Law Reform and Social Justice
Through its teaching curriculum, academic research and social justice initiatives, Law Reform and Social Justice at the ANU College of Law provides opportunities for students to explore and interrogate the complex role of law in society, and the part that lawyers play in promoting both change and stability.
Law Reform and Social Justice supports the integration of law reform and the principles of social justice into teaching, research and study across the College. It also facilitates a broad range of student projects, hosts a regular series of events, and produces a 
guide to legal volunteering in the ACT (448.93 KB).
To find out about opportunities to get involved, see our Facebook page for LRSJ
Last updated date
Director(s)
Contact us
Latest news
In the Media
Drug testing 5,000 welfare recipients
Peter Christensen speaks to ABC Radio Newcastle
Everything you need to know about changes to the Racial Discrimination Act
Dilan Thampapillai, Margaret Thornton speaks to News.com.au
We're all talking about the Centrelink debt controversy, but what is 'robodebt' anyway?
speaks to ABC RN Background Briefing
Justice Connections 4 – Institutional Law Reform and Justice
talks to Justice Connections
Upcoming events
Lessons for Europe on the interdependence of asylum law
- Dr Daniel Ghezelbash, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie Law School and Director of the Macquarie University Social Justice Clinic
In August, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister explicitly stated that the country should follow Australia’s ‘Operation Sovereign Borders’ policy of not allowing asylum seekers who arrive by boat to enter Australia and apply for protection visas.
Past events
Writing law reform submissions
- Nathan MacDonald, Senior Policy Lawyer, Law Council of Australia
- John Farrell, Policy Lawyer, Law Council of Australia
Submissions are contributions made by civil society to law reform inquiries. They are a vital aspect of the legal system, allowing the public to participate in the lawmaking process and to scrutinise existing laws.
Film screening: RBG, and panel discussion
- Professor Margaret Thornton, ANU College of Law
- Dr Heather Roberts, ANU College of Law
- Prue Bindon, Barrister
RBG, a documentary directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, explores the career, legal legacy and life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the US Supreme Court.
Film screening: 'It Stays With You' and panel discussion
- Professor Siobhán Wills, Ulster University
- Associate Professor David Letts AM CSM, ANU College of Law
- Associate Professor Jeremy Farrall, ANU College of Law
Between 2005 and 2007, United Nations peacekeeping troops carried out several raids in Cité Soleil - an economically depressed neighbourhood of Port au Prince, Haiti.
The responsibility to protect
- Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC, Chancellor, The Australian National University
Register now for this rare opportunity to hear one of Australia’s most experienced politicians and speakers set out what the international community can to do to protect populations against the mass abuse of human rights.
LGBTIQ* issues in the law
- Heidi Yates, the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner and inaugural chair of the ACT LGBTIQ Ministerial Advisory Council
Whilst the fight for same sex marriage legislation has been won, a lot of challenges restricting the rights of our LGBTIQ* community remain. Why are intersex children still facing surgical mutilation to make their body conform to a binary conception of sex?
The ANU College of law has an explicit commitment to the themes of law reform and social justice as core components for understanding the law.
College academics teach, research and engage across a broad spectrum of social justice topics including: access to justice, due process, civil society, human rights, legal ethics, health justice, transitional justice, Indigenous and refugee justice and youth justice.
The idea of law reform is integral to the study of law at the College with students encouraged in their studies to ask: where does a law come from, what is its purpose, is it working as it should, and how could it be different? Staff at the College integrate the study of law reform into their teaching, conduct research into the need for law reform in particular areas, and contribute their expertise to formal law reform processes.
Student-run projects are a key feature of the work supported by Law Reform and Social Justice. These projects provide a practical outlet for students to use their research skills, and assist students to understand the operation of law in society through community engagement. Students also have the opportunity to interact with academic staff outside of the classroom and work with students in other year cohorts. The projects aim to foster a commitment to social justice and law reform through volunteer activities. All students of the ANU College of Law – undergraduate, JD, and graduate – are welcome to be involved in current projects, and to suggest new activities.
Law Reform and Social Justice holds events with prominent speakers, film screenings, and panels discussing important contemporary issues. These events foster further engagement with the law and expose students to ideas of how they can work within and beyond the legal profession to achieve law reform and social justice.
The Director of Law Reform and Social Justice is Associate Professor Matthew Zagor.
Research themes
An active approach to studying law
This guide (448.93 KB) provides law students with information about how to take an active approach to studying law, and useful contacts for legal organisations in Canberra that accept student volunteers.
Directors
Matthew Zagor
Associate Professor
Staff
Justine Poon
Manager - LRSJ
Faculty advisors
Pauline Bomball
Lecturer
Kevin Boreham
Lecturer
Dominique Dalla-Pozza
Senior Lecturer
Tony Foley
Professor
Ryan Goss
Senior Lecturer
Kath Hall
Associate Professor
Judy Harrison
Senior Lecturer
Anthony Hopkins
Senior Lecturer
Anne Macduff
Senior Lecturer
Wayne Morgan
Associate Professor
Mark Nolan
Professor
Molly Townes O'Brien
Associate Professor
Kate Ogg
Senior Lecturer
James Prest
Senior Lecturer
Imogen Saunders
Senior Lecturer
Mary Spiers Williams
Lecturer
Er-Kai Wang
Associate Lecturer
Matthew Zagor
Associate Professor
Interns - Law Reform & Social Justice (LRSJ)
Pages
Advisory board
Projects & clusters
LRSJ student led projects
Contact:Student-run projects are a key feature of the work supported by Law Reform and Social Justice, providing a practical outlet for students to use their research skills, and assist students to understand the operation of the law in society through community engagement.
Students are encouraged to approach staff with new ideas for new projects via the mailbox. Current faculty advisors can be found on our People tab.
The following students-run projects are currently supported by Law Reform and Social Justice.
The Research Hub project aims to get together a standing group of students with research skills who can conduct applied legal research in making submissions to inquires on topical law reform issues, or respond to research needs of various lawyers and groups. Legal research and writing skills are the main skills focused upon in this project.
Research Hub submissions:
2017 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
2017 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry on Freedom of Speech in Australia. This was an inquiry into section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act and the Procedures of the Australian Human Rights Commission.
2016 Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory
2016 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security Inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2016. Research Hub's submission was quoted and cited at length in the Committee's final report on the Bill.
2016 Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry into Elder Abuse
Team Leader: Belinda Lin
Faculty Advisors: Margie Rowe, Matthew Zagor, Dominique Dalla-Pozza, Mark Nolan, James Stellios, Mary Spiers-Williams, Simon Rice
This project aims to help Kimberley Community Legal Service increase civil law legal help in the Kimberley of Western Australia. The initiatives include the KCLS Hotdesk in Canberra, staffed by ANU law student volunteers.
Faculty Advisors: Judy Harrison, Peter Sutherland, Asmi Woods, Margie Rowe
Ready 4 Recognition is an educational project that provides the community with clear, concise and legally accurate information about the constitutional recognition of Indigenous peoples.
The Corporate Power Accountability project aims to cover four principal areas in which corporate law and social justice meet: corruption, labour, human rights, and the environment. We are a research group that empowers the public, increases access to information and raises awareness on issues of corporate accountability.
Corporate Accountability Project Submissions
This project is responsible for maintaining the ACT Human Rights Act Portal that provides researchers and practitioners with an accurate database of case summaries, Hansard, explanatory memoranda, general information and other material relating to the application of the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT).
The Police Integrity project documented police accountability measures in place across Australia’s federal and state jurisdictions.
Students involved in the Prison Issues project have the opportunity to engage in law and legal issues with people incarcerated in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
Student Leaders: Max Henshaw
Faculty Advisors: Anthony Hopkins, Mark Nolan, Molly O'Brien
This project aims to increase the understanding of Canberra school students in the role of the law and legal information and to provide an opportunity for law students to prepare and deliver lesson plans.
Student Leaders: Ashlea Arulanandam, Lauren Dreyar
Faculty Advisors: Pauline Bomball, Paul Maharg, Simon Rice, Imogen Saunders
Established in 2016, this project is currently working on producing a community magazine and doing further legal research.
This project was established in late 2014. Teams of students partner up with local community legal organisations in order to discuss their legal information needs and how our students may be able to help them and their clients. The students then research and produce plain-language legal information to be used by the organisation. A website to collect together this work is currently in progress. We envisage this to be a legal information hub where students contribute articles and factsheets and where we aim to bring together the many sources of legal information on the web. We would welcome any students interested in this project to get in touch with us.
Law internships
Through the ANU College of Law internship program, students can contribute to the work of a social justice agency of their choice and conduct research that will support the agency's work. Most internships can be undertaken as courses for which students receive credit to their degree, and some provide a unique experience for volunteers.
Internships provide students with unique opportunities to make use of their developing legal skills in areas of need, building on their knowledge and putting it into context.
LRSJ offers internships for later year students, done through the LAWS4230 Internship Program. All LRSJ internships are subject to the course assessment criteria.
To discuss possible internships, please contact Matthew Zagor, Director of the LRSJ Program.
Law Internship course
The LRSJ Program at the ANU College of Law takes in two student interns each semester as part of the course LAWS4230: Law Internship.
LRSJ interns will conduct research into current issues in areas of law and social justice, adding to the knowledge base of the Program and enhancing the resources provided through the Program's website.
Areas of research could include:
- poverty
- discrimination and human rights
- access to justice
- the concerns of the elderly, migrants and refugees, indigenous peoples and/or other disadvantaged groups.
An active approach to studying law - the guide
Law Reform and Social Justice produces this useful 
guide to legal volunteering in the ACT (448.93 KB)
Law Reform
The idea of law reform is integral to the study of law at the ANU College of Law. We encourage students to ask: Where did a law come from? What is its purpose? Is it working as it should? How could it be different?
Staff integrate the study of law reform into their teaching, conduct research into the need for law reform in particular areas, and contribute their expertise to formal law reform processes
ACT Law Reform Advisory Council
The ANU College of Law collaborates with the ACT Attorney-General's Department to operate the ACT Law Reform Advisory Council (LRAC), based at the ANU College of Law.
The Council’s role is to provide expert advice and recommendations to the ACT Attorney-General on terms of reference dealing with law reform matters referred to it by the Attorney-General.
The Council includes a panel of expert members with a broad range of expertise who are selected by the Attorney-General to serve for a period of up to three years. Members are appointed for their expertise in matters relating to law and legal policy, and not as representatives of an organisation.
Information about LRAC membership is available on their website.
Contact: Dr Tony Foley
LRAC Links
- Current Inquiries
- Inquiry on sex and gender diversity
- Issues Paper about Legal Recognition of Sex and Gender Diversity
- Previous inquiries
Resources
An active approach to studying law
This guide (448.93 KB) provides law students with information about how to take an active approach to studying law, and useful contacts for legal organisations in Canberra that accept student volunteers.
Law reform organisations
ACT Law Reform Advisory Council
Law Reform Resources
- Flinders Law Journal (formerly the Flinders Journal of Law Reform)
- ALRC Reform (now discontinued)
- Appeal: Review of Current Law and Law Reform (Canada)
- European Journal of Law Reform
- University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
- 'Access to Justice: Rhetoric or Reality', Justice Roslyn Atkinson, Law Reform and Accessibility, 2004 Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference, Wellington, New Zealand.
Each of these law reform agencies has published guidelines on how to make a law reform submission:
