Dear Alumni and Friends

The Melbourne Law School community follows with great interest the contributions to public life and debate that you, our alumni, make. Often exemplars of leadership and vision, your offerings provide poignant examples of how the privilege of an education in law carries with it an inherent responsibility to work to further our society.

This month, a former Prime Minister and two current MPs – all alumni - have published articulate and thought-provoking op-eds in our newspapers. These contributions accompany the work of many other alumni and are included in this bulletin for your interest.

Many of you will be familiar with the internationally-acclaimed work of alumnus Dr. Kate Auty, in establishing Victoria’s first Koori Court. On behalf of the Law School community, I congratulate Dr. Auty on her recent appointment as Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability and look forward to seeing her contribution in another frontier.

Our commitment to instilling in students the importance of “making a difference” is a hallmark of our Law School. I thank you for the fine example you, as alumni, set for our students and look forward to reading and appreciating your future contributions.

Professor James Hathaway
Dean and William Hearn Professor of Law

Get Involved

Interested in mentoring a first-year student? The MLS Careers Office's recently-launched mentoring program is seeking experienced professionals to assist to mentor for 2010 and beyond. .....more

Host an international scholarship student to dinner as part of a new pilot program. more

Join our Alumni and MLS Events

Intellectual Property, Innovation and Creativity - Future Global Directions , lecture presented by Professorial Fellow Dr Francis Gurry (LLB (Hons) 1974, LLM 1976, pictured left), Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, 3 August. ....more

Creating change? NHRIs' (In)Action in the Asia-Pacific Region, a National Human Rights Institutions Workshop, 22 July. .... more

Might Media Law Matter? presented by Professor Andrew Kenyon and Kant Stand It - Breach of confidence and the Right to Privacy, presented by Professor Megan Richardson: inaugural professorial lectures in media law, 29 July. ....more

Crisis or Opportunity : Where do you want your career to be in 5 years? Exclusive event for MLS alumni, 4 August. ....more

Full listing of MLS lectures, seminars and events .here

Subscribe to MLS’s iTunesU podcast by clicking here or copying and pasting the address below into your podcasting application.
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/unimelb.edu.au.2087701697

Alumni Benefits

Win one of four invitations to the exhibition opening of Reframing Darwin : evolution and art in Australia at the Ian Potter Museum of Art. Exhibition runs 12 August to 1 November. Pictured left: Margaret Stones, Goodenia hederacea [Ivy goodenia] (detail) c. 1948, courtesy of the artist, The University of Melbourne Art Collection, Gift of Kaye Turner 2001. To win be one of the first four alumni to email law-alumni@unimelb.edu.au with “Margaret Stones” in the subject line...... more


Exclusive alumni viewing of Melbourne Museum 's “A Day in Pompeii” Exhibition. 30 September, 5-9pm. Bookings essential...... more

Alumni in the News

“Happily home in my ‘ Boston on the Yarra'” The Hon Julia Gillard MP (LLB 1987, pictured left) writes in The Age, 12 July. .... more

“Self-serving know-alls fuelled fires” Tony Cutcliffe (LLM 2003) writes in The Australian, 24 June. .... more

Kate Auty (LLB 1980), who established the first Victorian Koori Court and was an inaugural Koori Court Magistrate, has been appointed as the new Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability. .... more

“Parliament, not judges, review rights” Professor Frank Brennan (LLB, LLM 1981) writes in The Australian, 26 June. .... more

“Standing up for human rights in Columbia ” Andrew Hudson (LLB (Hons) 2003) writes in The Boston Globe, 27 June. .... more

James Tuckerman (LLB (Hons) 2000) is one of three entrepeneurs to launch “Pitch Club,” a small-business investment forum with a twist. .... more

“Capitalism can help foster a green future” Robert Dean (LLM 1983, LLD 2003) writes in The Age, 30 June. .... more

“Pricing policy needs teeth if it's to really benefit consumers” Nicole Rich (LLB (Hons) 2000) co-writes in The Age, 1 July. .... more

“Deregulation effort still on track” The Hon Lindsay Tanner MP (LLB (Hons) 1982) writes in the Australian Financial Review, 1 July. .... more

“Guantanamo: reality doesn't match rhetoric” Gideon Boas (LLM 2001, PhD 2007) writes in The Age, 7 July. .... more

“Protect consumers from gene tests” Dr Ainsley Newton (LLB (Hons) 2004) writes in BBC News Online, 8 July. .... more

“Charter will preserve power of parliament” The Hon Ron Merkel QC (LLB 1963) writes in The Australian, 10 July. .... more

“Let's not throw good policy into the fire” John Schauble (LLB 1982) writes in The Age, 12 July. .... more

"Playing at puppy politics" Professor Greg Craven (LLB (Hons) 1981, LLM 1984) writes in the Australian Financial Review, 13 July. .... more

MLS in the News

“Peace is our best defence” The Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, Professorial Fellow in the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law (pictured left), writes in The Age, 29 June. .... more

“Fake or not, perception is all in politics” Senior Lecturer Joo-Cheong Tham (LLB (Hons) 1998, LLM 2003, PhD 2006) writes in The Age, 23 June. .... more

“Donating eggs for research is tough – so why not pay for it?” Professor Loane Skene (LLB (Hons) 1969, LLD 2008) writes in The Age, 13 July. .... more

Conferences

The Hon Chief Justice Diana Bryant QC (LLB 1969), The Hon Joseph Kay (LLB 1967), Sally Nicholes (LLB 1993), and final-year law student Lucy Daniel are part of a committee organizing the 5th World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights to be held in Halifax, Canada, 23-26 August..... more

The Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies International And Comparative Perspectives On Constitutional Law Conference is being held at Melbourne Law School on 27 November 2009. It is a 21st anniversary celebration for the Centre. Registration now open - register by 30 July for discounted early bird rates. ... more