The University of New South Wales Law Journal is pleased to announce that the launch of Issue 43(2) will take place on 29 June 2020 via Youtube live stream. The General Issue will feature 12 articles across a range of legal topics. The launch topic ‘Evaluating Statutory Reform’ has been inspired by three of the articles to be published in the Issue: Ben Mathews and Elizabeth Dallaston explore inconsistencies in national reform of civil statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse claims; Ben White, Katrine del Villar, Eliana Close and Lindy Willmott critically analyse the extent to which recent voluntary assisted dying legislation reflects its stated policy goals; and Laura Griffin and Gemma Briffa examine the effectiveness of Victorian civil liability reform in clarifying institutional liability for child abuse.

The further articles in the Issue address a range of legal issues including: the incompatibility of irreducible life sentences with human rights; use of a Parramatta historic institutional facility as a Site of Conscience; the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s performance against its legislated objectives; legislation criminalising fraudulent procurement of sex; law enforcement confusion over legal ownership of information; recent legislative bail reforms; predatory conduct by online payday lenders; expert evidence to counteract jury misconceptions about sexual consent; and the role of legal and health practitioners in combating elder abuse.

We are delighted to be welcoming the Hon Justice Sarah Derrington of the Federal Court of Australia, President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, to deliver the keynote address. From 1990 until her appointment to the bench and the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2018, Justice Derrington practised as a barrister at the Queensland Bar, specialising in maritime and shipping law, general commercial law and arbitration. While at the bar, Justice Derrington also completed an LLM and PhD in the field of marine insurance law at the University of Queensland, where she was appointed Professor of Admiralty Law in 2008 and Dean of Law in 2013. Justice Derrington is also a Director of the Australian Maritime College, the Commonwealth Admiralty Rules Committee, and the Council of the Australian National Maritime Museum, and a Fellow of the Nautical Institute and the Australian Academy of Law.

Justice Derrington’s keynote address will be followed by a question and answer session with the following authors to be published in Issue 43(2):
• Ben Mathews, co-author of ‘Reform of Civil Statutes of Limitation for Child Sexual Abuse Claims: Seismic Change and Ongoing Challenges’;
• Ben White, co-author of ‘Does the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) Reflect Its Stated Policy Goals?’;
• Laura Griffin, co-author of ‘Still Awaiting Clarity: Why Victoria’s New Civil Liability Laws for Organisational Child Abuse Are Less Helpful than They Appear’;
• Jianlin Chen, author of ‘Fraudulent Sex Criminalisation in Australia: Disparity, Disarray and the Underrated Procurement Offence’; and
• Julia Quilter, co-author of ‘Changing the Rules on Bail: An Analysis of Recent Legislative Reforms in Three Australian Jurisdictions’.

We invite attendees to submit questions for the authors on the launch topic, the subject matter of their articles, or any other legal topic via email to law.journal@unsw.edu.au by Tuesday 16 June for questions addressed to Professor Ben White, Dr Laura Griffin and Associate Professor Jianlin Chen, and end of Thursday 18 June for questions addressed to Professor Ben Mathews and Associate Professor Julia Quilter.

Questions may be submitted to the authors under the name of the attendee or anonymously, according to your preference. Selected questions will be asked of the authors at the online launch event, where they will deliver brief answers of approximately 3 minutes per question.

The launch will take place on Monday 29 June 2020 via online live stream, from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Further details of the online live stream will be announced closer to the date.

To register your attendance, please RSVP by 12:00pm, 28 June 2020 here.