The University of New South Law Journal is excited to announce the launch of Issue 47(1) on 16 April 2024 where Alastair Lawrie will deliver a keynote address on the theme of: ‘Decoding Life, Freedom and Governance’. Alastair Lawrie (he/him) is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and has led projects focused on anti-discrimination law reform, including to stop the Morrison Government’s Religious Discrimination Bill, to protect LGBTQ+ teachers and students in religious schools against discrimination and to improve the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW). In addition to having two decades of experience in public policy and writing an influential blog that spotlights anti-discrimination law and policy, Alastair is a longstanding advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community, and is a Board Member of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia and Twenty10, as well as Co-Chair of the Tennis Australia LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group.
The articles of Issue 47(1) all engage in the necessary act of ‘decoding’ to interpret laws of life at all levels of governance to reinforce, demolish or unearth freedoms. The exploration of human rights spans themes including conversion practices reforms across Australia; the community’s capacity to use bail funds as collective resistance to transform the criminal justice system; and the recognition of infants as a unique group in need of special legal protection.
Shifting the lens from people to the structures that govern them, other emergent legal issues span the perpetuation of economic abuse in family-owned companies; the shift in the characterisation of restricted gifts from public to private arrangements; the High Court’s various approaches to constitutional interpretation; and when a prudential approach is engaged to resolve constitutional questions. Zooming out to a global level, Issue 47(1) serves as a call to arms for objectivity when assessing new plant varieties for plant breeder’s rights; the use of social science methods in transnational competition law; and the internationalisation and evolution of pseudolaw.
The launch event for Issue 47(1) will take place at 6pm on Tuesday 16 April 2024 at the Sydney office of Herbert Smith Freehills.
Please RSVP via this link by 5pm on Tuesday 9 April 2024: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/unsw-law-journal-issue-471-launch-tickets-871641983637?aff=erelexpmlt
Guests will receive name tags upon arrival, so please register each attendee’s details individually.