ORAL HISTORIES
A varied career committed to justice LINDY MCNAMARA
F
rom acting as a lawyer for the Rolling Stones when they toured in Adelaide in the early 1970s, to serving on the Supreme Court, through to setting up GBV courts and training judges in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and strengthening women’s resilience to climate change and disasters in Mongolia, Lao PDR and Fiji, there is no question that Robyn Layton has enjoyed a diverse career in the law.
INSPIRING FEMALE LAWYERS While former Supreme Court judge Robyn Layton AO QC doesn’t consider herself a trailblazer for young female lawyers in South Australia, her 50-plus year career demonstrates that anything can be achieved, regardless of gender. In 2016 when she was voted Australian Woman Lawyer of the Year by her peers, the dynamic Ms Layton admits it was a special moment for her. ‘It’s really amazing that people can find that I might inspire them in some way,” she revealed during an Oral History interview for the Law Society. “I can think of things in my own life where somebody has said something to me and they had no idea of the impact that has had on my own career and life in various ways. “I was aware that an unconscious inspiration can happen for people. I thought, ‘Well, if I do that for women, that is just fine by me and I am absolutely grateful to receive that award’.” The daughter of a social worker father and mother who was a teacher, the young Robyn knew one thing when she left school – she wanted to carve her own path and not follow in their footsteps! At a careers orientation day she found herself at the Adelaide University’s stand for the Law School and a “spontaneous” decision saw her enrol.
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Her childhood Catholic education had instilled her with a social justice conscience and when she arrived at university she quickly joined the South Australian Council for Civil Liberties and “things flowed from there”. Numerous awards and accolades have been bestowed on Ms Layton over the years, highlighting her life-long commitment to human rights. From early in her career Ms Layton saw the need for everyone in the community to have access to the court system and one of her first court appearances was a pro bono case. “I did a lot of pro bono work because
it was during the Vietnam War and because I was interested in civil liberties. I used to act on behalf of people who were charged with demonstration offences. There are quite a few stories behind those cases. “Also I did pro bono work for Aboriginal people. Before the ALRM (Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement) was set up, there was a group of us that got together and said, if any Aboriginal person is arrested, we are prepared to come and act for them. So that’s where my early pro bono work began.” Ms Layton said she was fortunate in those early days to have several extraordinary mentors supporting her.
