholarship in Australasia.

In challenging times, the SLJ recognises the challenges of maintaining the idea and the practice of research as the School strives to meet its mission as a leading centre for critical, contextual, cultural and clinical legal scholarship.

Kind regards,

Professor John Page, Deputy Head of School (Research)

“In challenging times, the SLJ recognises the challenges of maintaining the idea and the practice of research as the School strives to meet its mission as a leading centre for critical, contextual, cultural and clinical legal scholarship.”

(Professor John Page)

Law

Student

Association

update — SCULA Online mooting opens up competition to participants far and wide

Competitions have always been an important part of the SCULA initiative and session two saw the launch of our first ever Criminal Law moot, along with our second annual Witness Examination Competition.

With the university transition to online delivery during session one, SCULA successfully shifted our Mooting competition online which enabled competitors and judges to join the competition from all over the country.

We also had a strong presence in external competitions with students competing in both Mooting and Witness Examination at the ALSA National Competition.

Further, we sent teams to Moot in the Queensland Intervarsity Law Competitions, and at the University of Wollongong Criminal Law Moot Championship where our team placed fifth out of 14 teams. SCULA will continue to offer students opportunities to compete and further improve their advocacy skills.

To find out about our competitions and events, check out our new website sculawassociation.org and follow us on Facebook at @SCU Law Association. Or contact us direct at info@sculawassociation.org

Zai Harris, Isha Cave, Zage Pendragon, Brendan Swan, Suha Suriya Freitag, Kelly Baz, Ethan Harmsen and Sita Hayne at the Criminal Law Moot.

Law Student Association update – SCULSS Career goals in the ‘new world’

As you stare blankly at your dark computer screen because you have just finished all nine seasons of The Office, you start to wonder what is the next big adventure.

The SCU Law Student Society (SCULSS) has recognised now, more than ever, students are focusing on the future. Adapting to this, SCULSS has been running panel events that focus on supporting students as they plan the next stages in their career, whilst highlighting various career paths an ambitious law student can persue.

At our ‘Spotlight on the SLJ’ event, we were fortunate to have three key members from the SLJ speak: Dean of Law and Head of School Professor William MacNeil; Deputy Head of School (Research) Professor John Page; and Adjunct Fellow and Academic Lance Jones. Each panelist gave an overview of their pathway into the law, and where they are now.

Interestingly, each experienced an ‘ah-ha’ moment at one point, and the take-home message was to follow your passion – it will take you wherever you want to go.

Our ‘Women in Law’ event focused on issues of diversity and gender, and we were very honoured to have Amber Scott, Clare Owen and Joelene Nel share with us. Although each panellist came from private practice, their stories and insights into the ups and down of being a women in law, varied immensely. This gave students the opportunity to understand different pathways into achieving a career in law, whilst balancing life commitments. The overarching message was to be courageous and to embrace change!

Law Student Association update – Law Club Self care and knowing your limits

Legal students and professionals often face challenges throughout their career, particularly due to the high pressure involved in both academia and trade. Additionally, reports show that lawyers are vulnerable to depression and mental illness, and these circumstances often go hand-in-hand when it comes to wellness in the field.

In June 2020, SCU Law Club held a panel with local legal professionals Jolene Nel and Pat

Mullins, about wellness in the law profession and the importance of being mindful of one’s own wellness.

Ms Nel and Mr Mullins discussed wellness as a key element of contstructive personal growth, and encouraged students to be mindful of one’s mental health and well-being — to thrive, one must first ensure that they are aware of, and respect, their own strengths, limits, and selfworth. It was futher discussed that creating a safe space to discuss such struggles is one way to engage with the issue. The importance of having an outlet and keeping in touch with friends and family to build a support system was also highlighted as a key strategy.

Law may be a rigorous career, but it is certainly possible to maintain a great work-life balance whilst practicing mindfulness as an act of selfcare. Conversations on this topic is a great step in ensuring a better work environment for the future of the trade.

Faculty news

Professor John Page Deputy Head of School (Research)

In research news, Professor John Page has been busy finalising his latest monograph, Public Property, Law and Society, which was submitted to Routledge in May.

This new book explores the under-studied and under-theorised topic of public property, interrogating our understandings of public ownership, and the nature of our diverse relationships with public space. It also chronicles the public estate across time and place, observing how legal traditions such as Roman law, Scots law, and of course the common law, interact with, and accomodate the little traversed field of public property.

In late May, John was also successful (along with co-author and former SLJ colleague Dr Cristy Clark) in being offered a book contract with Edinburgh University Press for The Lawful Forest. Building on their award winning UNSWLJ article of the same name, (awarded the Law & Society Publication Prize in December 2019 for best socio-legal journal article/book chapter for that year), The Lawful Forest will form part of the Edinburgh Critical Studies in Law, Literature and the Humanities Series, edited by the SLJ’s Professor William MacNeil.

The Lawful Forest explores issues of spatial justice, ranging from the forests of pre-Norman England to the urban protest camps of the 21st century.

Finally, John has been working with colleagues within the SLJ and in the School of Environment, Science and Engineering, in finalising the publication of a long running, collaborative

research project. ‘Owning Humankind’ was published in Helyion in June, exploring the links between law and archaeological practice, while ‘Student Evaluations: Pedagogical Tools, or Weapons of Choice?’ was accepted for publication in the Legal Education Review, to appear in July/August. ‘Student Evaluations’ represents the culmination of a 12 month project of the SLJ’s Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Reading (& now Writing!) Group.

The article’s co-authors are the SLJ’s Dr Alessandro Pelizzon, Ms Helen Walsh, Mr Warwick Fisher and Dr John Orr. Their project also included a conference presentation on this topic at the ALAA Conference held in 2019 at SCU’s Gold Coast campus.

Associate Professor Jennifer Nielsen Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning), July 2017 – March 2020

In 2019 – 2020, Associate Professor Nielsen continued in the role of Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning), responsible for quality and assurance in the School’s teaching and learning programs.

As part of this portfolio, she participated in the national Legal Education Associate Dean’s Network. Her work in the teaching and learning portfolio was complemented by her election in July to the Executive Committee of the Australasian Law Academics Association, as a General Member.

In August 2019, she attended the National Indigenous Legal Conference in Darwin (Northern Territory) which had a focus on ‘True Justice: Integrating Indigenous Perspectives’.

At that conference, Dr Nielsen and Marcelle Burns (UNE/ SCU Alumnus) co-presented the paper, ‘Moving Beyond Indigenous Deficit in the Model Admission Rules for Legal Practitioners’ (published in the 2018 Legal Education Review and co-written with Professor Simon Young).

Dr Nielsen completed a coaching program with an external mentor as the PVC Research’s nominee for the RUN Women’s leadership/ coaching program.

Alongside this, she continued her teaching in Professional Conduct and led the School’s Placements Program. In particular, she worked on the SLJ’s new partnership with My Community Legal, a Community Legal Centre based in Robina (Queensland), see pages 8–9.

Dr Nielsen decided to stand down from her role as Deputy Dean effective March 2020, so that she could return her focus to her research, alongside further developing the School’s clinical programs and volunteer opportunities.

The new partnership and Volunteer Program with MCL, now in its second session, has been such a success all students from the first intake have stayed on to continue working as volunteers, some with Supervisory roles, allowing them to make the most of this valuable opportunity.

Dr Nielsen decided to stand down from her role as Deputy Dean effective March 2020, so that she could return her focus to her research, alongside further developing the School’s clinical programs and volunteer opportunities.

She was able to spend the COVID-19 lockdown resting, relaxing and rejuvenating during a hard earned period of long service leave.

Faculty news

Dr Evgeny Guglyuvatyy, Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning)

In September 2019, Dr Guglyuvatyy and Professor Stoianoff’s (UTS) research on Australian Carbon Policy was presented at the 20th Global Conference on Environmental Taxation in Cyprus.

During 2019 Dr Guglyuvatyy conducted a study that explored legal nature of cryptocurrencies and strategies helping to facilitate legal solutions to tax treatment of cryptocurrencies. The findings of this study resulted in article ‘Regulating a new phenomenon: examining the legal nature and taxation of cryptocurrencies in Australia and Singapore’ that has recently been accepted for publication in one of the most prominent tax research journals – Australian Tax Forum Vol. 35(3).

In early 2020, Dr Guglyuvatyy and Professor Stoianoff published a book chapter ‘Australian Carbon Policy: Two Steps Forward, One Step Backwards?’ in Zachariadis T, Edited by Milne J E, Skou M A, and Ashiabor H (eds.) ‘Economic Instruments for a Low-carbon Future’, Critical Issues in Environmental Taxation series, Volume XXII. Edward Elgar Publishing.

In July 2020, Dr Guglyuvatyy stepped into the role of Deputy Head of School (Teaching and Learning) where he will support development and implementation of the school’s teaching and learning strategy. Dr Guglyuvatyy will coordinate academic programs offered by the school, evaluate and improve educational and recreational programs by strategic planning as well as manage the effective implementation of new policies and practices, development of learning and teaching practice and the scholarship of teaching.

Tom Round, Course Coordinator — Bachelor of Laws

During 2020, Dr Round liaised with the Bruce Miles Foundation, Sydney, helping to select and nominate five outstanding Indigenous students to receive a $500 textbook voucher each, plus a complimentary copy of “Heart of Gold: The Life of Benevolent Solicitor Bruce Miles OAM” by Malcolm Brown, 2016.

In June 2020, Dr Round took over as Bachelor of Laws Course Coordinator for the School of Law and Justice, hoping to fill the shoes of Mr Geoff Manion and Ms Helen Walsh, both of whom excelled in this role and are warmly remembered by students and other staff for their dedication, expertise, and outstanding administrative skills.

Dr

In March 2020, Ms Walsh stepped down from the Course Coordinator role after eight years, and wishes the newly appointed Course Coordinators, all the best.

Helen Walsh, Course Coordinator (Undergraduate Programs), July 2012 — March 2020, Director of Summer/Winter Law School

In 2019 – 2020, Ms Helen Walsh continued in the role of SLJ Course Coordinator, responsible for leading and managing all SLJ undergraduate courses in line with the School’s strategic direction and plans. In conjunction with the Director of T& L, Ms Walsh was responsible for providing academic leadership in course planning processes, implementing and monitoring the quality of the academic program.

During the same period, Ms Walsh was the Director of the Summer and Winter Law School, including the development of a series of new intensive units. Despite a string of disruptions including a major power outage at the Gold Coast campus due to the airport development, the devastating fires, and COVID-19, Ms Walsh managed to keep the very successful program on track with good enrolments in all five study periods.

Ms Walsh was instrumental in developing a mediation unit that has been recognised as meeting the training and assessment threshold requirements of the National Mediator Accreditation System (NMAS). As a result, the SLJ is now an Education and Training Provider Member of the Mediation Standards Board. Upon successful completion of the unit, students may apply to a Registered Mediation Accreditation Body (RMAB) to finalise their accreditation. An ‘in principle’ agreement with the Resolution Institute guarantees an accreditation pathway for students.

Ms Walsh also managed the process for the SLJ to become an Official Learning Partner of Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), the world-first online conveyancing lodgement network operator. As a result, students studying Conveyancing Law with the SLJ as part of the licenced conveyancing major, or as an elective, are now trained in e-Conveyancing, a process the NSW Government mandated from 1 July 2019.

Ms Walsh continued her teaching in the SLJ’s foundational first year unit, Legal Research and Writing. She introduced a warm-up program designed to orient first year law students to SCU and the study of law. And, with the assistance of the Digital Resources team, designed and implemented an interactive study guide that has received excellent feedback as an engaging learning tool.

Working with a number of colleagues from the SLJ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reading Group, Ms Walsh co-authored an article accepted for publication in the Legal Education Review. Along with co-authors, Professor John Page and Dr Alessandro Pelizzon, Ms Walsh presented the paper at the ALAA Conference held in 2019.

Ms Walsh continues her involvement with the Byron Youth Services Board and consults with the BYS team in the development and delivery of the Byron Shire Young First Offenders Program. In 2019, Ms Walsh supported the BYS in their successful application for funding.

In March 2020, Ms Walsh stepped down from the Course Coordinator role after eight years, and wishes the newly appointed Course Coordinators, Dr Tom Round and Mr Warwick Fisher, all the best. Ms Walsh will continue in the role of Director of Summer and Winter Law School and has also had the Director of Short Programs added to her portfolio.

Faculty news

Dr Alessandro Pelizzon, Senior Lecturer

As lead conference organiser, Dr Pelizzon put together an amazing and unforgettable program for the 2019 Law, Literature and the Humanities Association of Australasia Conference, held at the Gold Coast campus from 2-7 December, 2019.

In June 2020 Dr Pelizzon, Dr Renaud JoannesBoyau, Professor John Page, Nicole Rice, Professor Anja Scheffers published an article ‘Owning humankind: fossil, humans and archaeological remains’ which looked at the intersection of archaeological practices and legal regimes around the engagement with hominid and hominin fossils. The work has also appeared on the Conversation.

Dr Pelizzon along with Dr Stuart Barlo, Professor Bill Boyd, and Dr Shawn Wilson, published ‘Yarning as Protected Space: principles and protocols’ which emerged from the work done as part of Dr Barlo’s PhD, (which Dr Pelizzon had supervised in the past).

Dr Pelizzon and Mariana Ribeiro Santiago, also published ‘The “Harmony with Nature” Paradigm in Brazil’ focused on the recent introduction in Brazil of the broader rights of nature discourse.

In February 2020, Dr Pelizzon published ‘An Intergenerational Ecological Jurisprudence: The Supreme Court of Colombia and the Rights of the Amazon Rainforest’ (2020) 2(1) Law, Technology and Humans 33-44, which focuses on the emergence of a strong youth movement with a more nuanced and intuitive ecological sensitivity.

Dr Pelizzon has been interviewed for, and invited to be part of an online project called The Sapience Project, a web-based ‘fireside’ conversation program run by Frank Forencich.

The first textbook on Earth Laws, titled Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law—A Practitioner’s Guide, of which Dr Pelizzon is a contributor along with a number of colleagues from different jurisdictions, is set to be completed by the end of 2020. The writing has been coordinated by the Earth Law Centre in the United States, and will be published by Wolters Kulvers

Several other articles are in the pipeline, (the first in the Legal Education Review, and another in Transnational Environmental Law), with another four more requested by the end of 2020, while the main focus remains the completion of the book Ecological Jurisprudence: Law, Representation and Environmental Metaphysics, currently underway.

Deputy Head of School (Research) Professor John Page, Dr Alessandro Pelizzon, and Dean of Law and Head of School, Professor William MacNeil, at the LSAANZ conference in December 2019.

Faculty news

Dr Rohan Price’s most recent book –Violence and Emancipation in Colonial Ideology – has been lauded in reviews by two of the best known sinologists in Europe. Professor Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College, said that Rohan’s book was ‘passionately argued’, written with ‘conviction and authority’ and allows ‘fundamental new insights’. Professor Bjorn Ahl, Chair of Chinese Legal Culture at the University of Cologne noted that Rohan’s ‘unparalleled command of both scholarly literature and primary sources makes the book an invaluable contribution’.

Rohan’s new book project – Nietzsche, Heidegger and Colonialism – has received the green light from Routledge History to be published in its Studies in Modern History series later this year. The review panel said the publishing proposal was ‘enthusiastically approved’ and that it will make a ‘stellar contribution’ to Routledge’s history list.

The new book draws on overseas archival research sponsored by the School of Law and Justice and takes its examples from wartime collaboration in Japanese Hong Kong (1941–1945), the plateau and fall of the Kuomintang in Hong Kong (1945–1949), the race riots of Singapore (1950–1965) and its anti–Communist purges and jailings (1948–1965).

Rohan has also been commissioned by Peter Lang (New York) to write a monograph on ‘Nietzsche and colonial nostalgia’.

Dr Rohan Price, School HDR Director/ Honours Convenor

Dr Rohan Price discovers his book in the reference section of the Singapore National Library!

Aidan Ricketts, Acting Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning), March – July 2020, Lecturer

The start of 2020 certainly brought a challenging few months where I unexpectedly took the Deputy Head (Teaching & Learning) role. It has been a rapid learning curve, but also a good chance to adapt some of the skills I have developed dealing with highly charged protest situations over the years to dealing with the chaos of managing this portfolio during crisis.

Dealing with academic workloads and casual contracts will probably always be the most challenging part of this role, even in times that might pass for ‘normal’ but the University freeze on new contracts (without special approvals) had the effect of removing the latitude the school previously had to issue contracts on an ‘as needs’ basis and required us all to get more organised.

It was an enourmous challenge for the carousel of people engaged to assist with the contract writing, a job that went through at least three hands before the steady hand of the school’s HR & Finance Officer, Leanne Dietrich returned from leave.

Huge thanks to all the professional team for their support, advice and faith during the transition. Special thanks to Jane Gilmour for her constant support and for systematising the workload calculation process, to Theresa Crawford for being ever ready to help, and to Leanne Dietrich and Kim King for dealing with contracts. Thanks to the Unit Assessors for your forbearance.

The onset of the Covid pandemic ushered in many weeks where nobody really knew what new

restriction would come next, in the university and in our personal lives. There was a sudden University closure, followed by a rapid transition to online teaching and to working from home. It has been amazing to see how well the SLJ has pulled together and worked so well as a team throughout. Working from home actually seemed to free up a lot of time for many of us to work more efficiently.

With both the teaching and then with take home exams, the School of Law and Justice was pro-active, and many thanks to the Teaching and Learning Committee for the problem-solving session we had that helped us arrive at a model for offering take home exams that would be efficient to administer and maintain rigour as far as was achievable. As far as I am aware our exams process has been relatively trouble free.

Despite the challenges it has been great working so closely with such a supportive team and I have to confess to have enjoyed the problem solving and learning curve a little more than I expected or should admit to.

Congratulations and best wishes to Dr Evgeny Guglyuvatyy for taking on the role permanently and all the best dealing with the uncertainties and challenges ahead.

Following some much needed leave I am now looking forward to refocussing on research. Needing to complete my PhD and also work on co-authoring a new book on anti-protest laws with Professor Michael Head. We have a Routledge contract arranged for this exciting new publication.

Faculty news

Dr Nicole Rogers’ book Law, Fiction and Activism in a Time of Climate Change was published by Routledge in August 2019.

The book examines the narratives of climate change which have developed and which are currently evolving in three areas: law, fiction and activism. Narratives of climate change generated by litigants, judges, writers of fiction and activists are having, and will have, a profound effect on the way we respond to the climate change crisis. Acknowledging the prevalence of unreliable narrators, this book explores the reliability and significance of different forms of climate narrative. Dr Rogers analyses overlapping themes and points of intersection, considering the recurrent motif of the trickster, the prominence of the child, the significance and ongoing viability of the rights discourse, and the increasingly prevalent emergency framing with its multiple implications for law’s empire. She asks how law, fiction and activism measure up as textual and performative fora for telling the story of climate change and anticipating a climate-changed future. And, in addition, how can they help foster transformative narratives which empower us to confront the climate change crisis?

In a book review in the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Dr Rogers’ writing was described as ‘a unique form of interdisciplinary analysis that identifies the emerging and problematic narrative of climate change within the modern world.’ Her publisher nominated the book for the prestigious, international Hart-SLSA book

prize and it was subsequently shortlisted for that prize, together with two other books by United Kingdom authors. Internationally renowned author and legal scholar Bernhard Schlink, who visited the University last year as one of the School’s artists in residence, commented that ‘[t}he way it blends legal discourse, reflexions on fiction and reporting on activism, has spoken to me in a way other books on climate change hadn’t’.

Dr Rogers was invited to speak at both a plenary and breakout session at the National Climate Emergency Summit (pictured over page), held in the Melbourne Town Hall in February 2020; the plenary session was livestreamed and the recorded session is available on the Summit website. In this session, on Justice and Rights in the Emergency, Dr Rogers participated in a panel with Nyadol Nyuon, Tim Costello and Philip Sutton and discussed the interrelationship between climate change and the rights discourse, and the vulnerability of human rights in a state of emergency. In the breakout session (pictured below), on Duty of Care: Prosecuting the Case for Emergency Action, Dr Rogers participated in a panel with Elaine Johnson, principal solicitor of the EDO, prominent Melbourne barrister Julian Burnside and Ian Dunlop, and discussed the use of the extraordinary emergency defence by climate activists.

Associate Professor Dr Nicole Rogers, Academic

This year, Dr Rogers has also been consulted by members of the Crisis and Conflict Division at the Geneva-based Human Rights Watch on potential causes of action against the Federal government in relation to the climate crisis, and approached by the National Justice Centre for assistance in organising a Law Hackathon on the same issues.

Dr Rogers has received a number of invitations to present her research in both academic and activist forums. She was a guest speaker at a public seminar at QUT on ‘Climate Activism, Eco-Emotions and the Law’ in December 2019, and appeared there with renowned ecophilosopher Glenn Albrecht. She was also an invited participant in an interdisciplinary symposium on climate storytelling at the University of Melbourne in February 2020. In March, Dr Rogers was a guest speaker at a Gold Coast Climate Community Night. In May, Dr Rogers participated in an online interview with Extinction Rebellion Tasmania, which has been circulated as a podcast.

Generally, Dr Rogers’ research is shaping the legal discourse of climate activism in practical as well as academic contexts. Not only was it applied in the May 2019 trial of a climate activist but it has also subsequently been utilised in the Brisbane trial of three climate activists in March 2020, and will be drawn upon again in an August trial. Dr Rogers has been invited to collaborate with the Environmental Defenders Office in representing climate activists in north Queensland, and mounting test cases on their behalf. Her article on the use of the extraordinary emergency defence by climate activists was published in the March issue of Australia’s oldest and most cited legal journal, the Australian Law Journal.

Dr Rogers’ research in this area has received media coverage in Al-Jazeera, on the ABC, on

the Sydney Defence Lawyers website, and in the Green Left Weekly. She was invited by The Conversation to write an article on this topic, which was published in September 2019. Dr Rogers’ research on climate discourses has been profiled in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Wild Law Judgment project, which Dr Rogers instigated and co-led from 2014–2017 and which resulted in the publication of an edited monograph, continues to attract international attention. On the basis of her research expertise in wild law judging, and the interrelationship between environmental activism and environmental litigation, Dr Rogers was invited to act as a reviewer in the 2020 European Research Council grants programme. Two United Kingdom academics have now launched the UK Earth Laws Judgment project, which builds on the project and expands it into another jurisdiction. Dr Rogers has been invited to play an advisory role in this international project.

Finally, upon the request of her publisher (Routledge) Dr Rogers is writing a book on the Australian megafires and the impact which this catastrophic event has had and will have on various climate discourses. The book will be published next year, as the first in a new Routledge series which the commissioning editor plans to call ‘Glasshouse Currents’. In this book, Dr Rogers examines how the megafires have transformed existing climate narratives in Australia. She analyses new and developing understandings of the legal and extra-legal implications of the climate emergency, shifts in legal narratives, the role of climate fiction in preparing us for climate catastrophes such as the fires, and enabling adaptation, and the changing parameters of climate activism.

Photo credit: Julian Meehan

Dr Rogers speaking at the National Climate Emergency Summit in Melbourne, 2020.

Faculty news

At the half-way point of my second year at SCU, I feel very privileged to be working with so many talented and dedicated people.

2019 was a year of learning, understanding and ensuring that the Masters courses, so ably set up by Dr Alex Pelizzon, continued to provide excellent learning experiences for our students. To date, 2020 has been a year of further consolidation and growth. Enrolments are steadily increasing and we have a very capable and stable cohort of teaching staff.

It has been very exciting to roll out the first offering of Advanced Contract Law in Study Period 2. The unit, written by Emma Somerville with help from Associate Professor Jennifer Nielsen, provides students with a comprehensive and practical excursion into the law of contract. The unit was a great success and student engagement was at high levels. Demand for this unit has resulted in the decision to offer it twice yearly.

In other good news, the Dean’s Office has kicked off the Practice Professorial Program. We have engaged nine Practice Professors and taken soundings from staff and students as to the most beneficial ways to employ the program. To date our Practice Professors have undertaken a number of engagements, including presenting to student associations and giving research seminars. We are looking forward to a suite of guest lectures being given in the coming months.

Babbage, Casual Academic & PhD Candidate

For the fourth time running, Ms Babbage managed the high school engagement project known as the Criminal Process Intensive unit over two weekends in February 2020 at the Gold Coast campus.

Emma created a university experience for 29 senior high school students (pictured below), delivering interactive lectures and tutorials with Student Facilitator Joshua Cotton and a guest lecture from David Heilpern. The experience culminated with a Graduation Ceremony and Afternoon Tea with students and their special guests, with the Dean and Head of School presiding, an enormous cake, and local musician Ben Purnell.

Bede Lipman, Course Coordinator - SCU Online

Emma

Emma tutored the Lismore students in Australian Legal System in Session 1, which included Head Start students, marking the first time the SLJ has offered a Head Start unit for high school students. Emma delivered interactive tutorials face to face and then online with COVID-19. Emma was invited to deliver a Talking Teaching Webinar to all staff about online teaching in June 2020.

As Emma’s PhD research explores the topic of wellbeing, she saw COVID-19 and the transition to working and learning from home, as an opportunity to share her review of scholarly literature on wellbeing. Emma was invited to deliver a wellbeing webinar to the Australian Labour Law Association, followed by a similar webinar to SLJ staff at

a Dean’s Debrief session, and then an adapted webinar to SLJ students which she co-hosted with Resident Tutor Julie de Rooy.

Emma and Julie delivered an interactive session and have made the recording available on the Law Student Blackboard site. Emma created a SLJ Staff site dedicated to sharing resources about wellbeing and teaching online.

Emma published a paper arising from her PhD research in Volume 12 of the Journal of the Australasian Law Academics Association. Emma also had a successful In-Candidature Review, which is an important milestone in her PhD journey, and is currently in the third year of her project.

Faculty news

Professor Bee Chen Goh, Academic

In August 2019, Professor Goh presented at the International Conference on ‘Confucianism and World Disharmony: The Quest for Harmony in Difference’.

The conference was organised by the Centre for East-West Cultural and Economic Studies and the Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, in partnership with the World Consortium for Research in Confucian Cultures and the Centre for East-West Studies of Beijing Foreign Studies University, China.

Court of Queensland, as a Judge-in-Residence with her forthcoming visit date to be confirmed.

During Session 1, 2020 Professor Goh was Acting Director of the Winter School Intensive Program.

In February 2020, Professor Goh attended the Book Launch (co-edited book with Farrar and Lo) of ‘Scholarship, Practice and Education in Comparative Law: A Festschrift in Honour of Mary Hiscock ‘ published by Springer in conjunction with Emeritus Professor Mary Hiscock’s Twilight Seminar held at Bond University.

In June 2020, the co-edited book by Professor Goh and Dr Rohan Price, ‘Regulatory Issues in Organic Food Safety in the Asia Pacific’, was published by Springer.

In late 2019, Professor Goh was a Visiting Professor at Chiang Mai University Faculty of Law where she presented at the First Law CMU International Conference on ‘Law, Legality and Legitimacy in Asia’ organised by CMU Law Faculty, (pictured below right).

In March 2020, Professor Goh facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for academic exchange between the SLJ and Chiang Mai University Law Faculty, Thailand.

As the Director of the Judge-in-Residence Program, Professor Goh invited The Hon Justice Anthe Philippides, Court of Appeal, Supreme

The book seeks to address the intersection of food organics and the emergence of a new contractualism between producers, distributors and consumers, and between nation states. Additionally, it seeks to cater to the needs of a discerning public concerned about how its own country aims to meet their demands for organic food quality and safety, as well as how they will benefit from integration in the standard-setting processes increasingly occurring regionally and internationally.

In August 2020, Professor Goh will act as Coach for the SLJ Team participating in the upcoming ADC-ICC Asia-Pacific Commercial Mediation Competition to be held online from 30 Aug –1 Sept 2020.

Professor Goh pictured with Professor Roger Ames, a globally renowned Confucian scholar.

Dr John Orr, Lecturer

Dr John Orr’s research on higher education law and university governance has culminated in the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) awarding him a Doctor of Philosophy.

John’s thesis, University Law: Pursuing Fruits of Knowledge examined the role played by enabling legislation in requiring Australian public universities to undertake their core functions in the public good.

The expert examiners’ reports were remarkably positive stating the ‘outstanding work’ produced ‘an excellent thesis’ which ‘makes an ‘original’, ‘invaluable’ and ‘vital contribution to the study of the Law of Higher Education in Australia’. ‘It is impressive’... ’cutting edge research... that ‘can serve as a model for others to follow’.

The examiners ‘enthusiastically’ nominated John’s thesis, for the QUT, Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award. The personal congratulations from the Dean of Research, Law, QUT noted “[it is] a great outcome, with no revisions from either marker required and two nominations for an outstanding thesis award — a wonderful achievement and unheard of in law.”

John’s thesis has also been nominated for the ‘Dr Ann Shorten Doctoral Thesis Award’, a national award presented by the Australian and New Zealand Education Law Association, for the best thesis in education law research.

John is developing his thesis into a book. The book publication has been encouraged by Anderson (QUT), in his words “[the research] will be of great interest to... University Councils... as well as those who advise them and those interested in broader policy in this area, given the broader interest that should exist in the topic and the quality of what John has written, I believe that the work should be of interest to publishers as a monograph.

Associate Professor Sam Garkawe, SLJ Adjunct, retired SLJ Academic

In February/March 2020, Retired SLJ Academic Associate Professor Gawkawe, taught a course entitled: ‘Crime Victims in National and International Justice: Protection, Participation and Reparation’, at the Law School at OP Jindal Global University, near Delhi, India.

Associate Professor Gawkawe returned to Australia in midMarch, (before the lockdown), and finished his teaching remotely.

During his time in India, Sam was also a plenary speaker at a Victimology Conference in Chennai, India, where his topic was the subject of a forthcoming Book Chapter: ‘The International Criminal Court’s Victim Participation Scheme – A Great Victimological Achievement, But What is its Future?’.

In November 2016, Associate Professor Gawkawe retired from SLJ after 14 years with Southern Cross University.

The Grapevine – SLJ Alumni class news

Class of 1995

In 1995, Ben Hunter was part of the first class of graduates from the Bachelor of Laws program, based in Lismore. Southern Cross Univeristy (SCU) was not established until 1994, and until that time, the Bachelor of Laws students studied at The University of New England, Northern Rivers, on the current SCU Lismore site.

In 2013 Ben was named SCU Alumnus of the Year, and over the last 25 years, his degree has taken him to London and Singapore for extended periods, working as a banking and finance lawyer.

Ben has been back in Sydney since the end of 2012 and is currently working as in-house counsel at one of the big Aussie banks. Ben attended the Law School 20 year anniversary dinner in October 2013, and he is in close contact with many of his SCU classmates.

Class of 1998

Having completed the Associate Degree in Law and the Bachelor of Laws at SCU in 1997, Julie de Rooy went on to general practice as a lawyer in New South Wales and Victoria.

She transitioned to the University sector, teaching law in Victoria at a number of different universities including RMIT and Swinburne.

After obtaining her Masters of Law at Melbourne University, and over 15 years in Melbourne working for a large part as a senior lecturer, Julie was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Citation in 2010 for excellence in teaching law.

Julie recently returned to New South Wales and has come full circle returning to the School of Law and Justice at SCU working part time as Resident Tutor.

Julie also runs an Ecotourism accommodation business on her rural farm property near Kyogle.

Class of 1999

Since completing cross-institutional studies in law at SCU in 1999, Jo Bird obtained a highly competitive Australian Postgraduate Award to complete her PhD at the University of Melbourne.

With a love of language and music, she won the Vallejo Gantner Memorial Scholarship and was selected for a manuscript sponsorship at the University of Melbourne Centre for Scholars and Researchers.

She has published in Australia and internationally, including New York’s Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender. Her activism has taken her to Mexico to work for No Más Muertes, a human rights NGO documenting abuses on the US/Mexican border. Jo currently lectures in International Law at SCU. She also works as a research associate for Pro Vice Chancellor and First Nations scholar Professor Irene Watson.

Class of 2009

Since graduating in 2009 with a Bachelor of Laws Jonathan Harlen has combined a career in law in the Northern Rivers with his previous career in the arts. He worked as a solicitor advocate for nine years locally, specialising in Tribunal and District Court work, before joining the staff at the School of Law & Justice (SLJ) as a lecturer.

He is currently Course Convenor of the SLJ Law and Creative Writing Program, and is on the editorial team of the SCU Journal of Law, Culture and the Humanities, Polemos. He is also completing his Phd on aspects of legal pluralism in Aoteoroa/New Zealand. He has published more than 30 novels for adults, young adults and children.

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Class of 2015

Motivated by the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, John Mudge enrolled in the Bachelor of Laws at Southern Cross University, and at age 60, was proudly admitted as a lawyer. John said studying law invigorated past studies from his other disciplines (accounting, tax, corporate governance and risk management, financial planning, mortgage broking and real estate) and provided a strong foundation for further studies/specialisations. His studies have also created a plethora of career opportunities, allowing him to develop self-confidence through becoming a master of critical thinking, strong reasoning, analytics and discovering the interconnectedness of all things.

In 2019 John ran as the United Australia Party (UAP) candidate for Page in the Federal election. John has also bred angora goats and alpaca and was founder/manager of syndicated importation to Australia of genetics from Chile, Peru, Texas (USA) and South Africa. He also studied artificial breeding at Riverina Artificial Breeders and then undertook his own livestock (AI) programs.

John is currently developing a digital platform for his mortgage broking and real estate licenses. John believes you need to be the change you want to see in the world and what you do, defines you for all eternity.

Since graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 2015 (first class honours), University Medalist Zoe Hunter has been working as a solicitor in a Lismore based law firm that specialises in criminal, care and protection, succession and family law.

As a former high school teacher, (BA DipEd), teaching English and drama, Zoe continues to enjoy teaching as a casual academic with the SCU Law School, lecturing in business law, contract law, wills and estates and land law. Zoe also completed her GDLP in 2015.

Since 2017, Zoe has spent one month every year delivering the full business law subject to students in our Chinese sister university in Tianjin. She is also currently co-editing the 7th edition of the Lexis Nexis textbook, Law in Commerce that is due for publication in August 2020.

Class of 2016

After graduating in June 2016, Michael Thomas completed his PLT and was admitted as a lawyer in 2017. Michael commenced work for James Fuggle Rummery Solicitors soon after, a small regional firm based in Lismore.

Working predominatinly in criminal law, Michael also works for Legal Aid NSW on a duty basis advising clients and representing them in Court. Michael has acted for Legal Aid NSW clients in defended hearings and sentences in the Local Court and District Court. He has also acted for private clients in various criminal matters including AVOs and traffic matters, as well as conveyancing matters, Wills and Estates and probate matters. Most recently he has also provided clients with advice in employment law matters, including acting for a local employer in unfair dismissal proceedings.

Michael is also actively involved in community service work and is an adult supervisor for the Australian Air Force Cadets, his way of giving back to the community and inspiring the next generation of young people.

After graduating in 2016, Janelle Rees worked for the Department of Transport and Main Roads as a Senior Legislation Advisor and then as the Sector Sustainability Coordinator for Community Legal Centres Queensland, undertaking research and policy analysis on legal need in marginalsed communities.

Janelle currently works at the School of Law and Justice, tutoring and marking in a number of units, as well as standing as the Unit Assessor for Local Government & Planning Law, Environmental Law and Australian Legal Systems.

Based in Northern NSW, also runs a freelance business and is commencing a PhD in climate change law. She is also one of the co-founders of Lawyers for Climate Justice Australia, a peak organisation calling for law councils across the country to declare a climate emergency and advocate for better law and policy to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions.