Program

CCCS Constitutional Law  Conference 2025
Woodward Conference Centre
Melbourne Law School
24-25 July 2025

Thursday 24 July 2025

Public Lecture
(Woodward Conference Centre, Melbourne Law School)
6:00pm

The Second Michael Crommelin Lecture 

Welcome: Professor Michelle Foster (Dean, Melbourne Law School)

Chair: Professor Adrienne Stone

Speaker: The Hon. Catherine Holmes AC SC, former Chief Justice of Queensland, Royal Commissioner, Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme

Topic: The Accountability of Executive Government: Theory and Bitter Experience

7.30pm

Conference Opening Dinner: University House at Woodward

Friday 25 July 2025

8:45am
to
8.50am		 Conference Opening and Welcome
CCCS Directors: Professor Adrienne Stone and Associate Professor William Partlett

8:50am
to
10.30am

Panel One: Property, Native Title and the Constitution: Commonwealth v Yunupingu

Speakers:

  • Timothy Goodwin (Victorian Bar)
  • The Hon. Justice Graeme Hill (Federal Court of Australia)
  • Associate Professor L. K. Weis (University of Melbourne)
10:30am
to
11.00am		 Morning Tea

11.00am
to 12.30pm

Panel Two: Human Rights Acts in Australasia: The State of the Art and Challenges for the Future

Speakers:

  • Kylie Evans SC  (Victorian Bar)
    The Australian Statutory Human Rights Acts: A Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
  • Associate Professor Scott Stephenson (University of Melbourne)
    Have Australia's Charters of Rights Disappointed?
  • Professor Jason Varuhas (University of Melbourne and Senior Crown Counsel, New Zealand)
    Human Rights Law in Australasia: Key Doctrinal Questions
12:30pm
to
1.30pm		Lunch

1:30pm
to
3.00pm 

Panel Three: Chapter III and Indefinite Detention: NZYQ and its sequels

Speakers:

  • Dr Ashleigh Barnes (Macquarie University)
    Constitutional Values in NZYQ and its sequels
  • Dr Julian Murphy (Victorian Bar)
    Indefinite Detention as a Case Study in Precedent and Politics
  • Thomas Wood (Victorian Bar)
    The “Legitimacy” Lim-itation on Constitutional Punishment
3:00pm
to
3.30pm		 Afternoon Tea

3:30pm
to
4.30pm

Panel Four: 50 years after the Crisis: Australian Constitutionalism in 2025

Speakers:

  • Professor Elisa Arcioni  (University of Sydney)
    We are Many
  • Associate Professor Ryan Goss (Australian National University)
    The Governor-General, the Secret Ministries, and the Constitution
  • Brendan Lim (New South Wales Bar)
    Constitutional Change, Then and Since
  • Associate Professor William Partlett (University of Melbourne)
    How Do Integrity Agencies Fit into Our Constitutional Order?
4.30pm
to
4.45pm		 Closing Remarks
CCCS Directors: Professor Adrienne Stone and Associate Professor William Partlett