About the Conference


24 and 25 July 2025
Melbourne Law School

Conference Convenors Professor Adrienne Stone and Associate Professor William Partlett.

Professor Adrienne Stone
Associate Professor William Partlett

CCCS is delighted to confirm the return of its Constitutional Law Conference to be held in person at Melbourne Law School.

Public Lecture


The conference will commence with the Michael Crommelin Lecture, a new ongoing series of public lectures in honour of Professor Crommelin.

We are pleased to announce that the 2025 lecture will be delivered by the Honourable Catherine Holmes AC SC, former Chief Justice of Queensland and Royal Commissioner, Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.

Conference

CCCS is proud to announce the return of the CCCS Constitutional Law Conference on 24th and 25th July 2025. The CCCS Constitutional Law Conference has been a forum for high level discussion of enduring themes in constitutional law since 2009.

The Conference will open on the evening of 24th of July 2025 with the Second Michael Crommelin Lecture to be delivered by The Hon. Catherine Holmes AC SC, former Chief Justice of Queensland, Royal Commissioner, Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme on the topic "The Accountability of Executive Government: Theory and Bitter Experience".

On Friday 25 July, there will be four panels on contemporary themes in public law:

  • Property, Native Title and the Constitution:  Yunupingu v Commonwealth
  • Human Rights Acts in Australasia: The state of the art and challenges for the future’
  • Chapter III and Indefinite Detention: NZYQ and its Sequels’ and
  • Australian constitutionalism 50 years after ‘The Dismissal’.

Among the cases discussed will be Yunupingu v Commonwealth [2025] HCA 6; NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs [2023] HCA 37, DPP v Smith [2024] HCA 32, ASF17 v Commonwealth [2024] HCA 19, YBFZ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs [2024] HCA 40

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Timothy Goodwin (Victorian Bar)
  • The Hon. Justice Graeme Hill (Federal Court of Australia)
  • Associate Professor Lael Weis (Univerity of Melbourne)
  • Kylie Evans SC (Victorian Bar)
  • Associate Professor Scott Stephenson (University of Melbourne)
  • Professor Jason Varuhas (University of Melbourne and Senior Crown Counsel, New Zealand)
  • Dr Ashleigh Barnes (University of New South Wales)
  • Dr Julian Murphy (University of Melbourne)
  • Thomas Wood (Victorian Bar)
  • Professor Elisa Arcioni (University of Sydney)
  • Associate Professor Ryan Goss (Australian National University)
  • Brendan Lim (New South Wales Bar)
  • Associate Professor William Partlett (University of Melbourne)