Last week was the Melbourne launch of 50 Human Rights Cases that Changed Australia, a book authored by 6 St James Hall barrister Lucy Geddes with Hamish McLachlan. Over 100 people attended the launch which was generously co-hosted by Allens and Fitzroy Legal Service. Opening remarks by Victoria Legal Aid CEO Louise Glanville, a panel discussion featuring the authors and moderated by public commentator Jon Faine AM, and closing remarks by former Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bell, a leader of human rights jurisprudence in Victoria.
Published by Federation Press earlier this year, 50 Human Rights Cases that Changed Australia is the first book of its kind, and summarises Australia’s 50 most significant and influential human rights cases. Each summary also includes commentary situating the case in its social and political context, and critical analysis of the case’s impact. The cases include landmark human rights cases from all Australian states and territories. They range from the seminal freedom of expression and First Nations land rights cases of the 1990s, to lesser-known earlier cases on civil liberties and criminal procedure and more recent advances in LGBTIQA+ rights, environmental rights, and the rights of people with disabilities.
The book’s foreword was written by the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG who described it as a ‘courageous, innovative and novel text’.
The book can be purchased directly from Federation Press here.
