The annual Castan Centre conference is the leading human rights conference in Australia, providing a vital health check on the state of human rights in Australia and overseas.

This year the conference covers a range of topics including:

• Indigenous rights
• Bills of rights
• Human rights in mental health law and services
• Intersection of international human rights and international criminal law
• Feminist perspectives on the law
• Developments in discrimination law in Australia
• New technology, rights and inter-relatedness

Key speakers include:

• The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Attorney-General of Australia
• The Hon Pamela Tate SC, former Justice of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria
• Professor Yuval Shany, Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in Public International Law, Hebrew University, former Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Committee
• Emeritus Professor Bernadette McSherry, Melbourne Law School and Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission
• Professor Beth Gaze, Melbourne Law School

View the Conference Program here.

Tickets

We are selling tickets for the purpose of raising funds to run the centre. The Castan Centre raises 75% of its income from outside the University, and proceeds raised via the conference will go straight to the Centre's policy, public education and student programs. To ensure an accessible event we are offering an inclusive ticket policy where participants can choose between a free or paid ticket.

If you are able to afford a ticket please pick a price from the prices below.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit our donation page.

We thank you for your support.

Tickets

• Free option
• $40 (ex GST)
• $80 (ex GST)

Note: Overseas purchases do not incur GST. If you are purchasing and consuming the Conference outside of Australia, please select the relevant ticket.

Keynote Speakers

Keynote address: The Honourable Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Attorney-General, Commonwealth of Australia

The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP was appointed Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 June 2022.

Mark is a passionate defender of the rule of law, freedom of the press and the need for a powerful and independent national anti-corruption commission. Mark is a strong advocate for social justice and believes in creating a sustainable economy and environment for future generations. Mark was first elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Isaacs in November 2007.

In 2010 Mark was appointed as Cabinet Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and in February 2013, Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Management. Prior to entering Parliament Mark was a Melbourne barrister and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1999. He appeared for and advised Federal, State and local governments and appeared in a number of landmark cases in the High Court, including the Stolen Generations litigation.

Keynote address: The Hon Pamela Tate SC, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University, member of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Former Justice of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria

The Hon Pamela Tate SC is an Adjunct Professor of Law, Monash University. She was formerly a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 2010 until her retirement in 2021. She was the Solicitor-General for Victoria from 2003 to 2010. She was the first woman to be appointed Solicitor-General for Victoria. She was Special Counsel to the Human Rights Consultation Committee that recommended the enactment of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. She is the Patron of the Australasian Association of Philosophy and was the Patron of the Women Barristers’ Association.

Moderator: Professor Julie Debeljak

Embedding Human Rights in Mental Health Law and Services

Emeritus Professor Bernadette McSherry, Melbourne Law School and Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission

Bernadette McSherry is an Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne, having previously served as the Foundation Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute from 2013 to June 2021. Prior to that, she held the Louis Waller Chair of Law at Monash University. Her areas of expertise are mental health law and criminal law and she has published widely in these fields. She is currently a Commissioner with the Victorian Law Reform Commission. From February 2019 to February 2021, she served as a Commissioner with the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. @bmcsherr

Vrinda Edan, Consumer Academic, Centre for Mental Health Nursing, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Vrinda is an experienced consumer leader with 20 years’ work in the consumer field and currently in a Senior Consumer Academic in the Centre for Mental Health Nursing at the University of Melbourne. She has a background as a health professional, and her work is shaped by expertise arising from her work in strategic leadership positions in health services, on ministerial committees, as Chair of VMIAC and in large research projects bringing consumer perspective into practice.

Vrinda’s academic roles have included teaching as well as researching recovery-oriented practice in mental health services, consumer workforce roles and practice, and the experiences of consumers in mental health services. Vrinda is passionate about human rights and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the experiences of consumers who have advance statements in mental health. @Carinya1990

Mary O’Hagan, Executive Director, Lived Experience in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division, Department of Health in Victoria

Mary O’Hagan was a key initiator of the psychiatric survivor movement in New Zealand in the late 1980s and was the first chairperson of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry between 1991 and 1995. She has been an advisor to the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Mary was a full-time Mental Health Commissioner in New Zealand between 2000 and 2007. Mary established the international social enterprise PeerZone which provides peer support and resources for people with mental distress. She has written an award-winning memoir called ‘Madness Made Me’ and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015. Mary is currently Executive Director Lived Experience in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division at the Department of Health in Victoria. All Mary’s work has been driven by her quest for social justice for one of the most marginalised groups in our communities. @maryohaganlive

Moderator: Dr Ronli Sifris, Deputy Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law @RonliSifris

Current Issues in Human Rights Law

Dr Monique Cormier, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Monash University, member of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Dr Monique Cormier joined the Monash Faculty of Law as a Senior Lecturer in March 2022. Her main research interests are jurisdiction in international criminal law and legal issues relating to Australia and nuclear non-proliferation. Recent publications include The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Nationals of Non-States Parties (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and ‘Can Australia Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty without Undermining ANZUS?’ (co-authored with Anna Hood, Melbourne University Law Review, 2020). @mcormi

Associate Professor Becky Batagol, Faculty of Law, Monash University, member of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Becky Batagol is an Associate Professor of law at Monash University. She is a socially engaged academic whose work has real impact in the world, especially in relation to both gender and family violence. Becaue is co-convenor of the Feminist Legal Studies Group at Monash University and was recently seconded as the gender lead to Monash Sustainable Development Institute to work on diverse projects across water and climate resilience in Australia, Indonesia and Fiji. Her academic practice centres on tackling difficult social problems around gender and considering whether we can improve people’s lives through law, policy and practice reform. The research that Becky has contributed to had been acknowledged as contributing to law reform and policy change. @BeckyBatagol

Professor Beth Gaze, Melbourne Law School

Beth Gaze teaches Equality and Discrimination Law and Administrative Law at Melbourne Law School. Her research interests are in anti-discrimination and equality law, feminist legal thought, administrative law including tribunals, and socio-legal research including empirical research. She has conducted empirical research into the enforcement process under Australian federal anti-discrimination law, the experiences of applicants in the social security appeal tribunals, and the operation of the adverse action provisions of the Fair Work Act. Beth has been a member of several state and federal tribunals, and has participated in law reform processes and committees at state and federal levels. @BethGaze

Moderator: Professor Paula Gerber @DrPaulaGerber

Keynote Speaker

Keynote Address: Professor Yuval Shany, Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in Public International law, Hebrew University, former Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Committee

Yuval Shany holds the Hersch Lauterpacht Chair in Public International Law at Hebrew University. An expert on humanitarian law and human rights, Shany served between 2013-2020 on the United Nations Human Rights Committee, a committee of scholars who review compliance of member states with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in 2018 he was elected to chair the Committee. He also served until recently as vice-president of the Israel Democracy Institute. @yuvalshany1

Moderator: Associate Professor Melissa Castan

Event Sponsors

CPD Requirements

This conference may be credited towards your CPD requirements. Please visit the Law Institute of Victoria's Legal Compliance website for further information.

Contact us

Email: law-engagement@monash.edu