By Professor Kate Lewins & Professor Lisa Young

It has been shocking to hear the revelations about the alleged behaviour of Dyson Heydon whilst he was a High Court Judge.  

In the days after the High Court’s first statement on the matter, we drafted and posted a notice to graduating students on the LMS pages of our respective third year electives. It is reproduced below.

We reiterate that undertaking to all graduating students from Murdoch, past, present and future.

We will be meeting with our Head of Discipline. We are asking that the school formally acknowledge that its senior female staff will play this enduring role to support our alumni. We have also written to the Women Lawyer’s Association to see what we can do to put in place some concrete and practical measures. Our aim is to formulate both a collection of resources and a mechanism for formal, confidential guidance and advice to complainants.  

A public letter from senior women in the legal profession has called upon the Federal Attorney General to implement wider reforms to address the high incidence of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct in the legal profession. They have called for an independent complaints body for the judiciary, and the introduction of a transparent appointments process for judges. You can read a copy of that letter here [linked below].

As we said in our original message, none of you should ever need to call upon us. We hope that it gives you some reassurance to know we (and our future colleagues) will be here, however, if you need us.

Kate and Lisa.