City Program
Disorder in the Courts
Sun 12 Sep, 2pmState Library Victoria, Conversation Quarter
Australia’s highest halls of powers have been rocked by failures in protecting victims of sexual assault, and our courts of law are no exception. What powers are needed to address a culture of predatory behaviour and harassment within the legal profession, and how can we overhaul a judicial system and defamation laws that prevent survivors from being heard? Appearing live via video, lawyer Michael Bradley and Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman and lawyer Teela Reid join on-stage participants Rachel Doyle SC (Power & Consent) and moderator Marion Isobel.
Supported by Maurice Blackburn
Duration
1 hour
Categories
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Michael Bradley is a lawyer and writer, managing partner of Marque Lawyers, chair of the Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy Initiative (RASARA), a widely published essayist on legal and social justice issues, and a current columnist in Crikey. He is the author of Coniston, on the last massacre of Aboriginal people, released by UWAP in 2019.
Rachel Doyle SC is a barrister in Melbourne. In 2020, following reports that a former justice of the High Court of Australia had been investigated in relation to allegations of sexual harassment, she called for a focus on the perpetrators and on the culture of silence which protects them, particularly in the legal profession.
Marion Isobel is a barrister at the Victorian Bar with a broad practice in public, administrative and regulatory law. Before going to the Bar, Marion spent 10 years based in London, Budapest and Phnom Penh, working in international criminal law and global strategic litigation on the prevention of torture.
Teela Reid is a Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman, lawyer and storyteller. Teela has experience working in criminal, civil and administrative law and was also a working group leader on s 51 (xxvi), ‘the Race Power’, in the constitutional dialogue process that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.