National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference 2015

The fifth National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference was held in Sydney on 17-19 June 2015, hosted by the Law Council of Australia, The Law Society of New South Wales and the Australian Pro Bono Centre.

The theme of the Conference was ‘The Legacy of the Magna Carta’, in honour of its 800th anniversary, and featured a diverse program of speakers and topics.

Speakers at the Conference included:

• The Hon Tom Bathurst AC, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of NSW
• Rosie Batty, Australian of the Year 2015
• Antoinette Braybrook, National Convenor, Family Violence Prevention Legal Services
• Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, President, Australian Law Reform Commission
• Professor Megan Davis, Director, Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW
• Shane Duffy, Chairperson, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services
• Bill Grant, OAM, Chief Executive Officer, Legal Aid NSW
• Catherine Hawkins, First Assistant Secretary, Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department
• The Hon Mr Justice Nicholas Mostyn, a British High Court of Justice in the Family Law Division
• Dr Warren Mundy, Productivity Commissioner, Access to Justice Inquiry 2014
• Andrew O’Keefe, broadcaster and White Ribbon Ambassador
• Ben Slade, Managing Principal, NSW, Maurice Blackburn
• Dr Don Weatherburn, Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research

The program for the Conference can downloaded here.

Papers from the Conference can be found below (copyright is retained by the authors):

• Professor Rosalind Croucher AM
  President, Australian Law Reform Commission
  Justice and Freedoms in Times of Terror
  Forgotten Freedoms

• Eddie Cubillo
  Executive Officer, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS)
  The Magna Carta: What Does Its Rights and Guarantees Mean For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples?

• Bill Grant, OAM
  CEO Legal Aid NSW
  Valuing Justice: How Much Justice Can We Afford?

• Catherine Hawkins
  First Assistant Secretary, Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department
  AGD’s Partnership with PNG on Law and Justice

• Dr Bill Hurditch
  Chairman, Hagar Australia
  The Rule of Law: a Foundation for Foreign Aid – Human Trafficking and Human Rights
  – presentation notes

• David Irvine AO
  Former Director-General of Security, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
  Justice and Freedom in Times of Terror: Perspectives of a National Security Practitioner

• Chris Leong
  Immediate Past President, Malaysian Bar
  Valuing justice: how much justice can we afford?

• Douglas MacLean
  Founder and Executive Director, Justice Without Borders
  Civil Litigation For Victims of Human Trafficking
  – supporting documents

• The Hon. Justice Debbie Mortimer SC
  Federal Court of Australia
  Discussion on the English and Aboriginal perspectives on the relevance of the Magna Carta in modern constitutional democracies

• The Hon. Mr Justice Mostyn
  Judge of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, Family Division
  Magna Carta and Access to Justice in Family Proceedings

• Robert Myers
  Barrister
  Why Justice Matters: The “Bali 9” Tragedy

• George Newhouse
  Special Counsel, Shine Lawyers
  Disruptive and dynamic lawyers: the gatekeepers of justice

• Peter Noble
  Executive Officer, ARC Justice, Bendigo
  The Emergence of Health-Justice Partnerships in Australia

• Andrew O’Keefe
  Ambassador, White Ribbon Foundation
  Human Rights in the Home: A Conversation

• Sarah Penman
  National Pro Bono Manager, Cancer Council
  Cancer Council Pro Bono Legal Referral Service

• Ruth Pilkinton
  Early Intervention Unit, Legal Aid NSW
  Children and Family Law: How We Work To Put Children’s Best Interests First

• Marissa Sandler
  Solicitor, Intellectual Disability Rights Service
  Access to Justice and disability: what’s working now?

• Elizabeth Shearer
  Solicitor, Affording Justice, Brisbane
  An Opportunity to Narrow the Access to Justice Gap – The User Pays Solution

• Ben Slade
  Managing Principal, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
  Disruptive and dynamic lawyers: the gatekeepers of justice
  

• Glenn Thompson
  Partner, Newnhams Solicitors
  Children and Family Law

COMBINED PRESENTATIONS:

• Sarah Hopkins
  Chair, Justice Reinvest
  Alistair Ferguson
  Chair, Aboriginal Community Working Party
  Justice Reinvestment and Diversionary Programs

• Douglas MacLean
  Founder and Executive Director, Justice Without Borders
  Fiona McLeod SC
  President, Australian Bar Association and Treasurer, Law Council of Australia
  Wendy Abraham QC
  Barrister, NSW Bar
  Acting Chief Judge McInerney
  County Court of Victoria
  Trafficking people